ORIGINAL: Freerider

ok, there are several key focus' here on which you can base your future mods.

What do you wish to do?

Knowing the answer to this question is critical. Are you going to be racing in events such as auto-cross or tracks, in which suspension is of the utmost importance and the main focus of any persons in such an event. Are you planning on drag strips and pure porformance? Are you going for show; body kits, decals, oh my!

In which ever case, here are some small lists to get you going:

Suspension(if this is what you are looking for):

New struts and springs (or coilovers),
Front and rear sway bar,
New tires and possibly new wheels.

Performance (engine) (if this is what you are looking for):

Cold Air Intake (or ram air for those opposed to cold air intakes),
A decent exhaust or muffler (will explain),
Header (will explain different types)

If your going for street and strip (which I HIGHLY believe you are) performance you have a HUGE and diverse amount of brands and cheap no-name parts that you can buy off the market.

Here are the 2 main sellers of neon products out there:

www.howellautomotive.com
www.modernperformance.com

Incase you have a question about products that say 00-02 only, or 03-05, this most of the time is universal(it will fit your car if it says 03+). The only time this IS NOT true is in regards to tail lights and front and rear bumpers. Aside from that, the 00-05 were built the same regardless of physical features.

To start you off I suggested three mods. A Cold Air intake, an exhaust, and a good header. Now, you will find the market is HUGE for simple bolt on parts and pieces.

CAI:

The main brands whom make CAI's are AEM and K&N. These usually run for about 200 dollars and will fit GUARANTEED. Come with instructions and all. They are also made out of good quality materials and they come with decent air filters (the K&N filter is FTW imho). You will find other no-name cheap intakes off of EBAY. These sometimes don't fit exactly and must be altered, they aren't constructed of similar quality, but for the price some people opt for them over the name-brand CAI's.

To explain the issues with the CAI, some people complain about the ability to Hydrolock the engine. This is when water seizes gets in the engine and seizes the parts. A few people on here have had issues with this, but for the most part the word is A++. This is why some people opt for a Ram Air Intake. What this does is instead of running a tube and filter outside of the engine bay, this ram air system stays inside the engine bay, keeping it high and dry from water. The problem? You're not gaining anything with having your car using hot air. The benefit of CAI's comes with cooler air. The cooler the air, the more controllably it detonates. Hot air has a tendancy to sometimes detonate inside the combustion prematurely. So, having cooler air will drastically improve this. A Ram Air System won't provide that. It is up to you.

Exhaust:

When it comes to full exhaust systems you have a few brands including Magna Flow and Borla. These are all full 2.25" exhausts. If your looking into performance, on a N/A neon do not go over 2.25". It is unnecassary. You will lose power.

You can also buy select mufflers such as vibrant's. What these do is on the stock neon, the exhaust system is 2.25" until the muffler, where it reduced to 2.00". Increasing the diameter of the muffler to 2.25" you increase flow, creating a nice flowing 2.25" exhaust. This will net in a few ponies and will give you a nice sounding exhaust. This is a great altnernative if you plan on turboing.

Header:

You have a couple different kinds including short tube and long tube.

If your looking for small amounts of performance that will bolt on with no "help" will be a short tube. Long tube headers are what your looking for if you want to go completely N/A. The net in the best power but you have to "modify" your car to fit them.


I did not want to mention a 60mm throttle body as a mod you should by right off the bet. The reason is that under hard accelerating at LOW RPMS's it will result in a "lagging" sensation. This is because your engine is getting too much air, but after that it nets in your engine getting much needed air in the top end. The most general reason to get a bigger and aftermarket throttle body is to increase throttle response (the response you get when you touch the pedal.). It will greatly increase.


Any other queestions feel free to ask. Sorry I got kind of lazy on this write up. If you need MORE help, follow this link:

https://dodgeforum.com/m_665840/tm.htm