Speaking only of a 2G neon, excluding the SRT4 from the discussion, what potential do they have? I'm looking into buying a car to toy around with. I really want to stick with a 4 cylinder car. I was planning on picking up a used civic to start with(since they have such huge aftermarket support), but damn...they're expensive for what you get.

So it's either a 1994ish Civic with almost 200K miles, in bad shape..or a 2002+ Neon. I had always wanted a DOHC 2D Neon (95-99), but I want to get a newer car than that.

Plans are forced induction, some suspension work, just overall a weekend fun car to play with.

I have about 6K cash to spend, I'd like to spread that out as far as I can.

Thank you for any help you can provide.

 

To get anything decent out of forced induction, you'll be needing better engine internals. I mean, a basic kit will be a large jump I'm sure though. All out suspension is a full sway bar setup and coilovers (pricey). Does that 6K include the car? A nice turbo kit will run about $3-$4K I believe? Coilovers are around $1K.

 

Hey, thanks for posting. Yeah, 6K is just the initial purchase of the car.

I just want to get the most for my money. But, if I could buy a decent car for like 3K, then I'd have 3K to spend on mods and stuff. Otherwise I'm gonna have to wait to recoupe a little.

So question is kinda more towards neons as platforms for modding..and how well they respond to it.

 

Well, if you have the money, any car can be good. You have to pay to play, especially when trying to beef up 4 cylinder econo-car. A stock Neon as a good base? Depends what exactly you want out of it I suppose. Either way, it takes money.

 

well i will start by saying welcome to the forum...

next i will say the platform to build a neon is good, granted u start with a sohc, but u can change that out if need be, megasquirt would be a very good tool to get, even on stock cars u can get alittle more power... if u are going boost, go with a good kit, such as ASP. ASP has some amazingly priced kits out there, for about 3900 u get everything u need, and a great turbo to boot...

what are ur goals for the car? hp range u are looking for? exc. that will help up help u.

 

a neon is a solid car. a little bit of money and you can really enjoy the car. ive had mine for a few years now and have enjoyed everything about it... hondas are crap..they make lawnmowers for gods sake lol

 

hondas are really awesome show rides though seen some very nice lookin ones at the shows I go to with my neon . You can get a srt4 for around 6 grand seen some with nice engines also.

 

ya but if he wanted a honda he would be on a honda forum. hondas are cool cars and all but everyone has them. personally if i had 6 grand to buy a car id just take a loan on the difference and get an srt 4 but then i dont know what your insurance would be.. but to start out a neon is a good car... if the body is good id start out with a shorty attena, window tint,exhaust, cold air intake, nice lowered stance and some good rubber and a sporty rim. srt spoiler too if you can find one, i personally find them hard to find. that would sound like a nice setup for starting out.

 

That would be the all show no go setup. Looks nice but isn't exactly any performance tuning.
I'm not into showiness. i'd dump everything into the exhaust/intake/engine/suspension.

The reason I put it in that order is because a Neon already has a good setup and holds well to the road. Cold air/ram air setup for the intake. get a good header and a new high flow catalytic converter. Then order up a decent cat-back exhaust system. For the motor i'd start by chipping it. Cheapest with the highest payoff. Stick with that until you're used to it because you can't go all out.. you might not like the results. Plus any change to one part will dictate what you need and not want for the next stage. For the suspension. measure out the stabilizer bars and get some that's larger. It's a stiffer ride in the curves. And then get some sport springs. For my area anything lower than 1.5 inches is asking for disaster because of the crappy roads. CHOOSE for your area!!!!!! And of course get good rubber for the contact patch. Rims may be a necessity because you might need to go to a wider meat.

But all this is me. I've dreamed up this setup ever since I had my old 86 VW golf.

 

last time i checked any chips do not work for the neon..unless this has changed in the time i was off here i was only aware of mega squirt which in my opinion is pretty in depth and is tricky to set up..someone let me know