I bought a 2005 Dodge Neon SXT about 3 months ago. It runs great with 84.2k miles on it. I was looking to do some H.P increasing mods to it. I don't know a lot about cars, nor do I have a lot of money to invest. My friend said I could have my resonator and muffler removed and run a pipe from the catalytic converter to a exhaust tip. He said it would sound better and could add something like 30 H.P. I wanted to know if this is something commonly done, and if it is legal? I'm more or less doing this for the H.P increase. I would like a louder sound, but I don't really want that "ricer" sound. I'm looking for something a little lower. Thank you for your time.

 

You can but you will loose low end, also your friend is crazy. No mod short of forced induction will gain numbers like that. It will actually be slower off the line and up to high speeds. 4cyls are not made like big V8's that run straight pipes. I know this from blowing out the muffler and resonator.

 

So by taking out my resonator and muffler, which one is lowering my low end H.P?

 

You can take out both if you want, IF it were me I would keep the cat, and get a nice performance muffler made for the neon, not any of that parts store rice crap. You will want to keep as much back pressure as you have unless you are going to start doing engine mods.

 

You might gain 1 Hp 2 at most. If you the best bang for your buck, get a intake or at least a K&N drop in air filter, then save up and get a Cat back exhaust. If you want it to sound a little better order it would out the resonator and get something like a magaflow muffler.

 

You don't have a resonator. The SRTs came with those. You have one gigantic muffler under the rear bumper. Many people run a straight pipe, but warning: it is loud and crackles/pops a lot. As long as you do not run too large a diameter tube, you'll be fine. HP-wise, you are not looking at anything noticeable. You can either find an SRT exhaust take-of cheap that will bolt right up, or the other very popular option is to replace the stock muffler with a Magnaflow muffler made for a Camaro and add the tip(s) of your choice. I've got the SRT exhaust, since I got it for free. If I ever end up replacing the SRT exhaust, I'll go with the Camaro muffler.

A high-flow air filter is good...if you've done other engine modifications. The stock intake system flows more than the stock engine needs. I bought a Spectre hpR drop-in high-flow, cleanable filter from Amazon for less that $20 IIRC. I bought it more for the cleanable factor as a paper filter costs like $12-$15 alone. One cleaning and I'm ahead.

 

Just me, but, I'd look into the salvage yard way and start looking for some ACR's, R/T's, and SRT's and start pulling parts from them ... If you’re looking for an improved intake, grab the 1995. It offers the best performance. The heavy-duty radiator found in the ACR can help lower coolant temperatures, but it’s not always a bolt-in affair on cars with air conditioning. The ACR also received a different transaxle, one featuring a sporty 3.94:1 final drive along with a .81:1 fifth gear. The Neon Sport also received a 3.94:1 final drive, but features a steeper .72:1 fifth gear. (This could be a better alternative for highway cruising.) The ACR was designed for autocross and road racing use, so the anti-roll bars—22mm front and 16mm rear—would be a nice score. For an exhaust I found one off of E-Bay for $150. It's a Cat-back system extremely easy to do on your own and there was no ricer sound to it at all ... Racing Guys is the name ...

 

but definately doing all the installs on your own will save you money in the long run .... The exhaust system took me about 2 hours to install. Mind you I was on jack stands on my back doing it by myself ... all in all pretty easy though ..

 

I agree with this. I'll add, OP just get a K&N Typhoon (69 series) Cold Air Intake and leave it alone. I gained 3-5mpg with my driving style and it sounded good under acceleration.

I wanted to do exhaust just like you do...I found a used SRT-4 catback on craigslist for $90. It was a pain to install because the piping on my stock SXT exhaust was rusted and there was a dimple on the SRT pipes but I got it on there. The stock SXT exhaust is straight from the cat to the muffler, the SRT has 2 resonators in the midpipe and no muffler. I put both SRT pieces on and it sounded good at idle and it was LOUD. At the time I was in high school so I thought it was cool you could hear it a mile off (literally) and from a distance it sounded good but up close it was annoying to hear. I have videos on my old HDD I can post for you. After the exhaust went on I noticed a decrease in fuel economy and power wise I lost a little low end.

PS: Coming from a guy with a V8 now, you don't want to lose low end, torque is nice

 

Torque is more than nice, it's a thing of beauty handed down from the gods that leaves its mark with 2 black stripes on the pavement behind you.