well, i guess i have had an information overload or have just plain been misinformed, but today i called the local salvage yard for a throttle body off a 2nd gen auto neon. i have an 02 neon es right now and i have read in various places such as allpar.com and posts here and there that my tb is 49 mm due to a taper and an odd venturi and that the atx has the straight thru 52mm design. i bickered with the woman at the sales desk, believe me it took 10 minutes to get her to drop the price from 75 to 65... it wasnt untill i waited there at the yard for another 5 minutes while it was being pulled from an 03 neon that i found out it was plastic. anyway, i realized that there is no size difference beteen the outlets of the two tb's. i guess all the posts ive been reading along with allpar.comhave been from 1st gen mods.

how big are the plastic tb's anyway and how critical is a bigger one withthe 2nd gen's intake system. another question thats been eating at me is this: how do the plastic intakes flow compared to an r/t or srt intake? can the plastic intake be ported and polished is some wayto addgood flow gains? im saving my pennies for a turbo setup and i heard that on these cars the intake side becomes a big bottleneck when you start making a lo of ponies.

thanks

 

Yeah you were misinformed, all 2nd Gens, regardless of transmission, have a 49mm TB. The plastic intake manifold (which cant be ported as far as i know) is a little better at conducting heat for a turbo application over the R/T manifold, but the R/T manifold is one of the best designed 4-banger intake manifolds IMO. It would be VERY difficult to outperform a ported R/T manifold...there are several other custom manifolds available though.

A 55mm TB is the "sweet spot" for a stock motor, and even with heavy modding you wouldnt need to go over 60mm in most cases for a TB. The Lorenzo and MPx 60mm TB's are top notch, and the throttle response is simply amazing with them. You can also modify a Mustang TB (60mm, 65mm, 70mm, 75mm) to work on our cars as well...

 

True dat! A-men 03.

He speaks the truth. The problem is finding a 55mm TB. I ended up going 60mm just due to it was available. My 60mm TB is a great improvement over stock though. I have no regrets. It really shows in the upper RPMS (where it should) and throttle response does increase.

I think it is close to impossible to out perform a ported R/T Intake.

 

well you guys say you cant port the plastic manifold.....well i port matched both the head and manifold to the gaskets on the intake side....you tellin me my ****s doomed?[>:]

 

whaaaaat???

has anyone here taken a dremel to plastic?????

its MESSY!!! Port matching a plastic manifold = BAD IDEA!!! If you have a metal (R/T intake) you can port match and extrude and hone the thing. Plus you can't add meterial if you cut too far or the sides don't line up perfectly. It is impossible becuase it is PLASTIC!!!

Its impossible to Port match a STOCK NEON SXT/SE intake manifold just simply due to it being made of plastic....

if you are into making a big mess and look forward to such things... i say go for making a big mess out of an intake manifold.

 

haha yea now i wanna know....has anyone?...or is it just me......*starts lookin for a new intake manifold*

 

first off..... buy a new body.... third and off subject...

why has dodge always made motors that were better top-end?? I love my neon but up to 50-70mph its a dog, same with my BUILT d100 pickup, off the line i blew a**, buti'd hit third and i could take vetts.... 45-100 before i could blink!!! (that was pretty much it at 100-115, but hey) I would have given anything to give half my power to jumping off the line!!!

 

actually.... that is a good question.


Seeing as every dodge's wish is to dodge the starting line. Truthfully, I believe Dodge (DC) has learned that where you give and take is truthfully where your market lies (engine wise). Every dodge I have test driven, seen, or been in, seems to hate simply getting off the line. That includes a mans viper I rode in (good friend... long story).

Where DC has its seperate entities (dodge, jeep, etc.), each seems to bring a different character to MA MOPAR. Where DC puts its power, in dodges anyways, seems to be simply top end performance. Why? Well I think (and I like to think) it is becuase even if you can get off the line with a good launch, sometimes top end is what everyone else seems to need.

Everyone I seem to talk to, from Ford owners to Subaru owners, seem to always want more top end power. Sometimes they want mid range power, but with mine and other dodges... all we would give our right nuts for is just a hint of off the line performance.



perhaps it is just me, but that how is how I like to think of it.

 

well he4re the deal with me comeing to the conclusion it was ok to dremel a plastic intake manifold.....my buddy had a thing on his focus that showed how to dremel out his plastic TB and it worked fine.....soooo i ported my intake and head and i cut out like 3mm per tube or port or wat ever u wanna call it....and i have seenIF ANYTHING...gains in power....so it seems fine to me