do you still have that link I gave you? That was a full list of everything that the car had. The list above shows the major changes. The R/T came with steel wheels but I think an R/T deserves better than that. Go with some nice alloy wheels or some aftermarkets.

 

Oh trust me I will [sm=badbadbad.gif]

 

If you have a '95 SOHC Neon and are wondering if it's an R/T, it isn't. First, all 1st gen R/T's were DOHC's. Second, R/T's were not introduced until the 1998 model year. Those attending Neon 1997 got to see the first ones roll off the factory floor.

You could get the DOHC engine and rear discs on other models than the R/T (Sport, Expresso, ACR).

The R/T never came from the factory with steel wheels. The 1st gens got 14x6" alloys (polished or silver) in a pattern unique to the R/T. The 2nd gen R/T's got 16x6" silver alloys, also in a unige R/T pattern ("Silverstone").

 

hey, someone's been watching. I totally forgot that the R/T wasn't introduced until '97.

 

There is no engine/exhaust differences between the R/T's 2.0L DOHC and any other Neon with the 2.0L DOHC, both have 150 horsepower and 132 torque. There are of course several differences between the DOHC and the SOHC, but that goes without saying.


The R/T's also came only in red, blue, white or black and the only stripe color was silver, except on the white ones which got only blue stripes. The stripes came standard, but you could option them off with the stripe delete option.

You can get a really nice R/T now for around $4,000, so it would be cheaper to just buy an R/T rather than try to clone one unless you already have a DOHC 5-spd. Neon.

 

the interrior on the r/t's is sportier then a regular neon just because the seats dip a little more in the back, have higher sides to hold your theigh and have better lumbar support. they also have the accented designs. white and blue cars had blue, red and black cars had red. the regular neons came with a 185/65 14 inch tire but the r/t's came with a 195/60 14. i have noticed alot of people saying that the had the 185's but they shouldnt have. one of my 1998 r/ts is a stripe delete. the r/ts also had a better 5-speed then the regular ones it has a better 5th gear. the ratio is a bit lower so you dont need to downshift as much as a sohc. they also have a higher rev limiter. sohc and dohc automatics 5th gear rev limiter kicks in as 6200 the r/ts dont kick in til 7200.

 

The 7200 rev limit is due to the performance PCM that the R/T has. If you install one on your neon it will have about the same rev limit and can handle it just as well.

 

SOHC valves start floating right around 7200 rpm, particularly with the '95 cam and stock valvetrain. Feels enough like a rev limiter... Besides, in a stock-cammed SOHC, torque is dropping like a rock by 6800 rpm, and HP follows by 7k.

DOHC MTX Expresso's got the tighter gear ratio with a taller 5th gear. Just as "sporty", better mileage on the freeway. Who uses 5th for accelerating? I can hit 120 mph in 4th with mine... All ACR's (including SOHC's) got the same tranny as the R/T, long before the R/T rolled off the assembly line...

R/T's are for those that want to feel/look sporty. ACR's are for those that are capable of sacrificing bling for a better car.

 

And trust me, you don't want to hit the rev limiter as it can lead to bad things. When I did it caused the power steering belt to twist so that the belts V was facing up and not in the grove where it belongs. The following day when I was driving that belt came off causing very difficult and unpredictable steering, not good at all. I found the belt laying in the engine compartment, it simply came off and wasn't broke. It could have been worse and it could have been caught between the other belt and it's pulleys causing loss of all the accessories. My bad experience with the thrown belt was when I was putting the new one on, which is a real PITA and you can never seem to get enough tension on it without either breaking something or dealing with the squeeling belt. That wasn't the worst part though, my dad was helping and knocked the tools into the engine compartment and it was at night. Not knowing exactly how many tools were used and thus knocked into the engine compartment, we simply looked as best we could and found what we could. Two days later while getting off the freeway I must have hit a fairly hard bump which dislodged a wrench while my fans were on causing the wrench to flaten one fans blades, cracked the fan shroud and punched a nice hole in the radiator. Because I didn't have the time to mess with it since it was on a tuesday, I had it towed up the street to the dealership and let them do it. All said and done it cost me just under a grand for a new radiator, fan and shroud and all installed, almost all of which was parts cost.

To recap, don't hit the rev limiter, hitting the rev limiter can be very, very bad.[]

 

The ACR's have an even more aggressive tranny gearing than the R/T's. The ACR's are indeed the ultimate in performance over all as their only options other than engine and transmission combo are only the cars color, manual or power steering and heat or no heat. The ACR's have power nothing, no radio, no sunroof, no A/C and cruise control.

I would ideally have had an ACR instead of an R/T, but I need A/C in the summer because of the cripling headaches I get from high temperatures. I did luck out when I found my R/T as it was everything I was looking for and more......almost. I was originally looking for a low mileage, low cost R/T in black with the silver stripes, A/C, 2 doors, no power accessories and preferably with the MLS head gasket already on it. What I found was an unusually cheap '99 R/T with low mileage, A/C and lots of Mopar Performance parts already on it. It was white with the blue stripes, but it also had 2 doors, no power windows, no power door locks and no sunroof just the way I wanted one. It was a great car and I hated to let it go, but I had to so that I could get the SRT-4 at the local dealership which was optioned exactly the way I wanted one, black with the Viper seats and sunroof. I do still miss my R/T, but my SRT-4 is far better in every single way except it's a 4 door and doesn't have near the gas mileage my R/T had.