Hey Guys im new to this forums. i am currently in the middle of buying a 2003 dodge neon SE auto

i was planning on putting on some tints and new indash receiver but. i am contemplating if i should put money into preformance.

so i come to you. what would be the best my neon can preform at. could i burn some of the other cars out there or shall i not even bother?

 

Since you have an automatic, I wouldn't even bother. Stock manual neons will probably beat you after you put a few grand into it? Automatic sucks as far a performance. The manuals are way quicker.

 

how much would it cost to turn it into a manual trans.

 

This whole autos suck ting has to stop, if I put a few grand into a auto I could probally smoke most cars on the road. I pesonnally prefer a stick, I lke to shift, but a fully built car turbo and all is faster if its an auto. if you like the auto leave it auto, if you want manual, you have to know what your doin to convert it.

 

I'm with you.

And I take offence to all this downtalk about ATX transmissions. Especially since I've spent quite a bti of money on my ATX just to prove a point. I've "taken" plenty of MTX cars with my "lowly" [sm=rolleyes.gif] ATX. Which includes Mustangs, other Neons and more Honda's I can shake a stick at. Just to name a few.

An ATX is every bit as good as an MTX. For several reasons.

It's a fact. A computer can shift a car more efficiently than any human being ever can.

Fact. There are several ATX neons running in the 12's. Gizmo's car happens to be one. Scott Mohler used to run an ATX; I do not think he is anymore.

Perhaps if these MTX jerks would get their heads out of their assess for a few minutes instead of taking the "EASY" way out and actually researched what they were saying they'd sound pretty intelligent. Instead, they never have any thing with proof. They just blatently scream "ATX's suck! They are slow."

Remember, TORQUE is king. Not HP. And an ATX has a bit more torque then your god like MTX. Especially once you start building an ATX, I've gained an extra 100 ft. lbs. of torque just off of a race valve body, just imagine what it's going to do when I get the race rebuild, transfer gears, limited slip, torque converter on/in it. Not to mention when I strap that turbo onto the engine.

Oh, speaking of turbos. Everyone boasts about how much better a turbo is on an MTX. Guess what. Got news for you. LONGER GEARS are more beneficial with a turbo than they are with shorter gears.

Guess what a 3spd automatic has? Long gears. As opposed to the MTX's 5 gears which are dramatically shorter. Oh, and when you turn over an ATX just sitting at idle the turbo is at 1/2 boost. Whereas an MTX is only at a 1/4. It requires 2 extra gears to get up to speed in an MTX. But an ATX can get up to speed with only 3 gears, it takes an MTX much longer to get to full boost if it ever reaches full boost since you have to change gears so much more often than an ATX.

mikiozen I suggest that before you make any irrational, rash decisions on whether or not you want to swap to an MTX based off of this type of statement: READ. STUDY and EDUCATE yourself on how an ATX works, what it's components are, how they function. What kinds of "upgrades" you can do to ATX transmissions.

It's really astounding the amount of close mindedness there is when it comes to ATX transmissions. People do not realize that the modern ATX is nothing like the ATX of years past. While an ATX has it's flaws I do admit, there are 2 things that are bad for an ATX and work against it, and they are HEAT, and WEIGHT. But, there are 1K more things you can do to improve an ATX's efficiency than there is for an MTX.

The difference is. Ignorance. People are too ignorant to educate themselves and actually learn about ATX transmissions. And Laziness. People constantly take the "Easy-way-out" when it comes to transmissions. Why work to build a fast ATX when you can just swap to something that is only so fast. You can have allt he HP in the world. But unless you actually do something to improve the torqe rating of your transmission there is only so much you can do till the HP doesn't mean anything. Sure, there are different clutches and flywheels and LSD's and axles for an MTX but there really isn't anything else that you can do to it to make it "quicker".

But the options for an ATX are quite limitless. You've got 2-3 different types of valve bodies, 2-3 different types of converters, different flexplates, several different sets of transfer gears, different planetary gears (ring and pinion), LSD's, axles, clutch packs, bands, reverse drums.

Yes, I am an ATXer. Yes, I've spent about $900 dollars thus far on my ATX, and it is not nearly complete. But at least when I wake up in the morning and get in it and roll up to some punk with an MTX knowing full well that I can pull ahead of him and keep doing so. So if you want to take the easy-way-out and swap to an MTX because someone told you that ATX's suck. Then go ahead. I don't care. I know in a few months my ATX will be barely streetable because of the **** I've done to it because I took the time to learn what an ATX is capable of and took the time to find and locate everything I needed to do what I wanted with it. At least I know I have acomplished something by doing what no one else has because they are scared of it and at least I worked to build something that I can honestly and proudly say that is faster than any other ATX out there because I wasn't afraid. And at least I'll have the knowledge of knowing where I came from instead of saying, "Yeah, I had an ATX...but I wussed out because I was scared and went with a MTX." There have been plenty of days where I've lined up against MTX's and watched as they disappeared in my rearview, and you know what? I couldn't stop laughing because the driver's of those cars think their cars are above everyone ele's car because of their unbeatable MTX. The sad thing is, the MTX isn't as indestructable as everyone thinks it is.

 

Crazy Squee has a lot of good points but he forgot the biggest advantage of haveing an auto over a manual in a turbo vehicle. With a MTX you lose boost every time you shift so you have to build boost every time you shift. In an auto you never let of the gas so you continue to build boost when you shift. Hence why autos are the perfect choice for turbocharged projects. Also one question I have for all these ATX haters out there. If MTX are so good why do most drag cars have ATX?

 

Stage 1 for the SRT-4 provides for WOT shifting....

 

Yeah but most turbo vehicles you can't do that. And even if you shift it at WOT you still are far far slower then an auto.

 

I dont really care if an auto is better than a manual i love using the stick! it is a whole lot funner than my old car which was an auto. Also i saw you could get better mpg with a stick so i said hell yea thats what i wanted.

 

You forgot short shifters Squee. HEHE. I love my short throw and mtx, wouldn't trade for an auto any day. But another thing to consider with the mtx vs. atx is that if you're drag racin you're going to run about the same every time. I've been at the track before and sometimes I don't have the best shifts. ATX = more consisent, but MTX = more fun at least in my opinion. And after going drag racing enough with a MTX you should almost as quick as an ATX shifting (I know the ATX will always be quicker).