I'm brand spankin' new here and I bought my '02 R/T about 6 weeks ago. I know getting good performance out of this car isn't easy or cheap, so I want to concentrate on the exterior since I don't have a ton of cash to play with for now. I do have a guy who's worked for numerous detail places and body shops so I can get stuff done cheap. Here's some things I'd like to do, any tips or advice on where to get items and what brands to consentrate on would be great.

Lowered, shaved emblems and possibly the door handles as well, maybe a spoiler change, antenna deleted or shortened, front bumper splitter, change the look of the head/taillights and some interior tinkering. Already have tinted windows but it's just starting to peel a little.

I can afford a few minor engine upgrades. Are things like an air filter, cold air intake, spark plugs and wires, suspension mods, pulleys and exhaust mods worth the money? If I can get better mpg, a smoother ride and a little bit more performance this car would be perfect. Thanks for any help.

 

the easiest way to find engine mods is to search under mitsubishi eclipse 3.0L. the Stratus R/T is basically the Eclipse with a Dodge body on it. Youll find more parts that way, engine wise. There are a few body kits out there, real cheap, for this car, can find them all over ebay, there are a few wing mods out there too, Im pretty sure the Eclipse GT wing will fit as well, looks good on there. The kit most people with this car for lowering is the eibach pro. kinda pricey but havent heard any problems yet. I have an 01 R/T. I found a cold air intake kit for about $50, pretty nice, polished, decent filter, sounded great on the car. I have NGK Uridium plugs, not too bad as far as price goes, supposed to be good plugs, a lot of people on here have em, im sure i wrecked the spelling of the plugs. Just do some research, youll find some good stuff. hope this helps

 

I want to stay away from body kits, too pricey. How many people here or that some of you might know that have shaved the door handles? These cars have really nice, smooth lines and I'm going for a look that enhances that.

Also, is putting any kind of ram air kit going to make a difference at all in performance? I'm not expecting anything noticeable but I don't want to spend money on something that doesn't do anything.

 

yeah, i can agree with you on the body kits. As far as shaving the door handle i dont personaly know how to do it but ive seen it done. I know there are universal kits out there that you need to buy so the door will still open, either by remote or by button, little acuator kinda thing. The intake i have is pretty nice. here is an auction on ebay that i baught from:

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/01-05...spagenameZWDVW

it sounded cool as hell on the car, suckin air like crazy, whistled when you drove or got on it, very noticable. Its a very easy intall, the only thing i had to do was make was a small bracket to support the middle of the piping, right next to the intake. nothing major, took 15 mins on the desk vice to bend the supplies little piece of aluminum. As far as performance goes im sure it helped a little but not noticable. I know they have speed chips out there for the computer in these cars but i havent tried it yet, maybe next spring i will.

 

I'm sure I'll get a CAI, they do sound pretty cool. Thanks for the link, I'll check it out.

Some punk backed into me at while I was in a video store just last night, cracking the front grill and left some bad scuff marks as well as busting off my liscence plate holder, then TOOK OFF. I was inside the store and some kids came in and told me what happened but they couldn't see the guy's plates. So I've got to take care of this out of my own friggin pocket. Since it's cracked I'll probably have to get a whole new bumper. I guess it's an excuse to get those grill inserts I want.

What kind of bodywork is needed in debadging the car?

 

the only one youll have to fill is the hole on the fron bumper for the dodge symbol. i left mine. All the badging is stickers, stuck on pretty good i might add, lol. took me a while to get them all off the sides and back. I ordered the 05 "R/T" badging for the sides, cost me something like $30 for both doors total. Its just the "R/T". looks cool. the only thing i recommend for after you peel off all the letter is to spray over it with "Goo-Gone", peeling it leaves a lot of the glue behind and its a nightmare to get it all off. Spraying that stuff on it works great. That sux you got hit. Hasnt happened to me yet, im sure im in for it now that i said that. The grill inserts look great, im getting those myself in the spring.

 

Shaving the door handles isnt all that tough. Installing the poppers and latch mechanisms is the easy part. Taking out the handles themselves and welding the plates into the holes is a different story. Remove the door handles, sand the area around the hole, tack weld in the properly sized piece of steel, weld it in, grind, grind, grind some more, sand the whole door down, prime, paint, buff, paint, buff, paint, clear coat. Not fun, and is costly to do it right AND make it look really good.