[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by Calum

You do realize that the first gen neons came with a 2.25" stainless exhaust, right? In 96 that base engine was making ~135hp at the crank with a torque curve that looked like a ruler, in a car that weighed about 2400lbs. Not great with the 3.55fd, but not terrible either. You could get the dohc with ~10hp more, but the real treat with the 7300rpm redline and the 3.94fd and about the same torque maybe a couple more. In the same 2400lb car there was legitimate fun to be had.

Throw in a larger throttle body, a long tube header, a tuned ecu, a limited slip diff, a PT cruiser clutch, koni struts, some stiffer springs, and appropriate tires and it would do mid 14s in the ¼ mile and get to within spitting distance of a full g in a corner on mid 90s tires. For the time period it really wasn't that bad.

Drop the power steering and swap in the 16:1 rack and it just came alive with how much information you got through the wheel with great turn in. And that took about 25 pounds out of the car with the pump, bracket, and lines. There was plenty more weight you could pull out, too. There was a solid back seat instead of the one that opened to the trunk for a few less pounds, a side impact bar across the bottom of the back seat in the two door, a damper on the front motor mount, a smaller battery, about 30lbs of wiring that only made it harder to trouble shoot anyway, the spare tire and jack, hood insulation... ~2250-2300lbs really wasn't out of the question.

Wow I offended the one Neon fan on the forum!