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Introduction
A Book About Neon Performance – It’s About Time!
The first time I approached a publisher about writing this book in 1999, the response was: “Sorry, but there is not enough interest among the target market.” Forget the fact that SCCA Neon racing was the hottest thing going, not to mention the Chrysler contingency money that was being paid to competitors (largest cash payoffs for any car in SCCA history). I felt that the Neon had made a serious impact on the sport compact market the day it was first introduced five years earlier. But still, no publisher was willing to take on the project. However, when CarTech® got wind of the project – they jumped on it. So you can thank them for funding this project, and for having a finger on the pulse of the current performance market. I’d also like to thank Michael Charpenter for his help throughout the project.
In the Beginning
One of the first people to recognize that the Neon would make an impact on the performance market was John Fernandez at Chrysler. Even before Chrysler started cranking out thousands of these puppies every month, Fernandez’s motorsports program saw to it that a significant number of these first production Neons were ACR (American Club Racing) versions. At that time, the general public had a hard time visualizing that these “grocery getters” would someday be hitting the amateur racing circuit. If you recall, Chrysler was promoting the Neon as a cute little economy car (Hi!), but many SCCA racers were thinking to themselves: “2,300 pounds with 132 horsepower – sounds like a winner to us!” It wouldn’t take long for the import racing movement to take notice, either.
At that time, Honda was dominating the movement with its quick little Civics, and it seemed like everyone was walking around wearing t-shirts covered with Japanese writing and characters. I always wondered what the Japanese letters I had on my racing Civic actually said. In my own defense, however, I was racing Civics back in 1986 before the import performance movement started. But I wasn’t too blind to notice the introduction of the Neon and the potential impact that this car would someday have on that culture.
In early 1994, Gary Johnson, part of the Fernandez motorsports program, approached Grassroots Motorsports magazine about developing a project racing Neon. Publisher Tim Suddard had the insight to take him up on the offer. After a year of SSC racing in the Southern Florida SCCA region, I was given a chance to further develop this cool project car.
For those who aren’t familiar with it, the Showroom Stock class (SSC) of the SCCA is exactly as it sounds to be – racecars that are still in stock trim, nearly identical to the way they came off the showroom floor. Just add a roll cage, fire extinguisher, and window net, and go racing. Grassroots Motorsports was graced with an early ACR. The car was also what the industry refers to as a “white body” car, destined to end its short life in the crusher once its purpose has been fulfilled. I was determined to see that its life would have meaning. By the way, one of the guys who started it all, John Fernandez, is still racing Neons in the SCCA SSC road racing class, finishing second in 2003 and just missing the podium in 2004.
One of the
First Modified Neons
In 1994, the staff at Grassroots Motorsports magazine and I were given the task of taking a successful, well set-up, virtually stock SCCA racing Neon and further modifying it so that it would go faster and handle better. But first, I had to get to know the car, so it was off to the 50th Annual (and final) Chimney Rock Hillclimb in Asheville, North Carolina. The only modification we had time to do before this event was to replace the stock 14-inch alloys with larger, custom-made 15- x 7-inch wheels. Racing against seasoned veterans, the car managed to take home a trophy in the large C Street Prepared class. Then it was off to the 89th running of the Giants Despair Hillclimb in Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania, followed by the Weatherly Hillclimb in Pennsylvania (it has a cool jump near the end), and some serious testing at Road Atlanta.
This whole time, we were in search of aftermarket parts to help improve both handling and power. We added adjustable Tokico inserts, a Supertrapp exhaust, an air velocity intake system, etc. Back then, of course, no one was yet manufacturing any of these parts, so we had to improvise. Attempts to secure a limited-slip differential from Chrysler proved futile, as these were still in the development phase until 1996. A header also eluded us during the first year of modification. Trying different injector sizes along with modified throttle bodies just seemed to piss off the onboard computer and make the car slower. Over the next year, after a lot of testing and tuning on the SCCA autocross circuit, we were faced with a sad truth: our Neon handled worse and was no faster than when we started. After winning a regional autocross championship despite our mistakes, I reluctantly waved goodbye to the Neon as it headed back to Detroit.
In 1996, the car was painted nitro yellow green, and it continued its development under the direction of J.G. Pasterjack and Tim Suddard of Grassroots Motorsports magazine. It received a DOHC transplant, an Electromotive EFI system, and a better suspension. Still, very few aftermarket products were available, so after sitting in J.G.’s backyard for a year, it finally met its fate in 1997. I still really miss that car.
Of course, now there are hundreds of aftermarket drivetrain parts available for the Neon. Most work, but most also fail to deliver on their promised horsepower gains. Many suspension improvements work, but some do not. The problem still encountered is that “out of the box” aftermarket suspensions fail to meet the specific needs of the owner who is looking for both a competent street car and a weekend racer. We hope to shed more light on both areas in the pages that follow.
Building a Better Wheel
The biggest problem we faced in 1994 was trying to sort out which products actually worked, and which ones didn’t. We had little to work with, and results were usually disappointing. Then, all of a sudden, aftermarket performance companies started coming out of the woodwork. We were excited, and testing continued, with mixed results. Nowadays, it seems there are new companies springing up daily. The big question we still have is: “Who are these guys?” Many sell exactly the same product as everyone else but simply re-label it and market it as their own. Even Mopar is guilty of this practice, though the products that bear their name are of good quality. But in the high-performance aftermarket overall, it seems that the “what works” to “what doesn’t work” ratio is getting worse, not better. So how do you know if the product you are about to spend your hard-earned money on really will improve your Neon’s performance? Test it on the dyno.
The Importance of
Dyno Testing
Did you hear the one about the two guys who brought their cars to a chassis dyno? They had identical DOHC first-generation Neons, except that one was stock, while the other had a few of today’s popular modifications.
The guy with the stock Neon (we’ll call him Kyle) was first to get strapped on to Speednation’s Mustang Chassis Dynamometer. The results showed a healthy 124 horsepower at the wheels. This figure is very consistent with other stock Neons that have been tested given the parasitic loss that all cars experience (more on that later).
Next, Kyle decided to do some quarter-mile runs. Yes, a Mustang dyno can do that, too. Kyle sat in the driver’s seat, and when given the word by the dyno operator, he dumped the clutch and went through the gears just like he would if he were at a drag strip. Of course, he didn’t have to worry about reaction time or drifting into the other competitor’s lane. As long as you don’t accidentally step onto the dual rollers, drag racing on a chassis dyno is a very safe activity. However, if you do happen to step on the rollers at 100 mph, you’ll get sucked down into the dyno’s interior like Wile E. Coyote into a giant Acme vacuum cleaner.
Anyway, Kyle’s Neon again performed predictably, ripping off a few runs ranging between 15.9 and 15.7 at 87 mph. Again, what we have here is a healthy, but bone stock, DOHC Neon. This was the end of Kyle’s session, so he made way for his friend (let’s call him Eric) to take a turn. As the straps were being loosened on Kyle’s car, he exclaimed: “Wait until you see the power of Eric’s car. He really pulls away from me on the highway.”
As we were strapping Eric’s modified Neon onto the dyno, he also indicated that he felt that the modifications he had performed on his Neon would register much higher numbers than Kyle’s car. Over the past few months, he had installed an aftermarket exhaust, header, cold-air intake, underdrive pulley, performance chip, and adjustable cam gears.
A few minutes later, after running a routine parasitic test to determine the amount of torque lost between the crankshaft and wheels, both Kyle and Eric were highly anticipating the first power run. However, a minute later, when the run was completed, both were completely speechless. The dyno screen was flashing “122.” And no, that wasn’t the temperature that day. A second run was made just to be sure, and again, their eyes were fixated on the “122” that appeared on the screen. “Okay, what’s the deal here?” exclaimed Eric. “How could my car have less horsepower than Kyle’s?”
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