I have been driving an 04 Dodge Neon for the last 8 years now. It has been good to me, but I never did see numbers I wanted out of it... best tank has been 40.15MPG with my best efforts. On top of that, it was getting up there in the miles. Finally, I just couldn't find any modifications to this car that I wanted to apply to it, as I've already done several years worth.
On and off, I have had plenty of other projects. One was a 98 Neon that I did some pretty extreme weight reduction and built up to drag race. I ended up selling that when I got my 89 turbo Caravan project. A few months ago, the guy I sold it to decided to part it out. The shell, which was never in GREAT shape, but had a lot of work on the weight reduction mods, was up for grabs. I decided, this is my official project car.
I ended up rebuilding the engine from the bottom, up. I had everything balanced, but did all the rest of the work myself. I ended up with different pistons and a shaved head, which upped the compression. Also, I have a slightly hotter cam in currently, as I couldn't track down a stock one.
After putting it together and making sure it was reliable, today was the day to see what it would do. This is my base line, as the only aeromods that have been done are the rear spoiler delete and the passenger mirror delete. I didn't have the windshield wipers on, either, but not on purpose. It's front bumper is wide open, it isn't lowered at all, it doesn't even have an air dam currently!
I took it about 30-40 miles away and tested both highway and city. Here are my results...
Highway:
51.5MPG
City:
44MPG
I really didn't expect it to be THAT good. That's above my expectations. I'm stoked to see further gains through aeromodding and the like! I'll start the first tank as my first car on this site. I've been just waiting to get something going worth reporting... I think this one might just be it.
