New engine, Old car... (lightened '98 Dodge Neon)
 

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.

http://i95.photobucket.com/albums/l1...odshighway.jpg

Very impressive!

Just to put a bit more detail into that drive specifically...

I live in a dry area. The heat was around 90 or so that day. Engine ran anywhere from 188-204*F, intake temps hung around 120-132*F. Shifting anywhere from 1.5K to 3K with decent throttle (LOD on my scan gauge doesn't work on this car, for some reason... idles at 3 and tops around 34, I'm guessing 80-90% load most acceleration).

In city, I tried to glide to stops the best I could, but stop lights are rather unpredictable, as well as I rarely drive that area and am not too familiar with it. For Highway, I used Pulse and Glide. There are a LOT of hills. In fact, I don't think there is more than a few miles out of the ~40 I traveled on the highway that were flat! I tried to glide uphills as much as possible. Typically, to 60 and glide, pulse from 45 and up. I did hit 65-70 a few times coming down the hills right before hitting the ups.

No tires were more than 42psi, as they are a mixed bag of old, crusty to no-name cheapies. That will change very soon. I'm also using premium 91 octane fuel. Since this is my first engine rebuild, as well as higher compression, I wanted to start there and slowly drop the octane level and see how it responds. I doubt I can run regular, but I want to see if I can drop my octane requirement.

Anywho, thanx for the comments. I can't wait to throw on some good rubbers and get rolling on the aeromods!

Nice results.

I'm curious: After the weight reduction effort, how much does the car weigh?

Also: put it in the garage! Your Garage: Add new vehicle

Metro,

Right after my last post, I went straight to adding it to the garage! ;)

When I used to race this neon, I got the weight down to 2250 w/ full interior. I think it was ~2150 race weight (take out seats, exhaust system, spare). I plan to get on a scale soon and see where I sit currently. Those numbers stick, but I don't think that was with me in the car at the time. On top of that, This car will have a SOHC over a DOHC head, further removed AC and PS components, more deadener and insulation removed, added light-weight stereo system, nicer seating, etc. Lots of changes in both directions.

Being a daily driver now, I am putting in some deadener (very mild amount, covering ~25% of any flater sheet metal with resonating potential, as per instructed by sounddeadenershowdown.com) and using the double-bubble foil insulation throughout the entire car for both acoustic and thermal insulation. This shouldn't add but a few more pounds in, though, as the deadener is minimalistic and the insulation is very light weight.

Anywho, I actually took out each item back in '04 and documented what each piece weighed. I hope the length list isn't an issue (I tried SPOILER tags, but seems this forum doesn't support that). I'm sure there are other things that are added and/or removed in since, but it's been too many years. I still have a few tricks up my sleeves to reduce the weight, but all in good time.

Some of the more extreme things I did that I did not list was things like using zip ties over screws/bolts where applicable, cutting down lengthy bolts... gees I know it was desperate times for that last little bit of speed back in those days. I chose this shell simply because of all the work already done in weight reduction. I want to try to keep this car as light weight as possible, but still make is a pleasure to drive every day. Some compromises will be made, but since it's mostly a city driving car, I think low-weight will still be a top priority, only trumped by aerodynamic modifications (as that obviously will add some weight).

Nice work.

I just picked up a 95 sohc/5spd (my 2nd) and also have a turbo/5spd caravan and a bunch of other turbo dodge stuff.

Your dry area wouldnt happen to be Texas, would it? I always like to find like-minded people in my area, although the chances are tiny.

If i can get my neon to hit 40mpg hwy stock, ill be off to a good start but i need to verify that before trying anything else.