HP / Performance Upgrades

[Chocobo]

Hey everyone, new to this auto forum stuff and a friend told me to check this out.

I have a Dodge Neon SXT Special Edition, 2005 2.0L Auto, and I want to start making some mods to the car. I was curious if anyone could help me out with some info on what would be good to tweak this car out into something a little more mean. (And I'm looking for power and performance, I don't want a ricer)

However don't get me wrong I know a little of a lot and if I don't know something I do my research.

I've been reading on the these forums of people doing "engine swaps" from SXT engines to SRT engines, though my mechanic is saying I could do it, but would involve a new computer system for the best performance out of the engine. So I may just swap out the tranny to a standard and leave the engine as is and add a turbo later.

As for now I wanted to buy a K&N Cold Air Intake 69 Typhon model and a good nice set of plugs and wires for the first upgrades and move to a new header and exaust later. Any thoughts on plugs and wires and OP's on the (CA)?

Thank you much for reading my rant >_< Crit's are always accepted.

[das2123]

The best Cold Air intake for the 00-05 Neon is the AEM one.

In order to swap in the SRT-4 engine, you would need a new SRT-4 PCM or swap over the sentry stuff from the SRT that the engine came from.

Click on the link for great parts from a great store...Modern Performance...
http://www.modernperformance.com/index.php?cPath=148

[Chocobo]

I've been looking for a decent sight with parts to read up on, thanks for sending that!

Question about the AEM Intakes. One of the reason's I'm a bit turned away on the AEM equipment is that I never see statistics on what they do, nor have done. What makes this better then the K&N filters?

[das2123]

AEM is a great quality intake design for the 2nd Gen neon. The K&N filter is obviously the best filter, but I am talking about the overall intake design. But as long as K&N puts the filter low to get cold air, then grab it. Just look at the overall price.

[ejclide]

Sorry this is two months late, but I think I can help you.

In terms of getting a Cold Air Intake, I've seen both the K&N's and the AEMS installed, but in all honesty, with the NGC your car has (mine too, I've got the '05 SRT Design), and the Auto Tranny, you're not going to see a difference in anything other than mileage. yes, you will get better mileage. I've heard of some people throwing codes with the AEMS, but then I've heard people speak wonderfully of them. Really, most people will tell you not to waste your time with Performance mods on an Auto 2nd gen. They will all say to get a nice wheel tire and suspension setup, and just make it fun to ride in (i.e. I.C.E., Seats, etc.)

As for your Special Edition neon, is it the SRT Design, with all the cosmetic gismos to attempt looking like an SRT-4? If so, I know for a fact the cold air intake will present some problems due to the fact that it was designed without the foglights in mind. If you have the hood scoop, I recommend doing the Ram Air hood mod. There is a very good resource for 2nd gen neon owners... www.2gn.org.

As for the SRT-4 Swap. Yes, it can be done, but not by the faint of heart. In all honesty, the easiest way to go about getting the parts is to simply find a donor car (a wreck) and pull the parts from it. I don't recommend Just doing a tranny swap and then slapping a turbo on for two reasons. The 2.0 is not a good platform for a turbo, and you will need to add a megasquirt computer to get it to run. You're better off with your money doing a swap to the SRT-4, and with that you'll have a factory motor that's MUCH more reliable. If getting the swap done is something you're interested in, www.srt-4store.com is the place to go. 5500 gets you a complete swap including the hotel stay while you wait and watch it get done. Of course, that's only nice if you're not making payments on the car.... so I can't speak for everyone. once I hit 60K, I'm getting this swap done and I will have a much more enjoyable car!

Hope I helped a little