I am 3 for 3 in making money drag racing a 95 Neon!

[ATaylorRacing]

This car was borrowed from my mechanic last year when my 12 second SRT4 Neon was broken. I bought it from him in this March. The first race I was runner-up, the second race (the Stick Shift Nationals) I won, and today I was a semi-finalist! Making money in 3 out of 3 races is darn good. This Neon is so much easier to launch than my SRT4 and easier to shift too. Instead of being .4 from pass to pass it was .04 at the Wednesday night TNT and about the same today too! At this rate the car will pay for itself in 19 races or less! The car itself currently has its full interior and stock steel rims. My plans are to go to alloy rims AND change the front (driving tires) from the stock tires of 185/65/14 to 185/55/14, basically changing the final drive ration since the stock size is 23.5" in diameter while the replacements will be only 22" in diameter! The car has a definate bog due to all the traction AND lack of hp so the shorter tires should help greatly. The lighter weight rims should help too.

[GLHNSLHT2]

Maybe your SRT4 is heat soaking the intercooler causing your inconsistency?

[ATaylorRacing]

Maybe your SRT4 is heat soaking the intercooler causing your inconsistency?
Traction.........I refuse to put slicks on it since I've already snapped the input shaft at its last race. I know that the IC is heat soaked for sure....since I am a big wussy and it is always hot in Cincy I let the SRT4 idle all day with the AC on...the car runs 12.8s-13.2s at these events, but my reaction times and good high mph makes for a challenging, fun event...and usually profitable. Back in Nov I ran the SRT4 at Beech Bend on a cool day and without having the poor thing idle all day. The result was the quickest pass to date...a 12.17 at 115 and a couple more in the 12.5s and 12.4s....the 6 puck doesn't slip, but it is hard to hold the car at a steady rpm on the launch so sometimes it will bog and others spin the tires. I'm keeping it off the track, but still having a ton of fun as an extra daily driver!

[ATaylorRacing]

A long over due followup on this car. The year is over and using the 95 SOHC Neon I ended up making money in 8 of the 12 races entered. The car was consistant UNTIL we got rid of the power steering assembly. The next race out it picked up ,7 in the quarter, .45 in the 1/8th, and a full .10 in the 60' time...BUT, then the extra freed up power had the traction go away. I slipped from 4th to 6th place. I then purchased a WOT box from NP Performance and after adjusting the rpm launch 3 times I was able to get my launches better than ever before since I was able to leave at a set rpm every time aand only look at my tach when it was time to shift. I went into the last pts race able to finish anywhere from 2nd to 8th in points. I won four rounds and moved up to 3rd! I will be getting one for the Pit Bull now and THAT will cure its inconsistancys by being able to launch at that set rpm every time. It should make the car drop uinto the high 11s too since using the WOT box allows you to build some boost at the starting line!

[Vigo]

You picked up 7 tenths? What does it ET now and what are the total mods?

[turbovanman²]

That's awesome. :thumb:

Any info on that box, I could really use something next year.

[Aries_Turbo]

That's awesome. :thumb:

Any info on that box, I could really use something next year.

that is awesome! :)

simon, just turn the staging limiter on in your cal.

Brian

[turbovanman²]

that is awesome! :)

simon, just turn the staging limiter on in your cal.

Brian

It doesn't work, so call me, :nod:

[contraption22]

You picked up .7 from just removing the power steering pump? Thats really weird. I had the PS belt fly off my 1998 R/T at Englishtown and picked up almost nothing from round to round. Who'd have thunk a power steering pump would suck up 30hp of a 132hp engine...on a straight track.

[Vigo]

I want to know the ET to know whether it got fast or just went to where it should have been anyway.. i agree with Mike's skepticism.

[ATaylorRacing]

I'll grab the racing log books out of the garage when I get time and put down the figures for you more precise. It did pick up about 3 mpg on a regular 60-65 mpg trip and I can give you the hp freed up at the tires using my drag race calculation. I was shocked at the improvement. just the weight of everything removed was under 20 lbs, not even enough for a .05 improvement. Stay tuned!

[ATaylorRacing]

OKAY...log book has been combed through and here are the real figures.
Last race before PS assembly removal, 2 time runs, 1st with a bit of spin...
16.710 and 16.615...mph was 84.51 and 83.78
Total wt of the car and driver being 2640 lbs = 113.5 and 115.1 hp at the tires using my drag strip dyno formula.

The next race with the PS removed, 2 time runs and again a bit of spin on the 1st pass...
16.171 and 16.036...mph was 85.91 and 86.41
Total wt of the car and driver being 2640 again = 126.2 and 129.5 hp at the tires.

BUT....there were air temp and air density differences which made the hp worse on the race before the removal. On the day before the removal the air temps were 89 and 89.5 with the air density being 3193 and 3065 feet.

Looking back to the past I found a couple of days with a bit better air for a better match-up.
16.566 and 16.666 at 82.87 and 81.57 mph for 116.1 and 114.0 hp.
The temp was 62 and 65 while the AD was 1330 and 1590.
16.575 and 16.580 at 80.82 and 81.10 mph for 115.9 and 115.8 hp

Removal of the entire PS assembly was worth a hair over 10 hp total. The powersteering now has a seperate belt that fits perfectly and is not disabled. I am sure removing just that belt might see another 2 hp gain? The lower the hp of a car the more any hp increase can benefit it.

As far as all of the mods to the car..."performance cat"...wink wink, throttle body from a Neon that had an automatic, home made CAI, and a Cheap V8 Camaro twin tip muffler. I have to add that the only other exhaust mod is that where the pipe goes toward the drivers side of the car we added a straight pipe that is capped for normal driving. That side exhause mod allows me to hear my tiny motor compared to the loud V8s that I race....however, when open that side exit actually slows me down a full tenth! It was run open from the first race on this year, but was normally routed to the muffler at the rear last year when my mechanic owned the car. The lighter wt rims/tire package was on it from the first race of the year and the shorter diameter tires made the car still run the same exact ets, maybe because they are 2.5 lbs each heavier than the stock sized tires?

For at least one test next year I will put on the 20 inch diameter MTs that I still have off of my GLH Turbo and see if a shorter stickier tire will make it faster yet...but I basically really enjoy driving the car to the track and not doing anything except emptying out the trunk to get ready to race!

I did pick up .597 and .635 in the difference between the two test passes before and after PS removal, but with about the same air temp and DA the amount picked up was .462 and .610.

IF you do this mod on your low hp car you can expect about this much improvement, but keep in mind that the steering will be just as if you had shut off the motor. It is a REAL pain when parking, but once over 5 mph not bad at all and has an enjoyable feel in my opinion. I do remember that on back to back passes on my old GLH turbo with and with out the PS belt on I saw virtually no et difference.

[Vigo]

Well, like i said earlier, it seems like what happened is the car went to where it was supposed to be to begin with as far as ET (and you could actually reasonably expect a little more with your mods). I have to wonder if there is something wrong with your PS pump to cause these results.

I used to have a 95 Plymouth neon sport sedan sohc/5spd. I bought it with a broken trans and ended up putting a trans from a stratus into it, which it turned out had the 3.92/"dohc" diff ratio. The other mods were HAI, atx tb, and camaro muffler just like yours. I dont know whether the cat was intact or empty. That thing RIPPED for the minor mods! I never ran it but im pretty sure it would have landed in the 15.3-15.5 range if not better, although i attribute a lot of that to the 3.92 trans. I got the car without the PS belt and added it when i got it driving. The difference was barely noticeable by the seat of the pants. Definitely not a 5 tenths improvement.

I did switch from the 185/60r14s on the sport 14x6 alloys to 205/50r15 on 15x6 shadow crabs. THAT killed off a lot of acceleration. The less powerful the car, the more effect wheel/tire weight will have on it.

Anyway, you've said many times it doesnt matter what your car runs if it is consistent, and i agree this doesnt seem like a problem worth tearing into your car over, but in my opinion your car should have started around 16.1@85 with no mods and the PS belt on, and dropped into the ~15.7 range with the small mods you have. This is just from browsing the neon forums, not personal experience.

Anyway, thanks for the info! :)

[ATaylorRacing]

I only launch at a bit over 3000 rpm, I know that the car has run in the 15s with the previous owner lowering the tire pressure a ton and launching at a LOT higher rpm. I just want to make money! The days of me wrinning the heck ot of a car just to see how fast I can make it are LONG gone. Just like my SRT4...running 12.17 at 115 while leaving at about 3300 rpm on DOTs. My short times on that car is in the 1.9-2.0 range. I'd be ib the 11s for sure if I didn't care about consistency. Old Matchbox runs 2.1-2.2 short times, leaving at only 2200 rpm and shifting at a lowly 4750 with its low reving 2.5.

[Vigo]

Im going to have to figure out how to get a 2.1 leaving at 2200 rpm. :)

Here's hoping the neon continues to make money for you.

[ATaylorRacing]

Update....kind of late. At the years end the Cheap Skate made money in 8 of my 12 races and I ended up 3rd in points in the United Manual Transmission Racers series. I am the only guy that drives his car to all of the events....every one else tows.