I had a first year Neon, purchased off the lot in October of 1994. It was a five-speed. The difference between the five-speed stick and the three-speed automatic was all the difference in the world. The automatic Neon was an inefficient commuter rental that couldn't get out of its own way. The five speed stick, however, really unlocked the power and brought the engine to life. What a blast to drive! It was our family car. I never made any mods to it. It obviously was not as fast as the one in this video. There was no SRT-4 back then. Mine was not even the Sport model with the higher output engine. It was just a humble little Highline with 132 horsepower and 137 pound feet of torque. But man, it loved to wind out and be thrashed! First gear was really a granny gear. You could drive it off a cliff and it wouldn't go over 15 miles an hour in first gear. It was perfect for coasting down steep hills unassisted. On the other hand, 5th gear was super tall. I read an article one day where a guy was bragging that his 1980s Camaro could do 90 mph in third gear. I thought to myself, "I'll bet the Neon will do that." Sure enough, I wound it out to 90 mph without quite reaching the 6500 RPM red line. And it handled like a go-kart. My wife and I were arguing one time while coming off a ramp. Before I knew it, I'd entered a sharp left at the end of it at 55 mph in cruise, and 100 ft up in the air. Ha! I did manage to hit the brakes in the middle and slow down enough to get through, but it was the Goodyear Eagles chirping through the curve, the Neon's relatively taut suspension hunkering down, and the hand of God that kept me on that ramp that day. Then there is the time I was late for dinner in Charlotte after getting off work in Asheville. It was a Friday evening. I hit a stretch of the interstate that was empty between two small towns, and I thought I'd stretch it out and see what I could do to catch up on a few minutes if I could. I hit about 105 mph and still had 1500 RPMs left on the tach. The Neon was still very composed at that speed. Fun! The officer thought so, too. He could have immediately impounded my car and taken me to jail. Instead, he met me on the court date and put in a good word with the DA. I got the charge reduced to reckless driving and walked out a free man after paying a $274 ticket. I was working man with a young family. That, too, was the hand of God, no doubt about it. The other blessing of that tall fifth gear was great gas mileage. I usually got about 38 to 40 miles per gallon on the highway, but one time, driving from Nashville to Birmingham, I actually got 46 mpg! I triple check my math. It never happened again, but it did happen. All this fun, and it wasn't even a Dodge. It was a Plymouth! I never had any major power train issues. No overheating, no head gasket or valve issues at all. By the end, The engine and transmission were about all that worked on it. I had it for 15 years and put a solid 300,000 miles on it before I sold it to a teenager. In that time, I had put one clutch pack in it. It was a jalopy when I gave it to him for $250. I still miss driving it. We bought it four years before our first daughter was born and had it until she was about 12 years old. The Neon's replacement in the Chrysler lineup, the Dodge Caliber, was a joke. A 1,000 lb. heavier, much slower, and pitifully inefficient, the Caliber felt like a middle finger to every person who had ever purchased a Neon. Plymouth is long gone. Dodge might as well be. It was a time and a place, and they say you can't step in the same river twice. I'm glad someone's still having fun with first generation Neons! Good times! I know mine were.
1st year 1st gen neon 5speeds were the ballsiest of them. And the ACR versions gave ideas for the hopping commuter versions. I had one 4dr thats ex-wife bought new November 1994. Biggest pos in reliability but still got 267,000 until selling November 2011. Go cart handling, extra power without a/c belt connected, replacement free breathing exhaust system, 110 mph top end but took forever to wind it out. Was fun but took too much work to keep on the road.
You hit 200 in a basic looking SRT4 you better sell merch. You need to. We love it. Us Dawgs with $20 itching to say how proud we are of you. Get it baby! You deserve it. Did I say $20... $30... Fuk yeah!
Wow, one of most derided cars here in Australia but that thing is just so cool. Never got the 2 door here but set up wise that rocket looks as good as a WRX Subie.
Seeing what you guys can do with a Neon got anything for performance for the old 8 Valve SOHC 2.2/2.5 turbo Shelby Chryslers 😁 from the 80's and 90's those where sleepers of that era!
@@wiscopyro that i know, ive got a built 1st gen, i wish there was people like the guys over at modern for the K platform stuff but thats a little old lol, can hardly find parts or support and my shadow needs to keep up with the neon
My first gen I didn't speed too much just 85-95 mph probably. I only went 118-120(stock and limited to 118) in my 2000 Neon, and it felt pretty stable at that speed but 190-200, I'm curious how it felt at that speed and what you did to for stability if anything?
Hurt a lot of feelings with mine and could never imagine 200mph in it. I hooked up with the guy's in west Virginia for my aftermarket part's. It wasn't an r/t and it had no hairdryer on it.
Just wondering, who tuned it?? What is it tuned on, and is the trans have stock gearing?? Been 175 in a 4th gen viper, 135 in my srt4, 200 mph in a first gen!!! Damm..
That is so impressive! Awesome job guys! That's crazy hahaha 👏 👏 👏
Thank you!! 😁
I had a first year Neon, purchased off the lot in October of 1994. It was a five-speed. The difference between the five-speed stick and the three-speed automatic was all the difference in the world.
The automatic Neon was an inefficient commuter rental that couldn't get out of its own way. The five speed stick, however, really unlocked the power and brought the engine to life. What a blast to drive!
It was our family car. I never made any mods to it. It obviously was not as fast as the one in this video. There was no SRT-4 back then. Mine was not even the Sport model with the higher output engine. It was just a humble little Highline with 132 horsepower and 137 pound feet of torque.
But man, it loved to wind out and be thrashed! First gear was really a granny gear. You could drive it off a cliff and it wouldn't go over 15 miles an hour in first gear. It was perfect for coasting down steep hills unassisted.
On the other hand, 5th gear was super tall. I read an article one day where a guy was bragging that his 1980s Camaro could do 90 mph in third gear. I thought to myself, "I'll bet the Neon will do that." Sure enough, I wound it out to 90 mph without quite reaching the 6500 RPM red line.
And it handled like a go-kart. My wife and I were arguing one time while coming off a ramp. Before I knew it, I'd entered a sharp left at the end of it at 55 mph in cruise, and 100 ft up in the air. Ha! I did manage to hit the brakes in the middle and slow down enough to get through, but it was the Goodyear Eagles chirping through the curve, the Neon's relatively taut suspension hunkering down, and the hand of God that kept me on that ramp that day.
Then there is the time I was late for dinner in Charlotte after getting off work in Asheville. It was a Friday evening. I hit a stretch of the interstate that was empty between two small towns, and I thought I'd stretch it out and see what I could do to catch up on a few minutes if I could. I hit about 105 mph and still had 1500 RPMs left on the tach. The Neon was still very composed at that speed. Fun!
The officer thought so, too. He could have immediately impounded my car and taken me to jail. Instead, he met me on the court date and put in a good word with the DA. I got the charge reduced to reckless driving and walked out a free man after paying a $274 ticket. I was working man with a young family. That, too, was the hand of God, no doubt about it.
The other blessing of that tall fifth gear was great gas mileage. I usually got about 38 to 40 miles per gallon on the highway, but one time, driving from Nashville to Birmingham, I actually got 46 mpg! I triple check my math. It never happened again, but it did happen.
All this fun, and it wasn't even a Dodge. It was a Plymouth!
I never had any major power train issues. No overheating, no head gasket or valve issues at all. By the end, The engine and transmission were about all that worked on it. I had it for 15 years and put a solid 300,000 miles on it before I sold it to a teenager. In that time, I had put one clutch pack in it. It was a jalopy when I gave it to him for $250.
I still miss driving it. We bought it four years before our first daughter was born and had it until she was about 12 years old.
The Neon's replacement in the Chrysler lineup, the Dodge Caliber, was a joke. A 1,000 lb. heavier, much slower, and pitifully inefficient, the Caliber felt like a middle finger to every person who had ever purchased a Neon.
Plymouth is long gone. Dodge might as well be. It was a time and a place, and they say you can't step in the same river twice. I'm glad someone's still having fun with first generation Neons! Good times! I know mine were.
TLDR
1st year 1st gen neon 5speeds were the ballsiest of them. And the ACR versions gave ideas for the hopping commuter versions. I had one 4dr thats ex-wife bought new November 1994. Biggest pos in reliability but still got 267,000 until selling November 2011. Go cart handling, extra power without a/c belt connected, replacement free breathing exhaust system, 110 mph top end but took forever to wind it out. Was fun but took too much work to keep on the road.
Congrats on the 200.9 run. It was really cool watching yall run the car while I was staged in the grid.
thanks
Found your video on Jalopnik! Awesome job, truly impressive!
Thank you
Beautiful car and a great accomplishment!
Thank you!
Soy fanatico del dodge.neon
Define Sleeper with just two words....... BLUE NEON.... insane run congrats. 🏎💨💯💯
Thanks
You hit 200 in a basic looking SRT4 you better sell merch. You need to. We love it. Us Dawgs with $20 itching to say how proud we are of you. Get it baby! You deserve it. Did I say $20... $30... Fuk yeah!
Not even a SRT4 its a 1st gen RT
Hell yeah! 200 club ftw go neon!! Gearing mustve been crazy
thank you stock t850 trans nothing special
Wow, one of most derided cars here in Australia but that thing is just so cool. Never got the 2 door here but set up wise that rocket looks as good as a WRX Subie.
Any idea what's the exhaust setup? Sounds really nice and clean
200 mph with no aero? pretty impressive. How light was that front end?
The car has some Aero work it is just hidden and tasteful.LOL
So cool, reminds me of my Yugo.
Seeing what you guys can do with a Neon got anything for performance for the old 8 Valve SOHC 2.2/2.5 turbo Shelby Chryslers 😁 from the 80's and 90's those where sleepers of that era!
Yeah, neon dohc head.
Weren't they called "tire frying econo boxes" back then. The Omni GLH turbo was a beast for it's time.
@@blown572hemii’ve been getting into the 80s/90s chrysler, is that easily possible?
@eliweber724
There's tons of support for Neons via Modern Performance and the neon forum plus Facebook groups.
@@wiscopyro that i know, ive got a built 1st gen, i wish there was people like the guys over at modern for the K platform stuff but thats a little old lol, can hardly find parts or support and my shadow needs to keep up with the neon
Neon's 4 life. GG brother ✊🏼✊🏼✊🏼
Thanks
ya'll need a better camera inside the car lol, regardless beautiful accomplishment what a build.
That’s awesome
I miss my neons, had 4-5 of them and 2 SRT-4's.
But I am very happy moving on to the BMW platforms. 2xM3's and my current Supra
Congrats yall!
Thank you!
I had a 95 Neon it was super fun to drive! I had it on Eibach sportline springs with the K car pizza wheels painted body color with a polished lip lol
Very cool!
My first gen I didn't speed too much just 85-95 mph probably. I only went 118-120(stock and limited to 118) in my 2000 Neon, and it felt pretty stable at that speed but 190-200, I'm curious how it felt at that speed and what you did to for stability if anything?
damn! Ive been 140 in a 1st gen and it was SPOOKY... how stable is it up there?
Hurt a lot of feelings with mine and could never imagine 200mph in it. I hooked up with the guy's in west Virginia for my aftermarket part's. It wasn't an r/t and it had no hairdryer on it.
Great job! Can you fit AWD in that thing?
Unfortunately not
Let me be your camera man!
Just wondering, who tuned it?? What is it tuned on, and is the trans have stock gearing?? Been 175 in a 4th gen viper, 135 in my srt4, 200 mph in a first gen!!! Damm..
I tuned it with hptuners t850 trans
Congratulations man
Thanks
Did u end up getting dyno numbers on the ram2500 with headers
Nice
How fast was the neon in the 1/2 mile??
159
Wow!!
The power bubble goes 200 dayyum
I want a shirt 👕
I had a Neon back in the day, good car, soild. Thrashy though, sounded like a washing maching on strike. Never broke though.
Thanks for sharing
Nice job. Makes me want to get a 1g neon and swap the srt 4 motor in
How much WHP was it?