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Dodge Neon ACR: Reevaluating and Rallycrossing the Neon May 16, 2008

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We’ve put a few thousand miles on our Neon and honestly, we love it. It’s a great car for chuffing back and forth from work, gets great mileage and it’s an awesome rallycross car. So, we’re now wondering if we should invest a few more bucks and get the Neon that we really want…a sedan (preferably an ACR) in better shape. Decisions, Decisions.

Don’t worry, we’ll keep you in the loop.

While we decide, Per, Tom and Greg went to the Super Rallycross at Ivor Wigham’s European Rally School on Saturday. The Neon was doing very well with Greg and Per solidly in the front of Stock Front Wheel Drive when Per miscalculated a bit, putting the Neon into a dirt embankment. The damage was limited to a scraped up front bumper and a punctured oil filter which ended our day. $3.47 later, we were buttoned back up and on our way home.

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Comments

MyOldMGB:

Where did the info from the old grmotorsports web site go with what you painted the hood with? I was reading about it on the old site, but on the new one the pic and can info is missing. I'm interested in this “miracle sprayer” for a project I'm working on. Many thanks!
May 21, 2008 8:30 a.m.

Per Schroeder:

That's the Preval disposable airbrush. http://www.prevalspraygun.com/
May 21, 2008 8:35 a.m.

dextervw:

Why a sedan? You have a solid base for a car already … why put the effort into another shell if this one is holding up? Sounds like your budget rallyxer is becoming a little more than “budget”
May 23, 2008 7:04 a.m.

jamesp:

1997-99 are the years you want, 97 ACRs came with slotted Konis, and in 98, they finally managed to get the paint to quit flaking like Goldmember. The Mopar Performance PCM is easier to find for those years, as well. Really, the ACR is what you want: quicker steering, Koni suspension, stronger front hubs, shorter final drive. They're real fun to RallyCross.
May 24, 2008 11:33 p.m.

fathero5:

I just bought a 98 ACR Coupe for 1200. 185k but runs like a champ. 37 mpg and no oil use. First thing I did was pull out all of my back issues of GRM and look for anything Neon related, then I got to the May issue and saw the short article on this one. Auto karma. Looking to set it up for STS. My 14 yo is very interested and has already helped swap out the motor mounts and we are working on the bushings, a little at a time.
May 29, 2008 9 p.m.

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