Back ordered strut tops got delivered so I could finally put it back together with fresh struts. I decided to stick with the KYB strut/SRT4 spring combo for now. (KYB has a decent rebate going on right now, btw.) Just needs a proper alignment and we should be ready for some track time... if racetrack things can happen this summer.
edit: The oil is changed with a nice new Bosch filter, so Prof. Brap can rest at ease. ;)
In reply to BlueInGreen - Jon (Forum Supporter) :
Hey, aligning my 2.4 car Monday.
Makes me feel much better after this last fiasco.
So I got bored, put some cheap coilovers on it, and I’ll confess it was for mostly aesthetic reasons. There is some functional purpose though; with more low it’s a lot easier to get a good alignment for racecar things.
I thought the Neon was a pretty small car until I parked it next to my brothers newly acquired Miata ;)
Yeah, it looked pretty big parked next to my Miata, too. I think the lifted height had an effect.
We had a few nice days in a row so last weekend I got the Neon started up and gave it some exercise. Almost forget how fun it is.
Between the pandemic and new baby I didn’t get to do any racecar things last summer so hopefully we’ll make that up this season. Already signed up for at least one track day at Waterford Hills, and I’d like to get out to Gingerman once or twice too. No more excuses
Get to the track and enjoy. Make sure you have a oil pressure gauge in it for track work.
Got that. One of the bonuses from the car’s past rallycross life.
Made some space in the garage at home so I could jack the Neon up for actual track prep: fresh oil, bleed brakes, new front pads, clean the air filter, rotate tires, etc.
My big stimulus $$ treat was a set of Paco Motorsports alignment stands, so I’m about to try those out for the first time.
When is your first track day at Waterford?
In reply to logdog (Forum Supporter) :
June 13, or whatever the Sunday is that weekend.
Want to make sure I get ready early since I’ll be spending Memorial Day weekend doing endurance racing things with some guy I met on the internet.
Crappy track day pic:
It was fun!
Key points:
Even on 480tw tires the little Neon wasn’t the slowest car on the track, lots of potential. It’s very very agile and easy to drive near the limit. I think playing with a more aggressive alignment will make it even better.
Per eastside’s advice, I do need to work on the pcv/catch can setup. Oil pressure didn’t drop too low but the catch can was full at the end of every session. On sticky tires with more aggressive driving it would have been an issue, I think. I was taking it pretty easy for most of the day.
Toward the end of the day I noticed a subtle clunk from the front end while turning. It isn’t anything obvious or immediately unsafe in the steering or suspension so I need to get the car in the air and check everything... just as soon as I figure out why my wife’s car won’t start and fix the power steering leak on the station wagon.
If I can make it work between other summer activities I want to get to a RallyCross with this car, so I think I’ll reinstall the taller springs and skid plate, switch it back to “rally mode” for the rest of the summer.
Tragedy: I leaned on the dash wrong while wiping the inside of the windshield. 20+ year old plastic is brittle :(
I'm actually really sad about it because the interior in this little car was pretty good.
Yikes, I didn't realize the dashboard was actually brittle. I wouldn't have smacked it so many times when the gauge cluster was going out before wae reflowed the solder joints.
Midwest storms doing what they do... More bad luck for the Neon. Or maybe good luck? I think the only damage is the dent by the tail light and some scratches. When I saw the tree down I thought for sure I'd be cleaning up broken glass.
At least it looks like it's still driveable
In reply to BlueInGreen - Jon :
That sucks so bad! You can probably get alot of that dent out.
So this one might be up for sale soon. I've been driving it to work once in a while during the last few months to give it some exercise but that's about it.
It's a fun car but doesn't really have a purpose in my little fleet anymore. Too much race car to be a great commuter, don't want to sacrifice it to salty winter roads, my wife doesn't love it so it doesn't make sense to keep around as a fun weekend or date night car, and I don't really do enough race car stuff outside of the Champcar team to maintain my own dedicated track day/competition car.
Going to start cleaning it up and cataloguing the parts stash and stuff.
In reply to BlueInGreen - Jon :
Makes me sad, but I'm sure you will find a great.l home for it.
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