This system is made of T-304 stainless steel and is a turbo style muffler. It has Borla's patented "Intercooled" Tip. Borla claims an 8% improvement in hp for this unit. The testing was conducted on a DOHC Neon about a year ago. There are no numbers for a SOHC Neon. If there is a Neon owner out there willing to test the Borla vs. the stock muffler I will post the results on this page. Borla in the past and with this system takes the weakest point of an exhaust system and changes it to get the best improvement for the money. I can't fault them here at all since the Neon comes from the factory with 2 1/4 inch stainless-steel exhaust system. Cost $190-250

Cat-back systems work well on cars the have serious "crush" type bends in the exhaust system. Since the Neon doesn't suffer from that, there's no real advantage to using this system on a Normally Aspirated Neon. However there is a advantage if you are using NOS, going to turbo or supercharge your Neon. The system replaces everything from the cat to the rear of the Neon. It's pipe diameter is 2 1/2 inch, 16 gauge, mandrel bent steel. Some people don't like cause it looks too much like the stock DOHC muffler. If like to keep a low proflie maybe this one is for you. (Update) Shane Hale has installed this exhaust on his Neon ACE coupe. If you would like to know what he thinks about the system go back to the main page and click on his Neon for his web page. Cost $150-225

Well with this system you either love it or hate it. If your a member of the Neon Mailing List then you know what I mean. What else it there to say about it? Well not what already has been said, but I'll say a few words about it. It's made of 2 1/2 inch, mandrel bent tubing, has dual output muffler and dual 3" angle-cut tips. While it looks great some people question the quality and workmanship of the system. I say if you like it get it, if you don't then don't. One word of caution, if you live back east or in the "rust" belt I might think twice about it, but some of the people that have this exhaust report few if any problems with rust, loudness, etc. Ask somebody that has one.... Cost $150-200

This Neon belongs to Rick Meneses of Fall River, MA (Thanks Rick!) He has won many trophies with his Neon. If you want to find out more click on the picture.

This muffler is very much like the Borla muffler, it also uses a normal turbo-style muffler. It has a 4.5 inch oval tip. It's made from T-304 stainless-steel. Cost $180-240

Again alot like the Borla and the Genie exhaust. It's stainless steel and features a 3 1/2" tip. I had a chance to talk to some of the people at Brospeed at the Import Auto Salon on the week of Feb. 20th. I will be getting support from Brospeed in return for using there new exhaust system on my Neon during the '98 Import Drag racing season.

I have had alot of input to in this exhaust and first went to Chuck at Thermal R&D with the idea. This is the BEST looking and sounding exhaust for Neon period. I have seen and heard most of the others on the market and this is still the best. It features a stainless-steel welded muffler (fully polished with Thermal engraved on the casing), dual outlet with dual 3" angle cut rolled lip tips (with again Thermal engraved on EACH TIP). It's also a straight-through design muffler, which allows less backpressure than turbo muffler designs. The tone is very deep at idle and sound better as the RPMs go up. But it's not that loud at all. The main reason for less noise output, is the 18" case that Thermal desided to go with during the design process. We tested the muffler at SoCal Neon/Pacific Neon Performance Dyno Day at SHO Shop in Huntington Beach, Ca. The results were pretty good, and somewhat better than expected. Take a look below

I won't dwell on it too much more, but I think something has to be said about header(s). The subjuct just goes around and around on the mailing list, nobody seems to provide a REAL answer. Here's what I know. First the Pacesetter WILL improve performance, but not as much as you might think. First you have to understand that the intake side of any neon cylinder head is not the problem, it's the exhaust side. With the Pacsetter in place (I'm talking about the NEW 2nd generation model) you can expect up to 6-8hp at the wheels on a DOHC and about the same for the SOHC. Not what you thought huh? The main reason seems to be the primaries are too short and the longer ones are needed for more hp and torque. From what I know the Kirk Engineering header is the BEST header out there for the Neon engine. Don't worry about the HotShot, it's just like the Pacesetter. Now GUDE has been working on a header for Neons for the better part of the last two years. The first header(s) were long tube designs like the Kirk, but people complained about the "drone" that the header made at freeway speeds. So from there he just made the headers shorter and shorter till they were just like the Pacesetter. Now were not making enough power, just like the Pacesetter/HotShot. So the NEW header he desiged is what I call a mid-length header. Short enough to bolt up to the cat if you cut some of the piping and long enough to make some serious power. I plan on having a set of these headers for dyno testing at the SoCal Neon Dyno Day coming up soon. If you would like some info on how you might be one of the cars test with this header, please e-mail me.