Dodge Neon

[1] The Neon will be replaced in the spring of 2006 with the 2007 Dodge Caliber, which is based on the shared Chrysler/Mitsubishi Motors GS platform. This is a commonly used, yet fanciful term, implying that an ordinary latex or oil-based paint has the same properties as true, fired enamel. DaimlerChrysler discontinued the Neon line, with the final cars assembled on September 23, 2005 at the Belvidere Assembly plant in Belvidere, Illinois. Some paints are called "enamel paints". The ACR and R/T models were discontinued for 2005. This produces tiny specks of both colours; although the eye can be tricked by grinding colors together to an extremely fine, flour-like, powder. In 2002, the front clip was changed to match the R/T and ACR front clip. Different enamel colours cannot be mixed to make a new colour, in the manner of paint.

In Australia, the Chrysler Neon was discontinued in 2002, due to declining sales and expensive price compared to its competitors. Enamel can be either transparent, opaque or opalescent (translucent), which is a variety that gains a milky opacity the longer it is fired. In an attempt to rid the car of its reputation, the Neon's name was changed to SX 2.0 in Canada in 2003, though the Dodge Neon was eventually brought back. The last creates delicate shades ranging from pure violet through wine-red and warm gray. The Neon never did get rear power windows, making do with manual rear windows and front power windows. Color in enamel is obtained by the addition of various minerals, often metal oxides cobalt, praseodymium, iron, or neodymium. This was improved a year later. Some techniques of enameling:.

A four-speed automatic made its way into the Neon in 2002, with moderately poorly set up gearing. According to some sources, the word enamel comes from the High German word smelzan (to smelt) via the Old French esmail. However, this hurt gas mileage and made the car noisier on the highway, and eventually the original gear ratios were restored along with the original gas mileage. Enameling was a favorite technique of the Art Nouveau jewellers. Originally, the second generation Neon featured a five-speed manual transmission using the former ACR gear ratios to make up for the acceleration loss caused by greater weight. The bright, jewel-like colors have also made enamel a favored choice for designers of jewelry and bibelots, such as ancient beads, the fantastic eggs of Peter Carl Fabergé, enameled copper boxes of Battersea enamellers, and artists such as George Stubbs and other painters of portrait miniatures. The 1.6 L unit is a variation of the 2.0 L SOHC engine designed by Chrysler and built jointly by Chrysler and Rover. Other practitioners include the ancient Greeks, Celts, Russians, and the Chinese.

Besides the 2.0 L engine, it also used the same Tritec 1.6 L unit found in the BMW MINI prior to 2007. The ancient Egyptians applied enamels to pottery and stone objects. In Europe, Australia, and Asia, the car has always been sold as a Chrysler, as Dodge and Plymouth were not available there. Enamelling is an old and widely-adopted technology. When DaimlerChrysler discontinued the Plymouth brand in 2000, the former Plymouth Neon and Dodge Neon were briefly sold under the Chrysler name in Canada until 2002. The durability of enamel has given it many functional applications, including: early 20th century advertising signs, interior walls of ovens, speckleware cooking pots, exterior walls of high quality kitchen appliances, cast iron bathtubs, storage silos on farms and process equipment such as chemical reactors and tanks for the chemical and pharmaceutical process industries. This, along with the discontinuance of the DOHC engine, caused the second generation car to be less competitive on a race track. Disadvantages are its tendency to crack or shatter when the substrate is stressed or bent.

The more refined interior and greater size did, however, come at the cost of increased weight. Vitreous enamel has many excellent properties: it is smooth, hard, chemically resistant, durable, can take on long-lasting, brilliant colors, and cannot burn. Numerous other NVH refinements led to a much quieter and enjoyable passenger car. Also, an "enamel" is a decorative object, usually very small, having an enamel coating, such as a piece of champlevé or cloisonné. Frameless windows (which would pull away from the door in a strong crosswind) were replaced with a full-framed door. Vitreous enamel can be applied to most metals. It was advertised that the second generation Neon had over 1,000 refinements from the original generation. It is often applied in a paste form and may be transparent or opaque when fired.

The second generation was much more refined than the first-generation car. The powder melts and flows to harden as a smooth, durable vitreous coating on metal, glass or ceramic. In some regions, including the United States, the sole engine was the 2.0 L SOHC engine, with an optional Magnum configuration (including an active intake manifold) that produced 150 hp. In a discussion of art technology, enamel (or vitreous enamel, or porcelain enamel in American English) is the colorful result of fusion of powdered glass to a substrate through the process of firing, usually between 750 and 850 degrees Celsius. The second-generation Neon was only available as a 4-door sedan. Counter enameling, not strictly a technique, but a necessary step in many techniques, is to apply enamel to the back of a piece as well - sandwiching the metal - to create less tension on the glass so it does not crack. Sales of the second generation model started with model year 2000 and production ended with the 2005 model year. Sgrafitto, where an unfired layer of enamel is applied over a previously fired layer of enamel of a contrasting color, and then partly removed with a tool to create the design.

In Europe, the car was also available with a 1.8 L engine. The stencil is removed before firing, the enamel staying in a pattern, slightly raised. In the United States, the lineup started out as Base, Highline, and Sport, with different styles and options in each line, but the lineup titles changed frequently (other trim lines included Expresso, SE, ES, SXT, ACR, and R/T). Stenciling, where a stencil is placed over the work and the powdered enamel is sifted over the top. Later, the LX model was replaced by the LE with the updated model in 1999. A 3D type of enameling where a sculptural form is completely or partly enameled. The Australian-market Chrysler Neon came in two models, the SE and the better equipped LX. Ronde bosse, French for "round bump".

The mid-level Highline models were well known for their unique "bubble" hubcap design. It has a stained-glass like appearance. These covers would not shine like paint, but they absorbed scuffs and scrapes with less notice. Plique-à-jour, French for "braid letting in daylight" where the enamel is applied in cells, similar to champlevé, but with no backing, so light can shine through the transparent or translucent enamel. Certain color Neons, such as red and black, had bumper covers molded in color rather than painted. It is a form of Grisaille. The air conditioning evaporator proved to be prone to failure after warranties expired (a problem apparently addressed in later years) which is an expensive repair since it is relatively inaccessible. Limoges, named after the town in France where it was invented, is the technique of "painting" with an especial enamel called "blanc de limoges" over a dark enamelled surface to form a detailed picture, often human figure.

Owners often would disable the contact on the selector knob allowing them to use the defroster without air conditioning. Grisaille, French term meaning "greying", where dark, often blue or black background is applied, then limoges or opalescent (translucent) enamel is applied on top, building up designs in a monochrome gradient, paler as the thickness of the layer of light color increases. Also, the car automatically turned on the air conditioning whenever the defroster was used, regardless of which side the fan control was set own. Cloisonné, French for "cell", where thin copper, silver or gold wires form walls which separate different areas. The latter caused less conscious drivers to drive consistently with the air conditioner on, which greatly hurt power and gas mileage, since the unit was quite powerful. Champlevé, French for "raised field", where enamel is fired around raised fields of metal, leaving the metal exposed. Neons also suffered from some interesting design choices, including the impossibility of gaining power windows in the rear doors, and a climate control system which had drivers move the fan knob in one direction for air conditioning and the other for vent. The surface of the metal is decorated with a low relief design which can be seen through translucent and transparent enamels.

Unfortunately, the Neon's early reputation for poor reliability persists even today, possibly because Chrysler failed to adequately publicize its improvements or proactively reach out to customers who had experienced failures. Basse-taille, from the French word meaning "low-cut". Either way, by the end of the first generation, most of the major problems had been sorted out and the Neon proved to be a reliable car. Many early Neons suffered from poor paint jobs, where the paint became brittle and peeled off in sheets, partly because of teething problems with a new environmentally-friendly "dry painting" process. There were also rumors that 1 of the 8 head bolt holes had been drilled slightly too shallow on many of the blocks, so when the bolt was tightened it simply "bottomed out" instead of holding the head to the block with the correct amount of force.

By November 1998, the head gasket had been replaced with a new MLS (Multi Layer Steel) design which proved to be much more reliable and was standard in most 1999 models and was also retrofitted to earlier models. Early Neons had from a number of reliability problems, the most famous being head gasket failures. Even second generation Neons had a strong racing record. The computer-controlled top speed limiter was removed entirely on 1995 ACR models and raised from the standard 190 km/h (118 mph) to 210 km/h (130 mph) on both the ACR and R/T models for subsequent years.

Both the ACR and the more feature-laden R/T (introduced in the 1998 model year) models, each available as either a sedan or a coupe, featured four-wheel disc brakes; performance-oriented suspensions with shorter, stiffer springs, beefier swaybars, and fast-ratio steering; and a 5-speed transmission with a numerically higher 5th gear and final drive ratio for quicker acceleration. The no-frills SOHC or DOHC-equipped ACR (ACR = American Club Racer, sedans and coupes, respectively) variants are well-known as affordable amateur racing cars. First-generation Neons are highly competitive in Solo I and Solo II autocross racing. In addition, the Neon made a sizable profit - the only recent American car in its class to do so.

The Neon's torque was also higher than competitors. Often neglected in discussions of the Neon is the relative horsepower compared to other cars of the day - the Civic DX at 102, the Civic EX at 125, the Sentra and Sunbird at 110, the Escort at 88, the Corolla at 115, etc. The Neon was available with a 3-speed automatic transmission or a 5-speed manual transmission and was sold as a Dodge and Plymouth in the United States, as a Dodge and Chrysler (also under the name 2.0SX) in Canada, and as the Chrysler Neon outside of North America. It was powered by either a 132 hp SAE (98 kW) 2.0 L SOHC or a 150 hp SAE (112 kW) 2.0 L DOHC 4-cylinder engine.

It was available as a 4-door sedan or 2-door coupe. The first generation Neon was introduced in January 1994 and manufactured for model years 1995 to 1999. . The Dodge Neon came in many different versions throught its production, but the most lusted-after model is the Dodge SRT-4, due to its low price and better than average performance.

It was produced as a front wheel drive car to replace the Dodge Shadow and Plymouth Sundance, as well as the Dodge/Plymouth Colt series. For a brief time in Canada and export markets outside the United States, it carried Chrysler badges. The Neon (also called the Dodge SX 2.0 in Canada) was a compact car built from 1995 through 2005 by DaimlerChrysler's Dodge and Plymouth brands.