Two Guys and a Neon The First ACR

Last issue we covered the successful Neon ACR program’s successes on the track. This issue we wanted to go behind the scenes to detail its development by Chrysler engineering.

Words: Roger Meiners

The original Neon initially had a “soft” reputation that Small-Car Platform Vehicle Development Director John Fernandez wanted to toughen by getting the car into motorsports. Fernandez got marketing and PR momentum behind the program and laid out several venues in which the Neon would compete: a spec series that later became the PPG Neon Challenge, SCCA Club Racing, SCCA Pro Solo and SCCA Solo 2. See pages 25–27 in the previous issue of Mopar® Magazine for details.

Fernandez appointed vehicle development engineer Gary Johnson to be the Neon racing program manager. Johnson said, “I was working for John as the lead vehicle development engineer for the sporty/small vehicles and he knew my passion for racing and my racing history. It was a perfect match.”

Johnson in turn recruited Brad Dotson, a brake development engineer working out of JTE, the Plymouth Rd. Jeep/Truck Engineering facility in Detroit. The two raced together during the late 1980s, so Johnson knew what Dotson could do and wanted his help.

Dotson kept his day job and worked on the Neon racing project after hours. “I had a sympathetic boss who would let me go on out-of-town trips for the ACR project,” he said. “I met John Fernandez when we hosted the Formula SAE runoffs in 1993 at CTC [Chrysler Technology Center, Auburn Hills, Mich.]” Later Fernandez hired him into resident engineering, where he was a liaison with engineers at the plants.

They nicknamed the Neon program the “Club Racer” project, but later needed a name for the car. Over lunch one day Gary suggested “ACR” to Fernandez. It meant American Club Racer. Fernandez liked it—and the sales code ACR was also available, so it all came together at the beginning of what would be a very successful project, lasting the better part of a decade, from 1994 through the 2002 model years.

For the first generation ACR, Johnson and Dotson went through the parts bins for the European version of the Neon and selected a quicker-ratio steering box, four-wheel non-ABS disc brakes, heavy-duty shocks and springs and a unique transaxle. The overdrive fifth gear was .72:1 instead of .81:1, moving it closer to fourth gear for better acceleration. The final drive ratio was 3.94:1 vs. the regular Neon’s 3.56:1. The speed limiter was removed from the first-generation ACR, and set to 130 mph in the second-generation cars, instead of the stock 118 mph setting.

“We did away with anti-lock brakes because the system wasn’t happy with road racing,” said Dotson. Front-wheel-drive showroom stock race cars lift the inside rear wheel in the turns, which fooled the ABS system into thinking the brakes were locked and activating ABS, which made the brakes less powerful. “If today’s more advanced systems were available then, it might have been preferable to have ABS on the cars,” said Johnson.

The team, working with McKenna Industries, developed a roll cage system. “Most roll cages at the time were attached to the car’s sheet metal floor,” said Johnson. “We made sure it attached to major frame components. The cage also went through the dash (right through the speaker grilles) to allow more friendly driver ingress.

The first ACR cars had adjustable front suspension camber through slots in the front strut towers to allow the top of the strut to be moved inward, increasing negative camber. Initial unique ACR suspension parts were supplied by Arvin Industries. The dampers were non-adjustable sealed units, but these were later superseded by Koni rebound-adjustable units and then Multimatic’s Dynamic Suspension division supplied double adjustable shocks (jounce and rebound).

“Our test driver at the beginning of the ACR development program didn’t work out, so Gary stepped in,” said Dotson. Johnson did all the development testing and, when the team needed more track time, he reactivated his racing license so he could run the car at Waterford test days and also at various tracks around the country—Lime Rock, Conn.; Firebird, Ariz.; Willow Springs, Calif.; Mid-Ohio Sportscar Course and Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wis., among others.

Johnson’s first test drive was at Firebird. “I hit the brakes for the first corner and the car went sideways,” he said. “I almost hit the wall because, with the racing tires, the brake balance wasn’t right.”

The first test of a built-up ACR-spec car occurred on Sept. 16, 1993 at Firebird Raceway in Arizona. Johnson said, “It was the right place to do it because Firebird is near the Arizona Proving Ground and so we based ourselves there and also recruited crew members from the facility.” John Fernandez also came to the test. He was an extremely good race driver with tons of experience, so his input was valuable. Chrysler engineering VP Francois Castaing did some driving in December 1993, and another VP, Jean Mallebay-Vacqueur, got behind the wheel at least once at Firebird.

“John Fernandez previously had worked with Carroll Shelby in California. John invited him to come out to Willow Springs to see some testing,” said Johnson, who was thrilled to meet the legendary driver and car builder.

The first development cars had inadequate cooling because they used the non-A/C cooling module. 
Johnson and Dotson quickly substituted the cooling module for air-conditioning, but without the A/C condenser.

The car’s front hub was a potentially serious problem that was quickly solved by developing a new part with a thicker flange. They did bench tests to stress the new flange and then went to Putnam Park Raceway in Indianapolis and did a simultaneous test of the original hub compared to the thicker-flange hub. Chrysler made 40 hours the milestone for hub change and had no problems.

The program also sold ACRs for solo events. These were “autocrosses” that were run on parking lot courses laid out with orange cones. The autocrossers set up their ACRs to make quick transitions—set up loose so the car would rotate quickly through the cone-marked turns. Solo competitors also had a “parts bin” or “parts-swapping” approach wherein they would identify production parts that could deliver the desired handling characteristics. Tire pressures were also utilized for tuning, with bigger differences front-to-rear and higher pressures overall than road racers used. Stickier tire compounds were fitted to get heat into the tires quicker.

The ACR team later created an option package for the ACR to accommodate the autocrossers, who generally used their cars as daily drivers. They wanted more comfortable seats, air conditioning (especially in the southern states) and such amenities as a leather steering wheel, shift knob and a good radio/CD player. “We put a package together and called it the American National Championship package (ANC),” said Johnson. “To celebrate the Solo Championship won by Steve Brolliar.”

Also, the Arvin dampers on the first generation ACRs were very stiff. A switch to an adjustable shock (Koni rebound-adjustable and the later double adjustable shocks from British-based Dynamic Suspension) allowed drivers to soften the settings for daily use and tighten them up for racing and solo work.

The car was shown for the first time at the SCCA Runoffs at Road Atlanta. “We built 127 cars the first year,” said Johnson. Part of the requirements for program approval was that they were to be built on the regular production line at Belvidere. No extra or dedicated labor would be used for ACR builds. Getting that done was a major part of the program. They spent many hours sourcing, testing and releasing all the ACR-specific parts into the mainstream Chrysler system for production.

Then, Johnson and Dotson spent long days at the plant going over procedures to get the special parts sequenced into the system for production.

“It was pretty scary since we never built a pilot car in the plant,” said Johnson. “We just pulled the switch and everything worked. We stuck to the launch date and successfully built ten cars in a batch the first day.” The ACR was designed to be just another body model to the plant. But it was actually more, because of the interest in racing at the Belvedere plant. The ACR team made sure this interest remained high, by working with the plant to put on several events at the plant. “We brought in the local SCCA region to lay out an autocross course and we invited plant personnel to ride or drive the ACRs they built,” said Johnson.

There were a few innovations in the overall program; a customer hotline to get information and solutions directly from the ACR engineering team. Marketing published Neon Racing Report to keep ACR runners up to date on the latest issues and solutions.

“While the car initially came only in a sedan model, the twin cam coupe was launched in early 1995 and was another hit – this time with improved sales figures over the sedan,“ said Johnson. “Still, at the ’95 SCCA Championship Runoffs, we had 26 Neon ACR sedans racing out of a field of 39 SSC cars. Erich Heuschele won the race and this started the long list of major wins for the car.”

“At the beginning of the program, the SCCA would not allow us to use any non-production parts on the base car,” said Dotson. But as the years went by we were allowed to change certain components for safety reasons. These included the driver’s seat. But then it went to the extreme where you could get a box of parts with the car. We called it a “trunk kit.” “SCCA allowed our competitors a lot more freedom with their trunk kits,” said Dotson. “Mazda in particular didn’t like our Neon beating their Miata, so they needed help and they got it, putting the Neon at a disadvantage.”

By the time the second generation Neon was launched, Gary had moved on to the Chrysler International group and Brad was put in charge of the program. The 2000 Neon was a lot more refined which created some challenges for Brad. “Some of the changes to the car increased weight which was directionally opposite of our needs in the racing group”, said Dotson. But with some tweaking to the suspension, the improved intake system on the new car, and some weight management work, the 2nd generation car could be competitive to the original car.

Meanwhile marketing had to shift support to newer products and so the contingency fund dried up. The ACR package was dropped after the 2002 season. Dotson became program manager for the original SRT4® and Johnson was that car’s product planner. They both remain at Chrysler today.

Roger Meiners is a veteran automotive historian, writer and photographer with 35-years experience as an executive in the OEM automotive industry.