I was looking at a dyno graph of the new Neon, and I noticed the torque peaks really low and then drops off by like 100lb-ft. I imagine it's simply a small turbo.

So, let's say the turbo would be upgraded such that the torque would be level all the way to redline. I extrapolated that the car would make closer to 300hp then. Would you say there'd be any more stress on the engine? I mean, the horsepower would drastically increase, but the torque and redline wouldn't...it seems like there should be absolutely no more stress on the thing. Am I correct in thinking this?

 

Nope. Often times when a motor makes a lot of torque it sacrifices the high rpm power. It has to do with the head design and the valve train design. The intake manifold also plays a role. It is the combination of these parts that is the problem. Even if you boost it with a different turbo you will still have that characteristic of low end torque and high rpm weakness.

Hondas don't have torque and it's because they are designed to rev. V8's have torque and they aren't designed to rev. VTEC and other types of valve "tricks" are designed to widen the power band. The GSR intake mani goes one step further by having two different runner lengths.

It's a system made of several parts. I suppose if you got a large turbo that didn't spool too quick and spooled higher up you could level out the torque a bit but it would be at the cost of low rpm torque.

I hope this answers your question a little bit. Oh, and about the extra stress part. Any time you increase the hp of a motor you are putting more stress on that motor and any time you rev the motor higher, you are stressing it more.

 

The only problem with that is the Neon tranny won't handle that much. torque