Need for Speed? I'll settle for.. some help

Need for Speed? I'll settle for..

just a little get up and go.
heh.

anyways I'm pretty much a complete and total noob when it comes to Hondas and modding/performance/etc so this could be a fun summer
-recently I purchased a 95 Civic LX, with the 1.5L engine, and an Auto Tranny. I love the little car and it's great on gas and runs fine and everything but I'm stepping from a 160HP turbo Audi to this and I can definately see where my new toy is lacking in the horsepower department.

I would like to get a little more power out of this set-up if possible. I've never added on anything performance wise to a car before and price is a definate consideration since I'm pretty much poorer than dirt... (Guess I could've used that as a nick eh?) I'm looking at possibly a few minor additions and wondered if you could give any advice either on these items or on other things I havent' thought of yet.

1- ram air intake... I've seen both short and long pipes all similar to this (http://abacus.sj.ipixmedia.com/abc/M...7ad137/i-1.JPG) Not sure if short or long would be better...

2- maybe a Mugen spec chip to add a little more fuel to the engine..

Yep that's all I've come up with- like I said I'm new and know basically nothing. The chip may be WAY out of my league but doing some searching on the net these seem to be 2 common things that I've come up with.

My main concern would be - what are the negative effects of doing either of these? Will these greatly reduce my gas mileage? Extra amount of engine wear and tear? is my car even worth doing anything to?? Am I off the mark as to how to get it?

Keep in mind that I have ZERO interest in racing or getting this to be some kind of high performance car-- I just want a little more Oooomph than I have now - and for the least amount of money

any suggestions-comments-critiques etc are very welcome!
thanks
ripthesystem

bah... scratch that post..

I've been doing some heavy reading now and I think I've got it down.

I need to start out with A/I/E

So the AEM Cold Air Intake Above is a good step - right? Does short or long pipe matter?

Next up would be the Header(apparently DC makes a good one). Damn I'm such a noob- not even sure exactly what a header is! Yeah I just admitted that in public*gulp*

Then onto exhaust(probably where I'll start since I need to replace the exhaust before I can get it properly passing the E-Checks here... I want power but little or no noise - I've read that Apexi is good for power and low noise- is this true for all models? Would a Universal Apexi fit the bill and work on my car?

So I guess that's my first steps eh? Forget the chip til all other mods are done.. and maybe even forget it then eh?

So many questions...
ripthesystem

Originally posted by ripthesystem
bah... scratch that post..

I've been doing some heavy reading now and I think I've got it down.

hey look! a newbie that helps himself!

just playin with ya. welcome to the club.

Originally posted by Maxvla


hey look! a newbie that helps himself!

just playin with ya. welcome to the club.

do I get bonus points for that?

no

damn!!!

oh well- I'll settle for answers to my questions then heh

[4jacks]

Hey welcome to the club,,..

start w/ an exhuast, not only is it functional but its pretty any universal muffler will fit, but you will need to get it put on.. and if you don't replace the pipe than your not really gaining anything, so make sure you tell em you want 2.5" pipe back to the cat...
I just had mine done... muffler $80 ebay
pipe .. midas $170 w/ coupon.

Well Happy honda'ing

Id start by saving your money and getting a different engine and transmission. You will like it much more than just blowing a grand or 2 on simple bolt ons. E/I/H will add about 15hwhp and cost you anywhere from $500-$1400.

thanks for the insight all...

Engine Tranny swap might happen but it will be WAY down the road so I'm just going to go for E/I/H right now.

I've also decided that I'm definately starting with the exhaust..
Any suggestions as far as that goes? brand?

<--such a noob. I want some added power from it but I don't want all the noise- I've heard that Brullen or the Apexi WS was good but damn all of those are expensive and I can't seem to find any around my area... grrr. Anywhere cheap to order online? Or a better or comparable different brand?

Also when you say I should tell them I want a 2.5" pipe back to the cat -- are you referring to the pipe between the muffler and the cat or between the cat and the manifold...

sorry I know this is elementary-- but so am I
thx
ripthesystem

[4jacks]

2.5" pipe from the cat back to the muffler, and make sure you tell them no resinator... that thing sucks...

Also, a free flow muffler and pipe will not be loud, those ppl that ride around with thier Honda's sounding like bumble bee's, they have to put on a 4 chamber muffler,

I just put a free flow muffler with 2.5" on my civic, it's a LOT quiter than the 2.25" i had on my 2.0 Liter Probe. It's just the engine displacement, there isn't much you can do to make it loud, other than a 4 chamber muffler that sounds like crap.

you can either buy a cat back system, greddy, magnaflow, hks, they all have good bolt on cat back exhaust, $450-$550 ... or you can do like i did and buy a muffler and have midas mandrel bend 2.5" pipe to fit your ride, same hp gains, and a lot less money

4jacks- thx again

I'm looking at an Apexi World Sport cat-back- I've found em new for $380 shipped for my car and have heard good things about them.

I've checked with my local muffler shops(midas incl) and only one(not midas) will do a custom mandrel pipe for my muffler and it would be a little less money but not a hell of a lot. So I'm still undecided on that..

a couple more questions though-

1-would the Apexi catback come standard with a 2.5" pipe?

or

2- if I just bought a muffler and got the custom work done- what muffler should I get? and where should I get it from? Most new mufflers that are name brand that I've seen are in the $150-200 range.. is there a good place to look? eBay seems to have some N1's for a little less but I don't know much about those...


thx again!
ripthesystem

[4jacks]

I believe Apexi is 2.5" it may be 3.0" .. i'm not a hundred percent sure about that. Don't feel bad about calling them and asking if it's 2.5 or 3" ... if it is 3" then that is a Damn good price, if it is 2.5 it's still a good price. I bought both of my mufflers off of ebay, performance shops and even small shops like Midas(they sell performance mufflers) will RIP you off... I bought a MagnaFlow 2.5" dual tip DTM stlye off of ebay for $60 shipped two years ago for my probe, it had a small ding in it, i took a picture and the guy gave me $15 back for the ding. then had midas put on 2.25" pipe, for like $200.
I loved that Magnaflow, it sounded Great !
I bought a No name brand 3.0 Dual Tip DTM style muffler off of ebay for $70 shipped, and had Midas put 2.5" pipe on my Civic for $170, then had a $15 coupon ...
I don't like this muffler as much, as I stated it's not as loud, but i'm sure that is also due to the fact that the Civic is smaller engine than the Probe. It sounds NICE, but it's not LOUD enough for my taste.
Really it's hard to say if a Name brand muffler will preform A LOT better than a no name, I think, that a free flow muffler, will give you the SAME gains, no matter the make. However, i think a name brand will probably be higher quality and last longer.

One thing MagnaFlow does that I really liked Cosmetically, is they imprint their logo on both muffler tips and both sides of the muffler, so you could see it's a great muffler by looking at it. I have NO clue who made my current muffler, no name, and came in a plain brown box.

N1 is a name brand, but there no where as big as Magnaflow or Apexi, or even the larger Borla's, Nuespeed, Flowmasters... yada yada yada... but basically if it's a really great deal, then go for it.

Also don't forget to haggle for the price on the Pipe Work, I haggled with 4 different shop owners before i had my pipe put on... the first guy told me $250, i haggled down too $215. Then I got $275 out of a guy and didn't even bother with him, Got $275 out of the first midas i went to and haggled him down to $200, but i HAD to pay CASH, and only had credit card. So i didn't get it. later... the second Midas said $180... I had $50 cash and had to put the rest on credit, and i had the $15 coupon... so i came back another day.... later enough for him to forget about me, and said look .... pulled out my money and let him see i had some cash to get him to think i was paying all cash... told him I only had $170 and really wanted to get it done today... he argeed .. then after that i pulled out the coupon and told him I had to put the rest on credit.

But the Apexi isn't a bad deal at all.... but you'd have to bolt it on your self , so get under there and make sure those bolts aren't tooo rusty..

thanks agin 4jacks- I'll probably go for the Apexi but I'll let you know what I decide in the next week or two and we'll see how it goes.

after that I'll tackle the cold air intake so I'm sure I'll be bothering you again then--

thx
ripthesystem

[4jacks]

No problem rip... but you'll have to buy me a CAI before you bug me about it... LOL... i don't have one yet.

I think we would all concur that AEM is the best Honda brand out there...

Let us know how the exhaust goes, and take some pictures to post up if you can.