sugestions please

I semi_purchased a 2002 civic ex (its a cross between lease and purchase) they call it a customer option plan. Anyway, im looking to make my car a little faster but I don't want to alter it so much that I have to keep it after three years. what kind of stuff can I do? How much money? ( i don't want to spend too much). The car seems like it has a little potential with a couple of quick mods. AM I right?

umm.. how much do you wanna spend?? i'd go w/ the basics.. Intake, header, exhaust.

[Racing Rice]

I know right now they have Intake, header, and exhaust availiable for your car. That would get you started but you wont see a ton of gain from them. How much power are you wanting to get out of your car?

[slowEJ6]

id go with shocks & springs/coilovers and some new wheels first. cuz i/h/e arent gonna get you much power, damn obd3.

springs, coilovers and new wheels wont give you power at all..

[94_AcCoRd_EX]

Originally posted by SWIFT
springs, coilovers and new wheels wont give you power at all..

Yeah, he said he wants to go faster, so I'd stay away from wheels that are heavier from stock, etc.

[slowEJ6]

Originally posted by SWIFT
springs, coilovers and new wheels wont give you power at all..

nope but at least the car will look better......why spend a bunch of money on mods that arent gonna do anything? i know he says he wants more power but i/h/e arent gonna do much.
spend $40 on a K&N drop in filter, go with a well constructed but cheap exhaust (Magnaflow, Thermal R&D) and see if yer happy or not. thats my SUGGESTION.



suspension suspension suspension!

so if I/H/E arent gonna do much, how would you start making your car faster??? answer goes back to I/H/E... everything has to start from the basics...

i would have to agree to start with the I/H/E!! cause not every body can afford an engine swap or they want to go that far

[slowEJ6]

Originally posted by SWIFT
so if I/H/E arent gonna do much, how would you start making your car faster??? answer goes back to I/H/E... everything has to start from the basics...

no kidding it starts from the basics, but he said hes not keeping the car for more than a few years. so his basics are almost his limits.

[Whtehnda93DXSdn]

I/H/E wires and plugs.... that is the only real simple mods to be aplied that can be put back to stock w/ minimal hassles.....

damn just purchase it and go al out....

[Racing Rice]

Originally posted by SWIFT
so if I/H/E arent gonna do much, how would you start making your car faster??? answer goes back to I/H/E... everything has to start from the basics...

They dont do much... sometimes even hurt you, you may gain a couple hp but you change your torque curve which gives you less acceleration. For the most part I/H/E arent going to make that much of a difference on and pretty much car other then change the looks under you hood a little and make it "pretty" If you want power you will have to go FI, or a heavy NA build, Plain and simple. Then youll start benefiting more from the I/H/E. But if hes only going to keep this stuff for a little while then get something else. I wouldnt do much to it then maybe change the exhaust for looks and sound, put in a K&N filter and roll.. Cause there isnt much sense in buying I/H/E for anything else other then looks if the car isnt going to be built up anymore. The fact of the matter is the Power increase compared to the money spent just doesnt add up....

This has all been argued before so Im not going to beat it to death.. We can go on and on if youd like.. Im sure BDC wouldnt mind giving you his .02c worth over and over again either...

i never said it would gain like 40 horses or so... he asked for a "little gain" and he wants to do it so im giving my opinion but if you're talking about BIG hp, then that's another topic..we could go on and on about big turbos, internal build ups and all that crap since i've done/seen all those things before...but right now, im talking about the basics...
if the question was about BIG gain from I/H/E, then i would say NO..they wont give you THAT much... but they do help and that's where you need to start..
you mentioned something about "torque curve" that gives less accelaration...i dont think you know exactly what you're talking about...you cant just use these words loosely and mislead people.
Its all about setup/balance... you have to know and understand the "whole" concept of performance tuning... not just bits/pieces of it... it takes time and PERSONAL experience to know these things so you cant just believe everything you read, hear or see...

I wont reply to this topic anymore since we probably got him all confused by now... let him decide and see what he has to say.. plus i really hate arguments...why argue when i know im right? i just let 'em believe whatever they wanna believe coz sooner or later, they'll find out what's real and what's not... so PEACE ON EARTH, EVERYONE

[Racing Rice]

Im not argueing with you.. Im just trying to make people realize that the "boltons" arent what they are made out to be by the public/media/etc. You are right about I/H/E being a good starting point, but the rest of my statement said if thats all your going to do they would just mainly be for looks more then anything.

What I was talking about when I was refering to "Torque Curve" was a lot [not all] of these products give you a little more Highend torque while taking away from your Lowend Torque
and without something else to compensate for that loss of lowend torque you can sometimes hurt your acceleration. I hope this makes sense, Im trying not to confuse anyone just state a fact.

wooooo, i think reading this gave me a pain in my low end. i'll take everyone's input. i spent a lot of time overseas where all I could do was buy a little hochie mobile so I'm very outdated as to what to do. I am a little mechanically inclined so I guess I'll start with the IHE stuff. I have a question. Do I need to buy one of those hiflow catalytic converters if I I go with a header system? Oh crap almost forgot. My car is seven days old and today an SUV hit a tire laying in the middle of the road , it went about 15 feet in the air and hit my hood and front windshield. No serious damage but some serious scratches. Doesnt that suck? I'll wait on an answer or two. NO dissertations, please. lol.

[Racing Rice]

No, you dont have to have a Highflow cat, itll just help exhaust flow a little more. But my thinking is, if you want one Id get it done the same time you are doing the header and exhaust, Itll save you a trip back to the Shop later.