1996 Civic EX D16

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OFWGKTA

New Member
Ok so here's the scoop.
17 years old, new to anything and everything Honda. I just got my 96 ex and I FREAKING LOVE IT. But I need some ways to improve my acceleration without spending oodles of cash. A stock d16 is slow as tits as you probably already know.
 
:no:
nothing meaningful anyway

but there is a lot more to going fast than power

the best thing you can do is find an autocross club and start doing days with them

then take the cash as you get it put it toward brakes, suspension, and tires

then once your braking and handling is in order you can save up for either a turbo setup, an engine swap, or both
 
Here's something else I have a ? about.. I've been looking into a turbo kit; not a very expensive one, just to give it a little oomph. I've spoke with one guy who spent about 400$ on a turbo and he claims it helped quite a bit. But then another guy I spoke to said that a turbo kit on a mostly stock civic won't last but like 20k miles before basically blowing the motor.. What's the dealio!
 
A turbo'd engine can last a long time provided the parts used are decent quality, the install is done competently, and the setup is tuned appropriately.

A complete turbo setup that only costs $400 total however, is not likely to meet any of those criteria...
 
A turbo'd engine can last a long time provided the parts used are decent quality, the install is done competently, and the setup is tuned appropriately.

A complete turbo setup that only costs $400 total however, is not likely to meet any of those criteria...

Well yeah that much I figured, I'm looking at a GReddy kit for about 3k, so let's say I actually spend the 3k and have it installed and tuned, is it going to seriously help me out on performance? Or am I better off looking for a swap? and if so, which swap should I be looking for? H22?
 
PITA? lol, and can you get more specific as to what motor i should be looking into, i think that's the route i wanna take. DOHC sounds tasty.
 
oh, haha. pain in the ass, got it. well i have a uncle that's an automotive engineer, he'd be making sure it comes together correctly, so thats a non issue. its just what specific motor do i look for?
 
Well yeah that much I figured, I'm looking at a GReddy kit for about 3k, so let's say I actually spend the 3k and have it installed and tuned, is it going to seriously help me out on performance? Or am I better off looking for a swap? and if so, which swap should I be looking for? H22?

I'm sure Greddy lists how much power that they expect the kit to make or posts dyno results, so you can research the gains. Most likely the boosted D would be a bit quicker than any B or H-series swap, but then again, there's something to having a nice, reliable naturally-aspirated engine with decent power and torque (200 hp and 160 ft/lbs if we're talking the H22).

The choice is really up to you. Research, research, research...
 
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