Best Mods for stock 00' civic ex?

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wakolako1129

Junior Member
I have a stock 00' civic ex with a 5 speed and would like to see better acceleration and power. I'm going to get a new suspension and 16" rims but beyond that i'm not sure. I don't like the fact that i feel like i'm dragging a tree behind me while i have the AC on. Should i get a new engine or add other mods such as cold air intake, exhaust, etc.
 
all depends on your budget and where you would like to go with the car.
 
start small until you know what you want to do...I suggest a Cold Air Intake, look into AEMs Intake, or make your own it. You may want to look into a less restrictive muffler/exaust system.
good luck...
 
I would say get a good muffler, (thermal r&d is what i bought) a resinator (keeps it a little quieter) and go to a good muffler shop that can do manduel bends or compression bends and get the piping all the way to the cat. (might be hard to find manduel bends). Doing this you may not get as much as if you bought a good cat back but you save like $200 and get like 1 or 2 less hp then a real system. As for cold air intake, get a good filter like aem's or K'n'N and get a generic piping or make your own. If you ever do an engine swap then you will have to change this anyways. So save your money. Just buy good parts to do this. A matrix muffler is going to do nothing. Same with a reactive air intake, on intakes, the filter is the most important part
 
I'm on a limited budget and anything done will be done a long time in the future because i will need to save up.
Would a B16a swap (future) be a good choice and then adding cold air intake and exhaust? How much on average for a swap? I've seen cold air intakes for as low as $130, but i was wondering how much hp do you gain with a cold air intake?
 
2500 will get you a b16a2 from a civic si 99-00.
intake wont give you shit by itself... but with other parts, you will see gains (header, exhaust etc)
get an AEM $179.
 
You can get a ram air intake off of Ebay for $30. I got a muffler shop to run a custom exhaust for less than $200. If you've got $300 and really are on a budget, that's a good place to start.
 
16 inch rims, (unless they're forged and lightweight) will decrease performance.

at the most, 15's...like rota's if you don't want to spend a lot of money...then advance the timing, get a vafc and buy a used type r intake or go with a new aem.

after advancing the timing, go to a dyno and have the car tuned, you'll see better gains by changing vtec points and modifying fuel curves compared to the traditional "IHE" (intake, header, exhaust) which will give you 2hp maybe. with tuning, you could see 10hp or more for about the same price, which i think is worthwhile.
 
IMHO, before (or while) modifying fuel curves and messing with timing, air flow into and out of the engine should be optimized. More air and more fuel = power gains, not just more fuel.
 
If you're REALLY on a budget, then bolt ons will be fine. But, I would save up every penny you have and get a b16 like sol said. If you have to wait awhile then do it, good things come to those who wait. For the past couple of months, I just havent had the common sense to save some of my money, which is why I have'nt had the ends to drop my motor in. Nevertheless, good luck...
 
Originally posted by ekPhred@Nov 12 2002, 07:28 PM
If you're REALLY on a budget, then bolt ons will be fine. But, I would save up every penny you have and get a b16 like sol said. If you have to wait awhile then do it, good things come to those who wait. For the past couple of months, I just havent had the common sense to save some of my money, which is why I have'nt had the ends to drop my motor in. Nevertheless, good luck...

oh so that is why you have so many posts :p

Also the exhaust will fit both your current engine and your new one (b16 or b18 what ever you decide to get) Instead of getting a b16 for that car, i would go for the b18c1 (gsr). Your car is fairly heavy and if you want get a little more zip out of it, get the gsr swap. Also it has tourque and trq. ownes
 
Torque does own, but only if he can apply it. A Triton V8 had oodles of torque, but I can still spank one cuz he can only apply it to 4000 rpm. :D
 
I think that i'm gonna save a shit load and buy a new engine and then add cold air intake, exhaust system, etc. How much does a B18c1 cost? B16a2? I have all the time in the world to do this (but have limited income) and i want it done right and all at once. Is the B18c1 a V-TEC? B16a2? How much of a power difference is there between the two? Thanks for your responses. Also can you please speak English. I don't know what all the terms mean such as: IMHO, vafc, A matrix muffler
 
also i've been looking at other people on this site talking about a H22a engine. How does that compare with a B18c1 or a B16a2? Also is the itr a higher quality than the gsr?
 
read the faq on h22 swaps in civics, the itr is better quality than the gsr, but much more expensive. if you are on a budget, the itr is not the way to go. the b18c and b16's are dohc vtec motors, i have a b16 and love it to death :)
 
from a B16 to B18 there is a difference of about 100 hp. they are both DOHC (dual cam) v-tec. an h22 motor has the most horse power out of the three but it is a prelude motor and will not fit into a honda civic. it will fit into an older integra though.
 
Originally posted by dudebuddy@Nov 12 2002, 05:40 PM
from a B16 to B18 there is a difference of about 100 hp. they are both DOHC (dual cam) v-tec. an h22 motor has the most horse power out of the three but it is a prelude motor and will not fit into a honda civic. it will fit into an older integra though.

i hope the 100 hp thing is a typo, also, the H22 will fit into a civic, has been done many many many times
 
Is this about right?
B16A2 DOHC (Dual Over Head Cams) VTECH (SiR2) 168Hp
b16b dohc vtec (civic type r) 185hp
b18c dohc vtec (gs-r) 178hp
b18c5 dohc vtec (type r) 198hp

I think i might go with a b16b or a b18c5? Can someone give me prices or some place to look at? With this engines, what other stuff will i need to buy? i.e mounting brackets, wires, etc.
 
Sorry i forgot the h22
h22 dohc vtec vtec (prelude) 200hp

I've heard from other websites that the h22 breaks down a lot, is this true?
 
a b16b or b18c5 will cost over 4 grand, close to 5. they are expensive, but they are definatley the cream of the crop for B series motors. i have not heard anything of h22's breaking down a lot
 
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