Rep Power: 0

Hey! My daily driver is a vw gti 1.8t auto, with Forge DV, N75J, Gaic, CAI... just reprogrammed and some bolt ons, but I took the wife's 2001 stock civic to the dealer for mantenance (100K mi) and they said the catalytic converter was stopped up and would replace it for, gasp , $800. So I said, no thanks, I'll do something like, intake, headers, and exhaust myself if that be the case.
I would like to know, what are the best, 1st mods to do along this line for the 4 door LZ (D17 I think?), automatic??
I know all ya'll, , have some sage advice!
(I used to work with a programmer that had a civic hatch all motor, B18C, that would do low 13's) but I won't be able to strip down the family car like that- though the wife loves my fast GTI so I should have some freedom to modding hers!

 
Rep Power: 811

get random tech hi flow cat. there are lots of good vendors here to get parts from. oh and im almost positive the emissions warranty is 10k miles. they should put a new one for free or else report them to the government for smog code violation.

 
Rep Power: 300

welcome to the site

 
Rep Power: 0

That may be true, but get just the high flow cat and not the rest of the exhaust? BTW, we do not have emmissions testing in my county... my weekend pickup has straight pipes and is LOUD.

 
Rep Power: 254

Nadaboh!

 
Rep Power: 0

Fast forward 4 years: Sold the GTI and the 01 civic, had a 98 civic DX hatch get totalled, and now drive daily a 98 civic HX.
I've done quite a few things to it, but still not getting the stellar mileage they are supposed to get (actually the same as before any mods but some more power now). I average 34-36 no matter how I drive, any ideas? Here is a list of mods I have done:

• Past Repairs and OEM parts:
o Timing belt, water pump, tensioner, cam seal, crank seal, rear main seal, accessory belts, valve cover gasket, spark plug gaskets, timing belt cover gasket, throw out bearing, pilot bearing, rear engine mount intake bracket
o Both axle half shafts
o Thermostat
o Distributor, cap, and rotor
o Tires
o Alignment
o Seafoam
o Fuel filter change
• Current Mods:
o +hp Lightweight flywheel Exedy 8lbs Exedy Stage 2 clutch
o Mishimoto full aluminum radiator
o Samco blue silicon radiator hoses
o MSD red low resistance spark plug wires
o +hp AEM short Ram Intake
o Vtec light (integrated into cluster, blue LED)
o HD insignia radio, wired in old radio to retain keyless and alarm
o Speakers, Sony 6x9in 3-way 300w Peak, 60w Rated / Pioneer 6in 180w Max, 30w Normal
o Short shifter single bend, Energy Poly bushings, and ****
o 2006 SI seats (lots of trouble, front and back)
o Carbon Fiber hood and hood pins
o +hp EX 4-2-1 header painted white
o +hp Pacesetter high flow catalytic converter, extended O2 wires
o +hp Cat-back custom special with straight through muffler
o Front upper and lower strut bars
o Aluminum pedal covers
Next I am going to put on Neuspeed springs and camber kit (waiting for a nice weekend).
I am thinking about getting an EX head and computer with aftermarket intake manifold and throttlebody, but I only have 105k miles... This would eliminate the EGR system, so if I do that and still have these tall gears I might as well go turbo?