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Hi,

Is it worth the effort and money to swap in a RSX-s engine into the Civic?

I thought about it carefully. I like the car and all, but it has MacPherson struts, drums in the back, etc, so it's probably not the best of choice... yes??

What do you think about it? Is it worth the money to swap a nice engine into the lowly Civic? Since it's an old engine anyways might as well trade in the Civic for a used RSX-s, no??

Thanks,

-jp

 
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Well, I've been thinking about that myself, and here's the breakdown, cost-wise:

RSX-S motor - about $10'000 - 200HP and can be modded from there
Turbo/SC - $2'000-$3'000 - 50% bonus to HP giving you about 190HP
N20 - $1'000 kit + re-filling bottle - HP varies depending onwhat size kit you get

So yeah, the motor is a bit more expensive, but you're starting with a 200HP motor, and it's got more potential for modifications. Ours, if you didn't already know, are designed for fuel efficiency and not much more. You could spend about $5000 and get the same power as a stock K20A2 but you wouldn't be able to get much more past that I don't think.

I'm still debating whether to turbo the D17 or save up for the K20 - a 6-speed would be a lot of fun

 
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No no no, you misunderstood me...

I never intended to get turbo... why get turbo on a pissy engine that has no low-end torque anyways, is the way I saw it... yeah yeah it will help me on the high-end, but hey, I don't revv that high normally. I want enough power below 4000rpm to drive around town.

That's why I was looking at the engine swap... considering that the 200hp engine is not turbo'd, I can go from there as well... a 200hp + turbo... not sure if that's a likely possibility, but nonetheless...

The real question was: is it worth the effort to try to make the Civic run fast? Or should I just get a fast car, and make that faster? My main examples are: McPherson struts, rear-drums. If I'm going to spend that much on a freakin' Civic, maybe I'll just go for a RWD IS300, BMW 330i, or something similar... which are heavier, but strong motor...

Oh yeah, why such big cars you ask? Because I want to be able to seat 4 in the car...

Thanks,

-jp

 
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You bought the wrong car if you want low end power. Honda's love revving high and screaming on the high end.

 
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Well, I wasn't looking for lowend power like a freakin' truck!

Just something reasonable... that's why I figured the 200hp, 145lb-ft RSX-s engine may be good enough... but still man... would you swap the engine into a civic, or would you just trade the civic in and pay the money to get a used RSX-s??

Thanks,

-jp

 
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whoo-hoo, I just realized I missed out on something:

I didn't intend to get the RSX-s, that's why it wasn't in the questions... what I mean was, should I get something better like IS300, WRX, or BMW330i (i realized that, yes, they are pricy, but hey, so is swapping the RSX-s engine and then turbo'ing it, plus they have the option of RWD or AWD)...

Right now, all I'm thinking is: I'll stick on some simple mods like CAI, cat-back, headers. Once the car is old enough and I get sick of it, I'll (1) replace the engine, etc, or (2) trade it in and get a different, stronger, but used, car.

What's your opinion on your car??

Thanks,

-jp

 
Rep Power: 374

I love my car, the engine however needs work. I think the Civics have more style than the RSX so im sticking with the body and swapping a K20A in it. So yea i think its worth it

 
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If you did do the swap with a k20, would you actually have enough room in the engine bay in order to do a turbo? and if you wanted couldn't do the suspension conversion from the rsx?

 
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there should be enough room for a turbo..I remember reading a thread where our d17 is actually a bit bigger than the K20....

 
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I don't think the engine size is so much the issue, as having the exhaust manifold facing the rear of the car. How much room will the civic have between the firewall & exhaust manifold to fit the turbo? The civic wasn't designed to have room between the engine & firewall for an exhaust.

 
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Plus, I thought Honda ditched the previous double-wishbone suspension on the RSX as well as the Civic, and stuck in the MacPherson ones, no? That's kinda what I heard...

Now, to be fair, I don't go nuts on roads enough to probably notice a difference in suspension... but then, I don't know... and I'd rather be on the safe side...

That's why I wasn't thinking much of the RSX as a potential choice... hard to say, because it's also FWD... I'm kinda used to the RWD handling (had, and still have, a 240SX, though it's out of commission right now with body damage), so I notice the Civic turns like a bitch, esp the way it flings me around.

I like the light-but-well-made feel, I like the roomy backseats, I like the trunk space, and I like the gas-mileage. I hate the weak engine. That's a big problem... when I test drove it, I guess, I pushed it pretty hard and it was alright, but I didn't realize I pushed it that hard... so now, on everyday driving, I'm kinda lost for power... lust for power... not even all that much either, 250hp is all I need... maybe 280, but nothing crazy like 750hp...

Wow, rambling on and on about how much power I want... this is all future plan though, since I can't pay the $/hp right now...

Is it a big job to change drums with disks??

-jp

 
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I don't know much about this, but i thought a civic with a decent turbo put out more torque than an rsx engine

 
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i would do a swap, just wait for a couple more years, price will drop.
our civic body line looks a lot better than the RSXs, so same body but different engine. i wont turbo it, since i like it "N/A"

 
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I dont think our civic body is better than the RSX...at certain angles our car looks ugly cause the end is long and our front is short and stubby

 
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the end is long and the front short and stubby....hm.... one can argue about that.

i think the civic is a good starting point with a lot of space to throw improvements in. and if you improve the right things in the right order it will always look good too. but with the engine i agree. it could be soo much stronger, i feel like i always have to push high in order to have her get off her *** ..sorta...

put a diff engine in your civic and then turbo it, thats what i am planning on doing, once i have money and take some more advantage of my warranty, so it will be the same civic for a couple of years...

 
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Civic looks better than RSX. Sh*t, RSX does not have any room in the back. Is it worth to do a swap? Hell no, unless you are a rich daddy kid. To spend 6000 - 10000 on engine swap? Must be an idiot or rich dude...

 
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i dont know where you guys are gettin your prices from. im doing my entire swap for maybe a little over $5000.
Thats $3800 for K20A2 and tranny, with 6900 miles on the motor, and all the plugs, wires, and cables, then about $1300-$1400 on the other stuff thats needed. Install is free cause im doin it.
You guys are talkin about better power out of a turbo civic than a swap car...think about that statement...turbo civic....stock K20A2....yea. You buy yourself a nice turbo, build your block, run high boost, and i'll buy I/H/E with the Hondata ECU upgrade, and we'll race. Ok, agreed, price for price...well the way that i have it set up is about the same, i could almost argue that a good turbo setup with all the built motor stuff would be even more expensive than my swap, but i dont want to get that deep into it...the real point is that all of us are speed crazy, its all about going faster, the K20A2 will offer tons more potential than a turbo civic cause you are already pushin limits on the turbo car, and just barely tappin the K20.