Matteo

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Let me start out with this is a 2005 honda civic 4dr LX model automatic.
Sorry no pics yet
Goal to increase handling and performance mainly.
All parts are the best that I could find for the price/know about.
All links are working at time of this post.

*Just had the 4-piece motor and auto-trans. mounts replaced with the following part numbers below...it is aftermarket but still a type of rubber not poly, so no squeaking. It's first time I have replaced any of the 4 mounts on the car since its birth in 2005 and wow the auto-transmission shifts SO MUCH better and smoother/quicker and even a slight improvement in acceleration (low and high speeds) is noticed. IDK anything about this company or the product life however vs OEM but sure glad I had them changed...my transmission was making me worried but not anymore!
PART NUMBER:
50805-S5A-023
PART NUMBER C:
50820-S5A-A81
PART NUMBER B:
50810-S5A-A81
PART NUMBER D:
50840-S5A-990
http://www.ebay.com/itm/2001-2005-ENGINE-MOTR-MOUNT-HONDA-CIVIC-1-7-4PSC-AUTOMATIC-TRANSMISSON-/251634753279?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories &fits=Make%3AHonda%7CModel%3ACivic&hash=item3a9699 9eff&vxp=mtr[/URL]

*VMS replacement aluminum lightweight lug nuts they look great (for aftermarket wheels only, not OEM). I thought the orange went well with turn signals plus maybe ill get amber in rear tailights and fender piece JDM style signal some day. important thing though...this company has open end lugs same style but with locks...but the opened end is bad for the rain it can cause rust on the studs behind lugs so i had to stick with closed end BUT CLOSED DONT HAVE LOCKS AS IM AWARE.
Manufacturer Part Number:
LG0700OG 1.5MM
http://www.ebay.com/itm/VMS-16-ORANGE-44MM-ALUMINUM-CLOSED-END-TUNER-LUG-NUTS-LUGS-WHEEL-RIMS-12X1-5-SET-/290954362314?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item43be3b3dca&vxp=mtr
*Ultra Racing 1-piece rear strut tower bar. It's heavy duty, right away i notice the car is much more sturdy even just in parking lot and around turns feels smoother but im most impressed at highway speeds and fast wide turns...the bar helps so much for stability and makes me feel more confident trying to get close to my car's limits so to speak. Important thing: bar ONLY FITS WITH REAR SEATS TAKEN OUT. I already had rear seats and trunk complete gutted except for rear dash piece with the 3rd brake light (illegal to not have rear 3rd brake light in Texas). Before I got this monster great looking bar I had a super cheap rear strut tower bar from ebay...the Ultra Racing 1-piece solid design is much better than the old one, it is much larger and heavier (search ebay for price lowest first if you want to see the old one im referring to).
Manufacturer Part Number: UR-RE2-081
http://www.ebay.com/itm/ULTRA-RACING-1-PIECE-SOLID-REAR-RIGID-STRUT-TOWER-BAR-BRACE-01-05-CIVIC-RSX-DC5-/181527244717?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item2a43ddefad&vxp=mtr
*Megan rear racing lower tie bar. Looks great (got the red which isnt the best looking red imo I rather have brighter red but looks good, goes well with red oem tailights. This bar is more sturdy and wider and heavier than the cheap rear lower tie bar I had before from ebay (again search price lowest first to see the cheap alternative). IT IS WORTH IT TO DO IT RIGHT 1st TIME and dont get the cheapest options on ebay because the cheap parts i had did make a difference but these ultra racing and megan examples are better. I instantly noticed a difference after install replacing ultra racing better quality rear strut and megan better quality rear lower tie!
Manufacturer Part Number: MR-SB-HC0104RL-BLUE
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Megan-Racing-Rear-Lower-Arm-Brace-Tie-Bar-for-Honda-01-05-Civic-BLUE-02-03-04-/230706026647?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item35b7269897&vxp=mtr
*04-05 front black mesh plastic grill. Same fitment for coupe and sedan as far as i know. This complete front grill replacement looks mean with out the H badge and clean with my black wheels and mirrors to match. I compared it to the stock sedan 04-05 front grill and it allows at least 2x's more air into engine bay area. Only small downside it weighs ever so slightly more than stock oem sedan grill, which I wasn't expecting. Grrr now someone's selling this cheaper than I bought it on ebay
Manufacturer Part Number:GR-CV0405TR-BK
http://www.ebay.com/itm/FIT-FOR-04-05-HONDA-CIVIC-2-4DR-T-R-FRONT-GRILLE-GRILL-EX-LX-BRAND-NEW-2004-2005-/301227531082?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item46228f5b4a&vxp=mtr
*Tanabe DF210 lowering springs about 1.75"-1.8" drop front/back. Much better in handling and appearance compared to previous Tein s-tech springs (1.4 front/1.5 rear?..something like that and rear started sagging..car didnt look even). Tanabe springs makes car handle better and feel quicker to respond...i guess you could say very slight increase in roughness of ride but not bad. Car is slightly lower than Tein s-tech, so less wheel gap. Should have got the Tanabe to begin with or D2(D2 is 2"drop front/back: might be better if you want slightly lower than Tanabe and even less wheel gap! D2 also cheaper..)
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Tanabe-DF210-Springs-for-2001-2005-Civic-Coupe-Sedan-and-SI-Hatchback-TDF043-/331204539246?pt=Motors_Car_Truck_Parts_Accessories&hash=item4d1d54336e
*Black plastic power mirrors OEM look but smaller. Sorry idk the name and there seems to only be one ebay listing left (link below). These mirrors are smaller than OEM but not super tiny, just right. And look great. I cant remember the weight comparison to OEM but i think their about the same or if anything the aftermarket is slightly lighter weight than OEM.
http://www.ebay.ca/itm/Pair-Power-El...afe337&vxp=mtr

*OEM style headlights with black housing and amber OEM style reflector. This is just a cheap way of getting black housing on the headlights while keeping the OEM look. If anything these are slightly lighter than OEM and are one piece design if i remember correct. I would recomend these only if you arnt custom blacking out your OEM headlights because these aftermarket out headlight lense cover is not as good quality as OEM and also the direction of light is ok but OEM seems better (maybe its that OEM is easier to adjust bulb placement). All in all they look great with black wheels, mirrors, tint..etc.
Manufacturer Part Number:CRConcepts-HL-A-HD111040BA-GROUP-A
http://www.ebay.com/itm/281053255459?_trksid=p2060778.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
*Magnaflow Header/highflow cat for my LX model. This was great way to increase acceleration and top end and add some noise without the super loud raspy rice sounds. No offense. Just saying this header makes it louder but not too loud, just about right. Great product and works well connecting to magnaflow cat-back exhaust I already have on. Cheapest I found was on Amazon.
idk manufacturer part number but it is one piece: header and cat. Not multiple parts...it is direct bolt on replace. The stock OEM heat shield on the top of header was custom fitted onto the magnaflow header but the OEM heat shield for the catalytic converter DID NOT FIT on the magnaflow cat part. Important (although I didnt do this...there are cheaper 1-piece headers on ebay with no cat and they will be much louder and not street legal and wont pass emissions but magnaflow solves those problems...w/a higher price).

The above mods are recent but let me mention some others I have for information. Just to clarify, all these mods put together provides a fun ride that handles better and accelerates faster than OEM but at the end of the day...its a lot of money for a small gain. Well, a large gain in handling but small in power*
SO other things: I have weapon-r "secret weapon" short-ram intake, OBX rear strut bar 19mm, front endlinks from dezod.com, rpf1 enkei 15" rims, unorthodox underdrive pullies (3), Denzo iridium spark plugs, extra grounding wires, replaced some bulbs & rotors/pads + the rear drum brake pads, have auto transmission cooler (universal), VIS carbon fiber fiberglass hood OEM style, 4 OEM size alpine speakers w/2 front tweeters, windshield wiper blades 2 sizes smaller than OEM (makes car look smaller like a coupe and just smaller blades for less wind resistance...i kno not much difference just saying: it still works well in the rain, I can still see).
WEIGHT: Original (2604 lbs) Current (2440 lbs)...(approx -160 lbs)
^this is mostly from pullies, cf hood, rear seats, rear seat belts and dash parts, trunk delete with spare, enkei rpf1 15" wheels (-80l bs), tires (-10 to -12 lbs), and battery (-5), headers w/highflow cat.
^The lost weight translates into almost estimated 1.5mpg increase regardless of driving style from weight reduction alone. Yes the weight reduction does make a difference I have noticed. Car is much louder in cabin from trunk delete and even more from rear seats removed but I like it, its fun and looks cool to glance back at my white rear strut bar and at night my brake lights shine red all in the rear cabin

Things I still would like to do: possibly a front sway from Progress (any1 recomend that for my set up?), aftermarket stereo headunit (extra amp, crisper/louder sound), lighter weight battery, better tires (which ones for handling/acceleration??), maybe take out power steering for weight reduction and handling improvement??


All these mods and things took me a long time from starting out OEM stock. A good lesson is to research and make sure to buy smart the 1st time so you don't have to replace things again later on. Cheap ebay HID kits will blind people from glare on stock OEM headlights and are illegal on street and mine died in about 3 years...not worth it unless you got money to replace every few years...or get a more expensive kit but still illegal in Texas on a 2005 civic OEM headlight. Just FYI the worst and best mpg I ever recorded was approx. 23mpg and 52mpg. The worst being flooring constantly sort of driving and low 50's being holding the steering wheel straight, using knees to keep it steady, slow turns, coasting, drafting cars/trucks, coasting by shifting to neutral gear, filling tank only quarter full, fresh tires, and fresh oil change/transmission change, and replaced air filter and cabin filter, and wheel alignment. So yes, driving style and maintenance makes a HUGE DIFFERENCE IN MPG.

comments? info?

Matteo

iTrader: (1)

^Also used to have Koni adjustable shocks, now Tokico. Seems about the same idk but I like the Tokico for sure...I was told Tokico better than Koni but i really dont know

GolNat

iTrader: (7)

Tires I recommend BFGoodrich Sport Comp 2 if your going for a performance summer tire.

Matteo

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Thanks for tire advice they look good, repped

Matteo

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also have AEM "cold air intake" for automatic...much better imo than short ram weapon-r secret weapon intake because AEM is louder, is a lil more responsive, and is capable of delivering more cold air. I put it in quotation marks because its not like a normal cai for a manual...its still in the engine bay it does not go down to bumber because its automatic and does not fit that way (please correct me if im wrong). that was dissapointing to say the least.

i dont think megan bars or anything but neuspeed/dc sports/ultra front strut will fit on the AEM intake...but Ultra Racing front strut looks the most heavy duty out of all, so hopefully that fits well

want to get a lighter-weight battery when my current one dies

ill try to post pics sometime after a good wash/clean

Matteo

iTrader: (1)

also got a voltage stabilizer kit that seems to be much better than adding a few extra grounding wires in the past. this kit also displays numbers which lets me know there is good circuit electricity so the alternator is fine. My headlights were pulsating before I added the grounding kit and now it may still do it from time to time but its not as bad anymore. this kit was one of the cheapest i could find

http://www.ebay.com/itm/320923032802?_trksid=p2060778.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Matteo

iTrader: (1)

good news , Ultra Racing 1 piece front strut bar fits with AEM cai on automatic!

looks great handles great too. i may be wrong but im thinking Ultra Racing strut bars are better than the neuspeed/dc sport or any other brand for street...?

Matteo

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pics

Matteo

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^also good review for rear lower skunk2 control arms. should have got them in gold tho i think those look better
r there good aftermarket front control arms? is it worth it to change OEM front control arm bushings to polyurethane? i hit a curb many years ago and had to replace one OEM front control arm cuz it bent/broke cuz they are weak parts.

Matteo

iTrader: (1)

Sorry everyone...Dont get the headlights I listed because they have too much glare...the problem is the low beam 9006 bulb cover is smaller than OEM so at certain angles it appears the brights are on when they are not. You can see too much of the actual bulb and it ends up blinding people and looks weird at night because theres brighter light than the rest of the headlight beam (sorta like a flashlight looking beam apart from normal beam).

Sorry again...do not buy the equalizer kit...it worked great at first but then I realized it was causing some sort of electrical grounding problems which eventually (and also out of no where with little warning) made my alternator and battery die. At least i think this equalizer kit was the problem so I just use the extra grounding wires that came with the kit but not the display box thing..just unplugged that and havent had problems so far

No problems that I know of with any other parts except I had the alternator pulley of the unorthodox pulley set (3) removed and back to OEM just to be safe for the alternator...HONDA says it wont replace alternator again under warranty if it happens to die IF the pulley is aftermarket but only that specific pulley. I still have the other two unorthodox pullies (underdrive and other one) and they say no problem for warranty.

GolNat

iTrader: (7)

I don't have poly bushings but from reading about them they seem to be worth the investment. Just the fact that they last longer then rubber ones is a bonus. As long as you use a lot of grease so they don't squeak.

Matteo

iTrader: (1)

ok thanks, i went with some lightweight/good traction yokohamas btw that were not very expensive. the ones you mentioned looked good too tho