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so ive had my 99 civ for about 2 years and finally have saved enough to get the ball rolling on my car. got about 5 grand saved up and the first order of business is some performance parts. im not looking into turbos and stuff like that. just looking for some ideas on good/reliable but reasonably priced parts that could boost some hp/torque and if possible mpg. Im getting a K/N cold air intake. looking into some headers with an Ingen full exhaust system. possibly swapping the cat converter. was thinking about changing the throttle. and list goes on, lol. but any ideas on what are good brands? what gives more bang for the buck? Any and all ideas welcome.

 
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look into upgrading your fuel rail, spark plugs, plug wires, pulleys, cam, clutch, short throw shift, upgrade the ecu (hondata is what i've found best personally so far). if you have the ability/access then i recommend building your own exhaust. you can get basically the same things as a fancy bolt on with half the money by buying your own pipe and gettin it bent to fit your car then buying a muffler and cat and tieing it into your piping. personally i'm not a fan of K&N...had a few of their filters and dirt has gotten through all of them and they have worn out rather quickly on me.

 
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You should check out an AEM cold air intake, and or if your creative try and make your own.....



..... Others probably won't recommend it but eh,
btw I made this one ( it's a short ram) but I also bought me an AEM Cold air intake

 
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oh thanks finally got some responses. yeah ive heard from a few people K/N isnt really the tuner thing. as for the exhaust system ive found some cheaper and more direct flow ones on Ebay and etc. ill keep all these in mind THX.

keep em coming!!

 
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dont waste your money. buy a car that has torque if you wanna tune it up. that 5000 could buy a nice 300zx or an eagle talon. something that has some *****.

 
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lol its including a paint job and other stuff as well. like I said im not looking to go off fast and furious. I have a hayabusa for that. I just want it to run better have some kick to it.

 
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i love how in a civic forum someone says don't waste your time...get a non civic. but anyways.... all those things are relatively cheap and you can feel a difference. with all those things i could see a 99 si (160 hp) goin to about 200 pretty easily. Do not expect to get anything ridiculous liek 300 but 200 is a fair estimate if you get those things done. I hope my short list helped ya a little bit

 
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lol word. and nah definitely this helped. this is pmuch what I was looking for. about 40-50 hp more is perfect. of course if there's anything else lemme know. with all those changes im also looking at a nice improvement of fuel consumption so im pretty excited about that, lol. again if anyone has any other ideas it would be appreciated.

first things ima work on is the intake, exhaust, plugs/wires. is there a plug brand you recommend? or Bosch plati's ok?

 
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stick with ngk wires and plugs. denso is okay for plugs too. bosch and other american brands are terrible in a honda.

 
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ngk's as far as i know work rather well in every car. had them in my lancer and had no problems at all. i believe my mom even uses ngk iridiums in her 77 camaro. if you have time completely take apart your engine and clean it up...smooth out anything you can and help with the flow thru your engine. i'd for sure get your exhaust and intake taken care of before you start doin any fuel stuff. also the hondata is the best "chip" i could find for my 99 civic. it is completely adjustable and the s300 can even work as a boost controller if you go into a turbo set up

 
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your mom drives a 77 camaro? coolest mom ever!

 
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I would do Intake (AEM V2 with dryflow filter) header and exhaust first. This gets the car breathing better.
I'd also upgrade the spark plug wires and replace the plugs if needed- dont go for the Iridium or platinum ones or whatever, just get a good plug for 10 or less by Denso.

From there, since your looking for a kick in horsepower without adding a turbo or swapping the motor- build the motor you have. Upgrade the cam to something a little more agressive- such as a stage 2 crower cam- also do their valve train upgrade. And to tune it, go with whatever hondata chip fits your application (as we dont know what kind of motor you have- Dseries or Bseries?)

Another note on the exhaust- your stock cat is fine as long as its not built into the header. Later on down the line you can replace it with a higher flowing cat, but it doesnt make sense to upgrade it before doing any motor work because the cost>benefit at that point.

EDIT: PVC shouldnt be used on the intake because when it heats up it lets off nasty crap thats not good for the motor. If you wanna bend some metal an make your own- go with either aluminum or stainless steel piping and use a pipe bender to get the desired shape or bust out a welder. I'm always in favor of something custom because you learn to appreciate the product and workmanship that goes into it, plus u get that added sense of customization.

 
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that's cool that people think of new ideas like your making a home made intake cool.

 
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Ok, I'd recommend against is making your own exhaust or having one bent. Crush bent is horrible for flow. Mandrel bent is the only way to go for true performance.

Fuel rail 'upgrade' is cosmetic at best unless you go forced induction.

ECU upgrades by themselves are ways to lose horsepower. I'd stick with Honda programming. If you have a b16a go with the JDM programming (more aggressive timing and fuel mapping). There is no magic bullet ECU program that will give your Honda a large increase in power...no matter who made it. That's because programming must be done individually to your engine/mods while being dyno tuned. That is cost prohibitive.

Also, Honda1996 is correct, PVC can give off chlorine gas when subjected to high heat. Not good.

 
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Its the wiser to leave the civic factory stock, otherwise you will just end up spending lots of money and gaining no actual excitement from the car. You see, the civic is a great car for getting groceries, and getting me to my bingo gatherings. Its wonderful on gas and when I floor it, the car is so gentle that it doesn't give me a queasy feeling at all like my Geo Metro used to do. The rate of acceleration of my civic is about the same as my grandsons moped, so the car is plenty fast enough. But if you are suggesting to have a fast car for the street other than for getting groceries, or bingo, just about any other car on the road is better suited. Plus you will lose your great gas mileage. Good luck sonny.

 
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whoa whoa whoa....maybe i missed it but what motor do you have, and again, what do you want your car to do?

 
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[QUOTE=stsdude2;4451405]dont waste your money. buy a car that has torque .................lol change the engine to a b18c and then turbo it

 
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i got a 00 si with bolt ons i liek the power even though its 160,
apexi world sport 2 cat-back,obx header, aem short ram,7lb fidanza flywheel and exedy clutch with those mods i do feel some gains and i loved driving it everyday, i get flew by other cars with bigger hp, oh shiet that car is fast
oh well haha

 
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dude your car is sick, i like the color. so the hp is 160 with the bolt ons. i though that was the stock hp for an stock Si. i would guess that has provably 40 to 60 more hp with those bolt ons. i have a 96 civic cx with the d16y7 engine with 106 hp stock , and now it has a short ram intake and performance muffler and 20 hp increase and it sounds loud to . i know it may not have that much hp but its a work in progress ,and it may sound crazy but i have beat 97 mustang of a guy that goes to my same college, i dont know how but i beat him.

 
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Wow, intake and exaust will not give you 40-50hp! You beat that guy in the mustang because he did not know how to drive or wasn't trying (or maybee it was a V6)

The most hp for your buck is a good dyno tune. Mail order chips are garbage. Fuel rails will only look cool unless you are running bigger injectors and more pressure, the only reason to do that is if you are boosting or have some huge cam. Spark plugs won't do **** unless they are old and need to be replaced. Hondas are made to be fun to drive not to go fast. Investing in modding a 4 cylinder front wheel drive car is a pointless waste of money. Intake and exaust and a tune are as far as I would go.

Suspension can make em handle like go carts. That would be a fun mod!

Just my .02