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I sold my truck and bought a 99 civic ex. Im super happy with the purchase i save so much in gas and the car drives like a dream. Couple of questions.


This is a daily driver. But i do want more performance out of the car if i can get it. I think my car has the D16Y8 engine. But im not sure. Also im not sure if my car is vtec or not. Are all EXs vtec?

99 Ex Coupe
Silver
168,000 miles
5 speed


1. Can the engine handle a turbo at low boost say 4-5 psi?

2. What kind of gas mileage will i lose if i do many upgrades to the engine?

3. I drive like a bat out of hell. Can this engine take that for a decent amount of time?

4. When i get on it i can smell oil burning a little. This is after i get the engine up to about 6500-7000 rpms is that normal?

5. I would like to get the car to about 200-220hp what upgrades would you recommend.

6. I am a tall person and the gear shift sits pretty low down. What know would you recommend to length it a little bit.

I cant wait to start modding my car.

P.S. I do not want to get the bubble bee muffler.

Thanks for all who took a look. Hope to get my car tuned up soon.

 
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Exhaust wise, I'd say Apexi WS2. Great sound and looks damn near stock. Honda Tech has a sticky on their site with different exhaust vids you should check out to give you a taste of what's good and what's not. IIRC, the EX models did come with a VTEC engine, just don't know which one off the top. You say high rev driving, where abouts in the rpm range? I keep my RPMs low most of the time due to the fact I hate going to the gas station more than I need to. lol. I've redlined my car a few times and had the smell of burnt carbon, but I don't think I've smelled any oil.

 
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1. Can the engine handle a turbo at low boost say 4-5 psi? Yes it can but not over that, the bottom end tends to be the weak link, invest in a bisimoto cam and look into pnp if you are intending to go turbo, and build up the bottom end.

2. What kind of gas mileage will i lose if i do many upgrades to the engine?
At your goal of 200-220whp you will burn about as much as your truck under higher boost levels, at low boost expect to burn about 40% more.

3. I drive like a bat out of hell. Can this engine take that for a decent amount of time? Yes they can but I would not recommend it as they tend to build up carbon a lot above 7000 rpms. Like any engine bagging on it daily will shorten its life unless its built up.

4. When i get on it i can smell oil burning a little. This is after i get the engine up to about 6500-7000 rpms is that normal?
Valve stem seals can be getting a little weak with that kind of mileage and can burn some oil under higher revs, also with that high of rpms it can cause higher oil pressures making some leaks more apparent around the exhaust manifold or oil pressure sensor or oil filter areas.
5. I would like to get the car to about 200-220hp what upgrades would you recommend.
You would need to build up the bottom end, cams, turbo, intercooler, bigger injectors engine management system etc.
6. I am a tall person and the gear shift sits pretty low down. What know would you recommend to length it a little bit.
You can get higher shift ***** to make up for it the stock shifter sits pretty high so unless you have a short shifter then get a higher shift ****. You can opt for a custom job to lengthen it if needed.


P.S. I do not want to get the bubble bee muffler. Apexi catback sounds pretty good but if go catless then do not add the 4-2-1 header it makes it sound ricey. I have that setup on my dx at the moment and not to fond of it, if you add a cat then it sounds pretty good, you can also opt for a bigger resonator to take a lot of that bumble bee sound out of it.

 
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Thank you very much for the info Newfiedan great post. I will take all this into consideration and start working on it soon!!!

 
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apexi ws2 full cat back
i love it
enjoy the sound everytime i drive

 
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Never mind to much trouble

 
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I am actually thinking about buying a green 99 EX 5 speed coupe with 168K on it, and I'm doing it because I drive a truck right now and I want better gas mileage, what a coincidence. I was curious how much you paid for yours?