ateyourv8

Just bought a 97 Civic EX it has a d16y8 SOHC VTEC motor in it... Previous owner itsalled what I assume is your run of the mill Ebay Cold Air Intake... I want to know know what are some recommended upgrades right off the bat.. And I already plan on investing in a better cold air intake.

GolNat

iTrader: (7)

What are your goals?
What is your budget?
Are you willing to tear into the engine?

There isn't to much you can do besides turbo or engine swap. A stage 1 cam would be good.


No point. It's a piece of pipe with a filter on the end. The one you have is fine. I would just invest in a nice filter like an AEM dry flow.

Stock 99

^^this

Good stuff you can do to a 6th gen would be wheels, tires, suspension, interior but if your looking for HP then it's turbo or engine swap.

xRiCeBoYx

iTrader: (22)

Can never go wrong with a good suspension setup. If there's anything a Hondas can excel at is suspension. Even a strut bar to start off with -- a good single piece (not 3-piece like you see LOTS of out there) will do you well. Small anecdote: I was watching something on TV a while ago, a time trial race between a Honda team and a Nissan team. The Nissan team had a lot more horsepower, but the Honda team walked away with the win because of better suspensions.

HIDs, if done properly (i.e. retrofit -- easy to do in H4 housings) can look really good and make you see much better at night. Plug and play HID kits will do no more than **** off other drivers and attract cops.

Like GolNat said, keep the eBay pipe and slap a better filter on it.

Sound systems are always an easy upgrade. Just figuring out what you want and how/where you wanna mount extra things (amps, subs, etc) is the hardest part.

If you have a manual transmission, there are a couple things you can do. A short shifter will help you shift faster due to shortened travel. Lightweight flywheel will result in less loss at the transmission (and, in turn, slightly faster acceleration).


Really, you gotta follow GolNat's post and answer those questions. Other questions you should answer: Do you wanna be fast or look cool? If you want both, where do you want the bias: more show or more go?