Detky

Hey! so I just got my first Honda, its a 97 Dx hatchback and I was wondering if there are some things I could do to increase the horsepower besides a turbo or upgrading to a DOHC?

I've heard that putting a D15b head on it will will improve it but what does that entail? could it harm the engine? will I have to improv, fabricate or weld anything?

Is a cat back exhaust system advantageous over the stock one?

Also should I invest in a sway bar if I want to improve my suspension?

6thgencivic908

I just totaled my y7 in dec and i got a dx coupe with a mini me swap, and damn. This car is so much quicker than my y7 and its technically stock now. i suggest a y8 head because you will get high compression off the bat than a factory y8. Other wise your pretty limited to intake exhaust, basic fuel management, advace your timing, short throw shifter. If you want to have a "fast civic" without a full bore b,h,k,or j swap, make its fast around corners. I could not hang with an sti speed wise but i can shove my bumper up their tail pipe when you hit the corners. get good brakes and redo your suspension. Real racing is not just done in straight lines

em2brasil

dont waste your time and money get a b series swap and put it in and you will not regret it

Detky

[/QUOTE] get good brakes and redo your suspension. Real racing is not just done in straight lines[/QUOTE]

When you say redo my suspension, how so?, just a sway bar or replace everything in that vicinity?

Teedrawe33

hey all just had some questions and just seeing if i can get some advice. I have had a 97 civic dx d16y7 for about 3 years now. It was my first car when i turned 16 and before I bought it from my brother who owned it, it had belonged to his friend. From whom It was stolen twice and has had about 3 different engines in it since the original stock.(brothers friend liked to race it and threw some rods) Its all back to stock since ive owned it and its a great lil car but it does have a few mechanical issues and a few cosmetic issues, as you can imagine. I feel like its time to sell it and move on or really work on it and make it a really clean civic. The stock motor my brother put in it for me before i bought it is fairly new and now only has about 94k on it so it has ALOT of life left. The only things I have done to the car is put new rotors and pads, new pulley and had to spend about $500 to fix the suspension because its lowered about 3 inches. Im kind of a noob when it comes to engines. Im not too mechanically inclined although im learning. Ive been searching alot lately and Ive heard that doing any sort of upgrades to a d series to make it faster is pointless but Ive read of people running turbos with about 8-10 psi on a bone stock y7 for years with no problems. The idle has sounded a little rough for about the last year or so and the idle is starting to fluctuate more. in the summer heat it makes a clicky rattling noise mostly in 2nd and 3rd gear at low rpms and sometimes while idleing. And one of the axle rods snapped on me in the middle of an intersection last fall (fun experience). I mentioned a new header or a new throttle body to my mechanic to start as an upgrade and he pretty much laughed. It gets great gas mileage with the 3'' exhaust i have on it about 40+ mpg but I want to start workin on it and make it my own but dont know where to start? Any ideas to make it a cleaner, better drivin civic without any MAJOR upgrades like a swap?