biohazard

To anyone willing to give me their knowledge:

Please excuse my ignorance in these matters.

I have a stock '02 Civic LX Sedan, A/T. I want to make it look nicer without breaking the bank. I'm not too big on performance, since it's more of a commuting car, and I'm not a big racer (I prefer gas mileage over racing). I'm more of a bells and whistles kind of guy. I just want it to look sportier.
I have tinted windows and just bought fog lights, accent lights (little ones to fit in the headlights) and euro tail lights. I also want to get nozzle lights, and a gadgety alarm with window roll and trunk pop is in the horizon.

Looking to get things to make my car look nicer. I want a new front grill, 17-18" rims and wheels, coilover/springs, struts (do I have to?), and probably a camber kit. Also, I'm looking at getting a header and exhaust.

Questions:
Where should I start, so that my car doesn't look retarded in the transition phases?

I'm not sure how low I should lower my car, and what brands I should look at, because each brand lowers different amounts.

I thought about getting a header, but with an automatic, does it matter that much?

For the exhaust, do they have to be welded, or can I do any of this myself? Also, is the exhaust for looks, power, or both?

Is there anything I should get that I didn't list? I can't think of anything else aesthetically.

BIG QUESTION(S):
Why do I see all these parts so expensive, but WAY cheaper on Ebay? Should I trust these people?

How much does a brand name matter, especially on function? If it does the job and is cheaper, shouldn't I consider it?

Please respond with any help you can provide. Thanks!

civicvtec1ps

iTrader: (34)

nozzle lights. no you dont want that .
get rid of altezzas and buy jdm taillights.
invest fullcoilovers, nice 17s. rs lip kit. camber kit
performance wise.. bolt ons wont do much ,

this is how every sedan should looks like.
SOO CLEAN

biohazard

Pardon my ignorance again, but what are JDM lights? Or rather, what does JDM stand for?

Also, I can't see many of the pictures on this site... What's the reason for that? I see some pictures of cars, but none in the member's rides, and none in posts. Only the ones in people's sigs.

XTREME2K2CIVIC

iTrader: (5)

Just ignore Jdm....The stock ones look better.

Get rid of all the little colored lights...

Start off with rims...then drop...then kit.

prccivic

iTrader: (2)

yep, the first thing u wanna do if you want your ride to look nice is invest in some rims...then drop it...right off the bat u will be happy with that.

biohazard

By "kit", I assume you mean a ground kit - bottom spoilers? Or did you mean the camber kit first?
Anything I should really do after lowering the car?

BTW-I figured out the pics weren't loading up because of my comp's firewall. Got that fixed, though.

white2K2EX

Buy rims first. You'll look at it afterwards and barely be able to believe it's the same car.

For lowering, go with Koni Yellows and your choice of springs.

Intakes, headers, and exhausts are more for looks and sound than power on these cars. I suggest getting intake and exhaust.

The problem with EBAY is that you hardly ever get warranties.

Yes, brand does matter. A lot of cheap parts do the job, but you've got to wonder how long they're going to do it.

I personally have a no-name rear strut tower bar. It gets the job done and I'm not worried about it. But with other, more important things, I would only go with names.

biohazard

civicvtec1ps- what are the measurements of your tires?

I'm in process of getting an intake... but I'm actually not sure what it would do for an automatic. Slight power improvement? Or would I only notice after getting the exhaust? (header, too?)

Koni Yellow- are those shocks? I thought the type of shocks and springs should go together with... something else?

As far as warranties go, how trusty are speed shops? All the ones I keep looking at are there one month, and gone the next.
What could happen with cheap coilovers/springs? (And are they the same thing? Coilover=springs?)

I feel so ignorant, I apologize.

biohazard

Also, I want to get 17" or 18" rims. Would 18" be overkill?

Are there particular sizes I should look at, or will the people in tire shops help? I want to keep the diameter of the wheel roughly the same so that I don't mess up speedometer readings and junk. Also I know that too wide of a tire will rub up against the inside wheel well when you turn, so that is also a concerning factor... Is there a limit as far as what size of tire I can get?

BoZ05

as far as exhausts goes, theoretically, a good exhaust is supposed to keep getting better as more and more performance related mods are added on...but I/H/E on commuters usually don't achieve much.

No, 18's look good on 7th gens, and the reason why people said to get koni yellows is because they were the only company that has struts go, unless KYB has some, i haven't really checked lately. the coilovers you were talking about where the struts and springs go along with each other are full coilovers suchs as tein, jic, etc etc...

as far as ebay products and car mods go in general, you pay for waht you get. Many times when buying "name brand" products, you're paying more for the name rather than the product itself (ie mugen, spoon, jun, toda, etc) and the quality and reputation behind the company.

civicvtec1ps

iTrader: (34)

215/45/17
with TEIN ss drop

RunawaySoul

You might want to check out Civic Duty from Amazon.com. Doesn't cover new Civics, but the general idea is the same. It gives you an idea what to look for on your own. Don't listen listen to anyone on this board about what items to get, even from me. Begin with the end in mind, and go from there. If you do that, you'll know what you want and won't waste money replacing it in the future (altezza's anyone? )
Take everything with a grain of salt. I did my own research first, then compared my findings with the board, then made my decision. There is a wealth of information on this board. Stick around long enough, you'll notice patterns of what is good and what isn't. Learn from other peoples rights and wrongs, it's what this board is for.

Amplify

Brand name DOES matter on certain things. I've seen a couple of posts on here with people complaining about their ride quality cause they bought cheap Ebay coilovers. Personally, if it was MY suspension, I wouldn't take the cheaper way out.

As to what order you should do this stuff, get rims then drop. I promise ya the car would look 10 times better with new wheels and a drop. Take your time deciding on wheels though. Research, sit on the idea for awhile, then decide whether you want one over the other. There are 50 gazillion choices of wheels out there. With the drop, you can either get a full coilover set up or springs and shocks. Then depending on how low you go, you might need a camber kit.

As far as wheels go, get 17s if you drive around alot and your town got crappy to decent roads. 18s if you can drive carefully and/or have mostly smooth streets. I think most people on here either run 215/45/17s with their 17s and 215/35/18s with their 18s.

At the end of it all, browse through this entire board. There's a ton of knowledge lying around here, just waiting to be learned!

RobG2k1

215/35/18 does that keep the same diameter as stock? or will it mess up the speedometer.

can you go with larger tires on 18's or is that the reccomended size?

civicvtec1ps

iTrader: (34)

http://www.7thgencivic.com/modules.p...tor&file=index

pheaton

iTrader: (6)

Buy what you want and keep it around until you have what you want, and put it all on at once that way you don't have to worry about the transitioin phase.

now. . I'm leaving before the flaming starts.

SeCosCiV

He'll get no flaming from me. I think those are all good questions. Hey, just do a "Search" (@ the top of the screen) and you'll find topics on damn near every part for you car.