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Hey, if you look in my sig you'll see all the mods I have. I think that I pretty much have "sleeper mods" because nothing I have changed the appearance of my car, except for the rims. btw, my rims are 12lbs each

Someone recommended Falken Ze-512 tires. I totally recommend them, also. And definately buy them from www.vulcantire.com because they are cheaper there than anywhere else (I got 4 for $202 shipped, and you can't beat that ANYWHERE). The service was great and the shipping was fast. Ze-512's are a big improvement over stock. Dry handling is better, and wet handling is much better. Our stock tires were terrible when it was wet. btw, I got the same size rims as stock (15"), and I got 205/60/15 tires, to keep the same overall size and not throw off my speedometer and tachometer, but give me 2 more cm of width (stock are 185/65/15).

You said you don't want to rev high, but that's where our car makes all it's power. Not that it makes a lot of power, but that's were the power is. The best intake is K&N FIPK II. I've made a lot of other posts on why it's the best, so just search for them or take my word for it.

Suspension mods - an RSX rear sway bar is awesome. Get the base RSX or RSX-R (they're the same size) sway bar. An RSX type R sway bar is too thick for us unless you upgrade your front sway bar, too. Neuspeed front upper strut bar will fit with an intake, and it's one piece so it's the best strut bar. Rear upper strut bars probably don't do as much, but you can get one anyway. If you're thinking about new rims, remember that bigger = heavier = slower. Stock steelies without tires are like 19 or 20lbs, so definately don't get anything heavier than that.

Basically a sleeper mod is any mod that you don't see. So no wings, stickers, bodykits, etc. Some of those things even create more drag and slow you down. Even an exhaust would probably not be a sleeper mod. Anything under the hood or done to the suspension could be a sleeper mod, however. Wheels can still be considered a sleeper mod if they're done tastefully and kept close to stock size.

Ok wow this is a long post. Whatever you do, be sure to tell us and post pics!

 
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Boilermaker1's orange rims

Good thing his car's not black, tho. Then it'd be like Halloween colors

 
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hm...
im a sleeper mod too, i guess..

yo, do you guys know where that "my ride" button located now?

i suggest going all the way to 215/45/R17....

hehe, im wondering though...should i lower my car or not..
hm...

 
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u lucky u got the 04 ex i got a 04 vp lol i put a aem short ram on my car and i would reccomand it better trottle response and a little better gas mileage

 
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its kinda tough to make a civic a sleeper. basically anyone that has a turbo and not a ton of exterior mods has a sleeper i would say. in sport compact car they had a list of 25 different things you could do to make a sleeper. one of them is lightly spray the fmi black. apparently it doesn't hurt the intercooler but i would check on that one. quiet exhaust and dont get huge wheels, go with 15's or something

 
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VP? >>>>>>>>>>>>characters.

 
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I just bought a 2004 Coupe LX. Love the car. Got the rear and back windows limo tinted and the sides 35% tinited. Looks ggod with the black paint. Added a Honda factory spoiler and some ASA 15" alloy wheels. Also got the leather wheel wrap and K&N filter. My question is on the wheel size. I live in the country and use this bomb for commuting as my Dodge 4X4 was costing me 700 bucks a month in fuel alone!

I drive on 2 lane asphalt/black top raod that can get "bumpy" due to frost heaves in the spring so I need some good rubber on the road. I would like to get 16" wheels but hear that the profile being cut down affects the ride. Also the turning radius of the car. The car handles ok with the stock rubber but I would like a bit more handling bit again, I will be travelling on "some" rough roads. What do you guys recommend

 
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I go on some rough roads too, we have same thing with the frost here in Ohio. My 17's didn't make the ride that much rougher. Remember, it is the total volume of air in the tire that determines how rought the ride is, so go with a little wider tire, like a 205 or 215 and you won't notice a difference.

 
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well.. just buy straight performance mods.. dont sticker it up, and keep it simple... most mods cant really be seen unless pointed out or if you obviously have money to burn (i.e rims, body kit that is painted)

oh.. btw.. LOVE your other posts...

 
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Sorry dude,
I don't live my life a quarter mile at a time

 
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either do i.. but is probablly the only consistant way to compare... at least online... over distances..
autocross setups vary from event to event, so timing on that is gonna vary..

oh.. and i am putting down 118hp to the wheels in 4th gear on teh dyno, but its more than that on the road cause of the moving air going to the intake anyways
stock dyno for a 1.7L ex is roughly 106-110 depending on what gear you are in

 
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^^^^^^^^you still do 02 sim's

 
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What mods do you have?

Remember on the road you have better air going into the intake (unless your dyno uses one of those big fans), but you also have air resistance slowing you down. Not that that makes less hp, but it makes acceleration slower (unless it's a tailwind :_hgrin

zen_master, I don't know where the "my ride" button is anymore.

 
Rep Power: 339

click on the user's name, and click on the dropdown menu, and there is more hp on the road cause the dyno wasnt pushing much air to my intake
the main "performance mods" i have are as follows
vafc2, exhaust, intake, downpipe/test pipe(no cat)
i have a 5spd ex sedan with neuspeed springs

 
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Your wrong dude, and Zen is right,
I am getting 205/60/15's when my stock tires wear out....look at the tire
calculator 205/60/15's are a perfect match to keep diameter and speedometer
correct, will definately help in cornering, handling with wider surface on the
street, without sacrificing smooth ride in my stealth civic

 
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look man you are going to believe what you want but, a lower profile wider tire is going to grip way better than a stock size

you can have your speedo recalculated if its that big of a deal

 
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um, compaired to the 195/60-15 that comes with the EX a 205/60-15 is the lower profile tire. and how much a lower profile tire grips more or less then a higher profile tire is a matter of tire design. Example, my 205/50-15s Grip and respond a whole lot quicker then my 215/45-17s. why? Because the tire on my 15s is designed for Racing and maximum handling.

 
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Exactly Z, I agree, And I like the smooth ride, goin below 60 gets a little rough,
you agree?

 
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he just said his 50 not 60
60 is quite big

 
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have u ridden on 205/60's? those are like ballons... its about 3/4" larger in diameter so there is more sidewall flex..you are going to wanna go with something slightly smaller

i rode on the 205/60's for a week... acceleration was lost, cornering was even worse
also, the 205/60/15 is a very comon tire for vans and trucks
go with 195/60's you can get the same tires in that size than on the 205/60's
just remember.. if u go up in the first number, the second number goes down...

 
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Hey guys I checked an you're right, my EX has a rear sway already! Can you say ... EASY UPGRADE!?

Sweet!
Bye

 
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Dude, I been up to the tire wizard @ costco's here and they have a cool computer that computes all the plus 1, plus 2, stock tires, etc. He put in my stock tires and for my Lx-coupe were 14's . I got 15" si alloys and puttin on 195/60/15's like you said. I am goin from 185/70/14 to 195/60/15. This is exactly plus 1, no change in speedometer speed at all, very small change in diameter. The best if you want to stay closest to stock size with added handling but no loss of fuel economy or acceleration. I also don't want to drop below 60's because I like the smooth ride i have and the roads here suck!

 
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Thanks for the tip man, Like I said I am goin with 195/60/15 from my stock 185/70/14's. The computer said this was a perfect plus 1 match. I will stay away from those 205's!

 
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I have 215/45/17 on my car, hardly a difference in ride. And if you think your roads are bad, come try NE ohio. I been all over the place and have yet to see roads anything like ours. Remeber it's not the side wall that dtermines how the ride is, it's the inner volume of the tire that determines that and since your tire got smaller on the side wall, but got wider, you have almost the same volumetric space inside the tire.

205's won't do anything bad either, 215 can rub if you have the wrong set up, but lots of people on here run 205 without any problems. The '04 EX come with the 195/60/15's stock, so 10mm more won't kill it. I know I have 215's, but they are a good tire make and where beyond dirt cheap, almost free.

Plus 1 and plus 2 and so on, are always "perfect" a plus one is like going from a 14 inch rim to a 15 inch rim, the plus one comes from the difference in the two rims, (i.e. 15-14 = 1) Or if you go form a 14 to a 17, 17 -14 =3 so that is a plus 3. Not many people have an imperfect where they go from a 14 to a 16.5 for a plus 2.5.

 
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exactly..

i think it's been calculated by those guys at Honda....that 195/60/R15 should be the optional tire of your LX Coupe...

for mine, 185/65/R15 is the OEM...however, 195/60/R15 actually bring down the performance just a lil' bit... i should go with 205/60/R15 in order to bring up the performance.

for your LX Coupe,
15" - 195/60/R15
16" - 205/50/R16
17" - 205/45/R17

my next set of wheels and tires will be 215/45/R17, the recommended tire size for my EX Coupe..

 
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Boilermaker: Where did you get your rear strut tower bar?

 
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215/45/17 is my summer tire, I got the entire rim and tire pakage for 400 bucks, not bad for summer rims. My race day rims are 205/55/15. For street though I would go with the 205/60/15. As for engineering the tire size, yeah they do that across the street from my work. The only thing I can say is this "wider is better," it's about the only thing Pontiac got right.