Rep Power: 0

I have a modded 2001 Civic LX with intake, exhaust, wheels/tires, and strut bar(so far) and am at a crossroad in my car ownership life. I had a near catastrophic failure a month ago when a spark plug blew out and i had to retap the hole in the cylinder head to get a spark plug back into the #4 cylinder and have begun to rethink how i want to go about obtaining a well modded and respectable Civic. My question is, should i keep the '01 and do a k20 swap or sell it and buy a newer civic? I am sold on doing a swap if i do keep it. While i like the idea of turboing the d17...i would rather turbo a k20. But, i would like to have some opinions on the idea of buying a brand new civic and going from there. Please fill me in with all of your vast expanses of tuner knowledge.

 
Rep Power: 352

opinions will vary.

i love my civic. id keep it.

 
Rep Power: 0

I'm not saying i dont like my car i love mine as well. The biggest thing i am looking at now is access to parts and the ease of putting them on. I am in the military so my income is quite fixed and not much to be envied and what i am seeing is that if you want a sick d17, you should probably be ready to tear it apart and forge it and dump some money into that turbo kit. While that is nice in the end, i would rather do a k swap, but that is still going to be a big chunk of change in my book. Not to mention that a lot of the suspension parts are almost nonexistant for my model year.

 
Rep Power: 0

Sounds like your mind is made up already. If I were you I'd keep the car you have and look into picking up a smashed RSX. One where the engine is fine still and you could swap everything you needed onto you civic, like suspension.

 
Rep Power: 313

Keep your civic, go K20 instead of replacing it. K20 swap is expensive (5000+), but it's still cheaper than a new Si.

 
Rep Power: 285

Aside from installing a rear sway bar being a bit of a pain, you still have access to the same suspension and brakes as any other 7th gen civic or RSX with a bit of work. I say keep it. There's more to the car than putting down power. I totally understand what you're thinking, I've had the same thoughts many times, but the conclusion has always been to stick to my current chassis.

 
Rep Power: 190

There are plenty of decent suspension options. Idk how much faster you want your car to be but from reading on here you can put a mild turbo on without modifying the engine.

 
Rep Power: 181

I say keep it. if you've already put work into, keep it up! A K20 swap would be awesome! In fact, even a well done turbo D17 would be rather unique. Despite not being as powerful as a Turbo K20, it's certainly not a bad option.

 
Rep Power: 253

You blew the spark plug in this motor, so what makes you think it will happen in the next motor. Keep this car.

 
Rep Power: 229

you could try to sell your car and grab an 01-05 rsx-s, you'd probabley have to put a bit more money down but it would be the cheapest way to gain a functional K. then down the road turbo the rsx.

 
Rep Power: 0

i dont think it would happen in another motor. it was a goof mistake that this one even blew one out. i didn't check the plugs and someone elses f-up almost cost me a motor.

What are you guys thoughts on the K20Z3?

 
Rep Power: 0

If your engine isn't modded right won't the turbo half it's life?

I have a d17 also

But I wasn't set on a turbo yet because I didn't want to ruin anything

If I get a mild turbo will it still decay faster?