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I have a 2004 Civic LX Coupe Manual. I know a civic will never be fast, and im not expecting it to gap a charger without an engine swap.

I have the D17A1 Engine and i wanted to get the publics opinion on some mods that would be worth while. Im not looking to race, i just want the car to feel faster for MY OWN enjoyment. Where should i start? Cold air intake? Manifolds? Exhaust system? Plugs??

Looking for any ideas or recommendations!

 
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Bolt on parts are not going to add much power to the D17. Intake will make the induction noise louder. You can convert over to an Ex exhaust but won’t give you any power really. You can put on a VTEC head off an Ex, that will give you some.


Suspension mods offer a better bank for buck.

 
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None of that will make a lick of difference unless you like looking at shiny parts.
With my 05 I needed a new trans, I put in the trans from a d17a2. It has shorter gears for 2 and 3 which actually makes a difference for accelerating and passing.

 
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So the way I should look at it is Suspension mods to make my ride feel more fun, intake for the sound, possibly a new exhaust setup, vtec head for the looks, and a tranny, when I bought this car the previous owner put a new transmission into it which is why I bought it and it is VERY crisp, I might just slap on a short shifter and call my tranny a day? maybe a lighter fly wheel?

 
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VTEC head is not for looks...
not a huge jump, but more than any bolt-ons.
and it will require wiring the VTEC valve, ECU and then program the keys to that ECU

 
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doing so, do you think the engine could handle a very small turbo? Or just tune the ecu and consider it a day afterwards.

 
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Tuning would do nothing to a stock engine.

Money would be better spent on an engine swap than forced induction at this point. You'll be about on par cost-wise with doing a K swap and be making roughly the same power.

 
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got it, ima just keep it simple, stick to my ideas of a slow civic will be a slow civic and maybe do the head and a bunch of suspension work for a better feel of a ride and probably just small things in the engine here and there(meaning just new parts)

 
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the ecu in these cars are not programmable for engine, just keys
if you turbo, don't bother with the head
engine management will require a hondata or other EMS to manage engine

 
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So if I get a turbo and a hondata, why should I not use the head?

 
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VTEC is for NA cars
VTEC for these cars just work as 3 valve in lower RPM, 4 valves in higher RPM. Don't make much difference if you are going to turbo