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I purchased a 2005 Honda Civic Ex Special Edition 5-Speed a few months ago as a daily driver. It's fantastic and really enjoying it. 100k miles, 1 owner!!!! I have a imported 1993 rhd MR2 Turbo as a weekend car so I'm getting the itch to do minimal upgrades to this car haha. I need advice(besides maintenance) as far is what is good for this car because going through a quick search, I've seen very minimal aftermarket support for the 7th gen. I'm interested in a exhaust/air intake/short shifter to add a little bit of spice to this car, about as much as I'm willing to add to not make it rowdy and annoying but still enjoy daily life with it. I'll post links to the products I'm currently looking at and let me know what you think! Thank you guys!

Magnaflow seems to be the best sounding for this vehicle, I don't want it super loud or raspy sounds you'd get from ebay exhausts. Is there a cat underneath the car or is the only one at the manifold? If there is one under, have you guys done test pipes?

Kind of iffy on these because from the looks of it, the filter sits behind the radiator(could be wrong) so it's not much "cold air" is it haha. Have you guys seen better results from the cold air or short rams?

As far as short throw shifters, have seen buddy club and teknica from a forum post I've seen on here. Let me know your thoughts.

I know this post is a lot but I appreciate you guys taking a look and I'm looking forward to getting more involved in this community!

Clean engine bay bois!


Crispy interior

Dat ***!!


Wheels are so crisp, jesus christ!!!

 
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Welcome to the forum and nice ES2. I'll try to answer all your questions in order:

I personally prefer the Yonaka catback, but to each their own. I'd leave the cats otherwise it gets raspy. I sold mine a few years ago but I'm pretty sure there's a cat underneath as well. Can't remember.

I had a friend who I think had a Megan Racing short shifter on his, and it felt alright. No experience with any of the ones you mentioned.

I personally wouldn't get an intake because there's pretty much no difference in performance; only noise.

I know you didn't ask for input for maintenance, but you're right at the point for needing a timing belt.

 
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I appreciate the input! How does the Yonaka sound? I was also looking at that one but I'm not too sure which one would sound better. The styling on both is phenomenal, I just happen to know what the Magnaflow sounds like.

Also, I put (No maintenance) because I already plan on re-hauling the entire motor to be maintenance free another decade

 
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It’s still pretty quiet. I personally prefer it to the Magnaflow. A YouTube search search should yield some results.

 
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I sure hope that timing belt has already been done, every 7 years if the mileage requirement isn't hit.

I have the Magnaflow catback in my car currently. I think it sounds good but I'm also K swapped so not sure how good of a comparison. Stock RSX downpipe and cat. I first installed the catback with a set of DC sport headers before going K, no cat. Literally couldn't stand it. Sounded so raspy/ricey, I regretted it every time I started the car.

 
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Suspension will get you absolutely the best bang for buck on this platform. it's not much of a power-maker, but man, it can handle like a dream with the right setup. If you get a front upper strut bar, get one that's made of a single piece. the 3 piece ones will only be for looks, and single piece bar will actually brace the strut towers properly. More on suspension, the DC5 RSX 19mm rear sway bar is a direct fit with no mods needed. Highly recommend you upgrade the endlinks though. Don't even bother with the front sway bar. If I remember correctly, @sdaidoji up and removed his for his AutoX setup

Exhaust, I had an A'PEXi World Sport 2 cat-back on mine, and it sounded great. Not too loud, but enough to let you know it was there. I had people that hate rice rockets say they liked the sound of my car (like my sister's now-wife/then-girlfriend). As far as your cat goes, you have one under your car (approximately right below your shifter assembly), and it's integrated into the downpipe. The DX/LX (D17A1 non-VTEC engine) has the cat integrated into the exhaust mani.

Short shifters, revo technica by far. It's the most inexpensive and actually works really well. Keep in mind that the RSX and 7th gen civic share the same exact shifter assembly, so anything made for an RSX will work in your car. I had a Revo Techica V1 short shifter that reduced throw by some 20% and height by like an inch or so. The V2 gives you more adjustability in the reduction, so that's nice. Definitely look into aluminum shifter base bushings if you replace it, since that'll give you an even more solid feel.

If you want rear disk brakes, a rear knuckle assembly from a 2002 Si hatchback will bolt right up. you just need RSX e-brake cables. If you go with 2003-2005, it'll change the bolt pattern from 4x100 to 4x114.3 (hence why I recommended the 2002)

I know intake and exhaust won't give you much power, but it'll def change it's sound. I personally rocked an AEM V2 short ram intake and I thought it sounded great when coupled with the full exhaust system I had: kamikaze ceramic coated header (company now defunct), random tech 2.25" high flow cat with downpipe (company also now defunct), and mated that up to my aforementioned cat-back (60mm piping, roughly 2.36"). Unless you plan on going boost, 2.25" exhaust is about the most I'd go. The 60mm A'PEXi WS2 exhaust was actually kinda nice, but it was a chambered muffler, so that might've been a slight factor as to why I didn't lose much low end torque.

Clutch and flywheel. An ACT Streetlite flywheel will do you good. Revs will rise and fall faster (even under load), but it's less.... power parasitic at the transmission? Best words I can describe it as. OEM flywheel is 17.xlb, the streetlite is 11. Less rotating mass to overcome. OEM clutch kit is good to some 160-something torque, so only upgrade if you start making power. Exedy KHC08 (OEM replacement) is all you're really gonna need until you start seeing the need for a stage 1 clutch

rims. If you decide to get rims. 4x100 bolt pattern. Offset between... +35 to +44. 17's, in my opinion, were the perfect size, and I can tell you that 215/45-17 on 17x7.5" rims won't rub, even when lowered some 2.5"

edit: I almost forgot... Welcome to the forum,, and that's a clean *** ES2 you got there!

 
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Thank you so much for the break down, it's a lot haha. I definitely plan on doing a lot of suspension work as I want to keep this more "Daily" oriented.I have the MR2 Turbo as the fun car so I don't plan on doing too too much performance wise to the car. I only plan on adding a exhaust and intake for mainly sound, not power. I'm definitely going to add the RSX rear sway for sure!!! I love throwing this thing around, very under-steer prone which makes sense for this model but I want to change that

Do you know if RSX hybrid racing shifter works for the 7th gen? I have a friend with it on his MR2 and it's amazing, definitely would love to add it to mine.

Also, do you know of a good strut bar? I've found there are almost no good reputable brands that make one for the 7th gen. Is there a strut bar for a different model/year that fit the 7th gen like a Si model or the rsx? I've found only cheap ebay ones and I'm not sure how well those work to keep the front rigid.

 
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if you do decide to lower the car, make sure to get the adjustable upper control arms.
The rear negative camber makes it impossibly understeery, squeals like a pig.

 
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Edit: '03-'05 has 5x114.3. I'm sure it was just a typo

I would think so. 7th gen and RSX have very similar shifters to begin with. I'd be surprised if the Hybrid Racing one didn't work.

DC Sports used to be the one to go to, not sure if they still sell them. I conveniently have one in my garage that no longer fits over the new engine.

 
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DC sports is discontinued

 
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@BrotatoChip yeah, 03-05 has 4x114.3, 02 has the 4x100. First part of that had me recommending the 02 knuckle assembly. Wording was kinda weird but I was too lazy to change it after I submitted it

 
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Again, 5x114.3 not 4x114.3

 
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Would you be willing to part ways with your DC Strut bar? I'm looking to upgrade my bay with one! If you would like to sell, please message me on instagram @Santiaguru

 
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shhhh... I never claimed to be able to read or write.