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Hi, i've got an 03 LX on my hands. It's only a 4 cylinder and i'm wondering if it's even worth getting Cold air intake mods and a new exhaust. My motto is go big or not at all, i'm not getting any cheap parts for this car so i'm going expensive. So my question is, with a new intake and exhaust, would i reallly see a noticable amount of performance? i have a whole list of idea's for this car but not a whole lot of money so i'm trying not to do anything too stupid haha
-Alex

 
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Unless you consider 3-5 HP from an intake and full exhaust system big gains, then no

 
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So then don't go at all, because you will be wasting money on cold air and exhaust do nothing but make it louder. Turbo or swap are the only options to make the civic fast, unless you fully build the d17, but IMO not worth it.

 
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Well, i really do'nt have the money to swap, and i'm probaby not near experienced to install turbo

 
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the sound is nice!

 
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looks lie your sol then. unless you go nitrious. its fairly cheap and easy mod.

 
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on a d17 bolt ons are not worth it at all, Im so glad that I didnt waste any money on an intake, header, or exhaust. Together if we're lucky you'd pull another 5whp from those.

If you had a 4cyl like the k20a2 from the rsx type s....thats another story

 
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Other than horsepower, would there be any sort of gain at all? such as gas mileage?

 
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I think maybe 1 mpg better with a good intake....I think

 
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hahaha.. i'm trying to look on the bright side of things as you can tell.. but 800$ for 3-5 hp and 1 mpg.. not quite worth it. now, 800$ on suspension and speakers! completely woth it

 
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with a 7thgen civic, you are dead on the money. Throw that bolt on money into suspension mods and ice (in car electronics) and you'll be happier

 
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take from your profile that's what you did huh?

 
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yeah, from a very mild standpoint though. I dont really have much done to my car. Minor suspension stuff and some visual mods.

 
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the other mod you can do is, trade in your car for a faster one...lol.

 
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yeah all a CAI an exhaust is make it sound sweet. cant really notice much HP gain. save up and get a turbo. but remember these little 3-5 HP gains add up in the end.

 
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thats the plan ...............sssshhhh!!

 
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IMO i got my AEM V2 in yesterday for my 02 LX coupe. Before it was really lacking on the bottom end and in between gears. after installing the intake, its cleared up the lag spots. its easier and smoother from a dead stop ( i have a 5 speed), it pulls much harder in the 4500-5000 rpm range, and when between gears, it stays in the power band a little more. idk if i jus got a good one or if everyone experiences this, but i think it was well worth the $250. Idk bout hp gains but honestly, our cars arent fast anyway. oh yea it sounds freakin sick too, when high in the rpms. jus my opinion so dont flame me

 
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I totally agree with sean4389. I have the aem v2 as well on my EX and I have nothing bad to say about it even though its short ram. Before I had a generic ebay CAI and that was cool but after the V2 install wow the grunt that thing makes when you punch it only someone who's experienced this knows what I'm talking about. Everyone knows that bolt-ons don't do much for our d17's but it def makes the car more fun to drive and that has some intrinsic value in my opinion.

 
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get your internals if you plan on getting any real gains

 
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lol you're going to get expensive parts for this car but you can't afford a turbo kit? so what is your definition of expensive, then? go big or not at all? don't go at all. do not pass go, do not collect $200.

 
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maybe he has the stay out of jail card?

yea, your best bet on these cars is to get suspension done first, make it handle around corners really good, then work on power...IMO of course

 
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my sig says it all

 
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^^^ I disagree, any car can be made fast. I think most of us just cant afford to do what it takes to make the car fast. i.e. ( Swap, Internals, Turbo, Tune)

 
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is this situation the same one I'm in with my 05 Civic? I'm hurting really bad with 115 hp as rated by Honda.. I have ideas for the car (all of them really expensive) but I'm not sure how to go about it.. it'd be nice to see at least 300 hp out of it...

 
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Im wondering if if its even worth the extra $6-$10 thousand to upgrade our engines. Or would it be better to use that money towards a new car?

 
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I say get a CAI, it sho nuff gives you a better view of your engine once you take all that stock intake assembly crud off. Hey you might even save 2lbs of weight.. ha... After I installed my K&N CAI I didn't notice much improvement in performance and no improvement in fuel economy....


Depends on how much you like your car.. I don't think it is ever a good financial move to spend thousands of dollars upgradeing a Honda Civic or 99% of cars out there for that matter, unless of course you are making good money racing..

 
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true.

 
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Your confunsing me, you say go big or not at all and no cheap parts, but then you say you have no money? SO what is your budget then? Even if you don't do an engien swap and mod the enternals to gain big HP, you are still looking at 5Gs or more.

 
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This has been said many times before, and I'll repeat it. The only ways to get any kind of gains out of our engines are boost or new internals, neither of which are cheap, or go with a completely new engine altogether, which is even more expensive. It all boils down to how much you like this car. To be frank, the Civic was, is, and will always be an economy car. Honda did a very good job tuning this little engine to it's maximum performance as it sits in our cars. I'm not saying it can't be built to perform, but there are certain inherant difficulties that arise when you build a car up to do something other than what it was designed for. Say you have X amount of dollars. If you want a racer, then take your X dollars and put them towards a nice, RWD coupe or roadster, i.e. 350Z or S2000. Those are track cars. All cars are built to perform, just in different theaters. Those cars don't produce the mileage or daily-driveability of a 'vic, and a 'vic can't touch either one of those cars on the track.

If you're saying you don't have the experience necessary to install a turbo, then I'd bet it's safe to assume you don't have the expertise to pull the engine and rebuild it with completely new internals, either. And you don't have the money to do a swap, and of course you wouldn't be able to do that yourself. So any way you look at it, if you want performance, you're gonna have to bite the bullet and go to a third party. It will be more expensive, but I think you'll view the results in a favorable light.

If you don't need a fast car, you just want something fun to drive that returns good mileage and you can still work on and play with in the garage, then this is the car for you. In my opinion, Hondas are some of the easiest cars out there to work on. Things are just put together in a logical manner. There are all kinds of aftermarket parts in other areas that can turn your car into a great one, be it suspension, electronics, etc. It's all up to you.

 
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basically for sounds