Rep Power: 0

I'm basically alittle finacially tight so I'm not looking for great engine mods. I was just wondering whats the best way to get just alittle extra hp for my car? 2002 ex automatic. I just want that little umpf out of a stoplight, just to make driving fun and ****, not for racing. It has to be really cheap. I was thinking about a short air intake possibly? short is for low rpms while cold is for high right? Whats more pratical? How much does it cost? Is it possible to self install, or should it be professionally intstalled? How much would that cost? Thanks for all your help.

-Jason

 
Rep Power: 338

since i see that u r a n00b...i am going to tell u to use the search feature...u get a lot quicker answers bcuz they're already there ,but i will make this easy for you.

any intake will give u 1-4 HP MAX
its true SRI gives better low end power while CAI is high end.
price can range from $60 - $250 ish... depends on what brand u want.
the higher priced ones are usually AEM or INJEN and will have a CARB EXEMPT sticker on it...
thus making it streetlegal. the cheaper ones do not have that sticker to make it street legal.
You shouldnt feel a big difference if anything at all....if u do, well then its in ur head.
any intake is an easy install. 5-15 minutes MAX. so yes, u can do it yourself. i believe there is a DIY on it on the DIY section of this site.

BUT since ur title is "Best Bang for the Buck"
the answer is nitrous, but its more pricey
(if u say NOS, i will have to beat the F&F out of u)

 
Rep Power: 376

Cambos right the best bang for your buck is SEARCH(j/k) Nitrous, its pricy but in the end youll gain more Hp from that than anything else for our car

 
Rep Power: 338

of course i'm right.

 
Rep Power: 450

DIY...Throttle Cable Adjustment

 
Rep Power: 0

well if he doesnt know what would be best for a little amount of money then he probly will blow his engine by using nos wrong.
go get a cai you will notice a diffrence and will give your engine a much better sound.
i wouldnt mess with nos if you dont know anything or little about it.

 
Rep Power: 0

yeah I'm new at this. so basically I'm looking at very little gain from a CAI or a lot of gain for a lot of money and an increased chance of danger from nitrous? oh and the throttle adjustment? I read the DIY and did a search for it. Is there a danger in doing it? what happens if i pull in too much of the slack? that will give a gain? any other options? thanks for all your help

-Jason

 
Rep Power: 0

Don't mother modding the engine. It's not worth it. Nothing you can do to it (besides replacing it) is cost effective. Concentrate on styling or handling. There are some nice kits and suspension parts for our cars.


Just my opinion... Unless of course you have money to put a turbo in. Even then it's a waste of money. You can't get much boost out of it without upgrading internals. (which is really hard right now).

 
Rep Power: 0

not really hard just a waste of time to most developers.

 
Rep Power: 0

That's what I mean by hard. Even if you wanted to you wouldn't be able to find the parts. It's not a hard process, but if you don't have the parts it's nearly impossible.

 
Rep Power: 0

I could do it

 
Rep Power: 338

me too. [IMG]i/expressions/demon.gif[/IMG]

 
Rep Power: 0

I dont see how the throttle cable diy is a good thing.... WOT is STILL WOT w/ or w/o the adjustment...

 
Rep Power: 338

the throttle adjustment - in theory, makes the car more responsive by taking more of the slack on the cable out. less pedal movement to do the same amount of work as before.

 
Rep Power: 0

Cold is for low end, Short is for High.

Do it yourself, dont get it professionally installed, or else your gonna need the vaseline.

 
Rep Power: 369

dont bother with a short ram. wont feel gains, just waste of money. you lose low end torque and you use more gas.

you'll get louder throttle tone though.

the K&N FIPK is probably the only worthwhile SRI for our car.

as for CAI, thats up for debate but I dont think that does much too, 1-3 hp tops.

nitrous is the best bang for the buck but I wouldn't recommend spraying to people that are to cars. you might get trigger happy and well... blow up your throttle body.

its pretty tough to extract extra hp from our car.

since you have an auto ex, my recommendation is an HP 4-1 race header with "high flow" cat... (just a pipe, not a working cat convertor) and get yourself an o2 simulator... the HP will be a smoother install for those with automatics since motor mount blocking/rubbing against the header isn't an issue.

you can look for the replica on ebay too... its running around around 160-180 shipped. just type 2001 civic headers and you'll find it. they have quite a few out there...

funny thing. its been ending at anywhere from 140 bucks to 260. sheesh. wait till they get it and realize they need to spend another 50 bucks for a o2 sim and maybe installation from a shop if they can't do it...

but if your local law permits it, or have no emission issue.. then I'll get that. you'll actually get some gains.

 
Rep Power: 0

NOS!!!! but then u have to spend some money preping for it, runnin nos with a stock car....not a good idea