Recommended Modifications

[joecollins2]

Recommended Modifications:

I'm often asked for advice concerning modifying Honda's or just about anything with 4 wheels. I'm going to go through and make up a list of what my enthusiast friends and I believe is the best way to upgrade your vehicle. I'll go through specific parts and manufacturers and possible combinations.

 

Short Shifter:

I think this is one of the most important upgrades you can possibly do. The reason why I feel this is the most important, is that this is the part that you use ALL THE TIME! As for specific shifters, I've seen very good results with B&M's short throw shifter. Instead of using billet aluminum, like most do, they use a nice heavy machined steel shifter. The heavy steel shifter aids in shifting more than you realize. The extra momentum leads to very crisp, smooth shifts. Another add on is B&M's shift stabilizer kit. The kit replaces the factory rubber bushings that support the shift rods. The stabilizer kit will eliminate the slop that your shifter has with or without a short shifter. Surprisingly, with the stabilizer, shifting eases up a bit. If you have the cash, I would pick up the short shifter and stabilizer at the same time. You will see better acceleration as long as you know how to shift properly.

 

 

 

Springs/Shocks/Other suspension hardware

In my honest opinion, a car that handles well is a fun car. There are several different springs, shocks and other miscellaneous hardware to choose from. Picking a setup will have to be determined by what you plan to do. If terrorizing your local streets is what you indent to do, than a moderate upgrade will be adequate. If you want to do some serious racing, then a much more elaborate setup is necessary. As far as a street setup is concerned, a set of Eibach Sportlines and KYB AGX's will give you very nice ride quality with a nice improvement in handling and appearance. I always recommend that you pick up a set up shocks with springs but it isn't necessary to start out with. If you are short on cash, a moderate set of springs will work fine on stock shocks for a little while. Over time, your ride quality will start to decay. Brake dive and body roll will also get worse.

 

Some like to compliment their upgraded suspension with sway bars and tie bars. If your ride doesn't have sway bars to start out with, see if there is version of your ride that has sway bars. In this case, you can probably find a used set, with hardware, for a really good price. If you already have sway bars, you may want to look into aftermarket pieces. Suspension Techniques offers sway bars that can be installed by using factory mounts or include hardware to do a complete install.

 

One last thing to consider would be tie bars. These are used to add support for the upper and lower suspension mounts. With the right equipment, you help keep all of your suspension in better alignment. If you don't already have one, pick up a front upper tie bar as well as a rear lower tie bar from Neuspeed. They have a few other pieces, but I've heard that they really aren't worth it.

 

 

 

Wheels/Tires

The combination of wheels and tires with the right suspension can really improve handling performance. If you can't do the suspension a good set of tires can act as a bandage for stock or poor performance. Either way, the size of wheel or tire may come down to personal preference, but I think there is a rule of thumb that should be followed. Most aftermarket wheels have an offset that pushes the wheels towards the outside of the car. This may improve the appearance but have drastic effects on handling. For Civics and Integras, you want to stay as close to a 45mm offset as possible. Anything less than that may cause serious tire rubbing problems. The other thing I've noticed with aftermarket wheels is that they are wider than they need to be. The only disadvantage with that is the possibility of rubbing problems.

 

For any civic, upgrading to 15" Integra GS-R wheels retains the stock offset and has an ideal width of 6". On these wheels, a P205 50 R15 is probably the best size. Again, the size is up to you. I have friends that have used 17" wheels with great success and others that have to roll fender lips and pick narrow tires in order to avoid rubbing.

 

One thing to note, is that using a larger wheel and proper sized tire will give you a smaller sidewall. As the sidewall gets smaller, with increased wheel sizes, breakaway becomes less predictable. What this means, is that as you go through a turn, a taller sidewall will gradually lean which in turn gradually lifts the tread. Instead of breaking loose, due to reaching the limit of tire adhesion, you slowly reduce the contact patch which will allow for a much more predictable slides.

 

As far as tires are concerned, Dunlop, Yokohama, and several other manufacturers produce some very nice tires. Just talk to the guys at The Tire Rack and they'll hook you up with tires that best fit your needs. Most people recommend the Dunlop SP Sport 8000's for their predictable behavior, excellent grip on dry and wet, and great price. Another tire to consider, if you are running 16's or 17's is the Yokomaha A520's. I've experienced them on two rides and I'll have to say that I was very impressed. They exhibited excellent accuracy and grip.

 

 

 

Intakes

There are several different intake kits you can choose from. However, most are pure crap. The short stack with the filter under the hood are nothing more than show pieces. They use tubes that are too large, and short and draw hot air from under the hood. All of this adds up to a very nice power loss across the board. There are very few intakes that make a difference. Two are the Iceman and AEM cold air intakes. Both draw air from the bumper which is excellent for sucking air outside of the engine compartment (also a nice way to suck water into the engine, so be careful!). I've never really like the Iceman for no other reason than the fact that it's made out of plastic until I saw one intended for the 4th gen prelude. The large intake tube pinches down to fit through the small air box hole. ???? Uh, that defeats the purpose. The AEM intake requires you to enlarge the hole which is really easy to do.

 

What does this mean? AEM is the only way to go. If you can't sport the cash for an AEM, there is an alternate that may only cost you about $40. More recently, there have been copy-cat AEM intakes that look AND perform like the high priced AEM.

 

 

 

Exhaust

Hmmm...what to get...In all honesty, it comes down to what you want. A good exhaust will give you a maximum gain in power without a maximum gain in noise. With that in mind Greddy, HKS or Apexi is the way to go. However, if you want it a bit louder, consider Greddy's Power Extreme or SP series exhaust. A few new manufacturers are producing some very high quality exhausts. Do some research and pick which one will fit your preferences the best. You can ultimately save money and have a custom exhaust bent using a universal muffler like Flowmaster or Dynomax. The only possible problem with method, is that more than likely the car will be very loud and buzzy. Again, personal preference.

 

 

 

Header

This can be a very tricky decision. There are many headers available for Hondas and Acuras. Only a few of them can noticeably improve horsepower. Some even decrease power. For those concerned about price, a Ceramic coated header is your best bet. DC Sports make some of the best headers for street applications. DC Sports offers 4-2-1 as well as 4-1 headers. Sport Compact Car has done a few comparisons on headers and in almost every case, the DC Sports headers have provided the best gains hold for the $900 Mugen header. For SOHC Hondas, your best bet will be to go with a 4-2-1 header. The 4-2-1 header provides more low to midrange torque than the 4-1. For DOHC Hondas DC's 4-1 headers show incredible gains. In all honesty, there doesn't seem to be much of a loss in low to midrange torque. Plus, if you opt for the ceramic coated header, you're looking at about $270. Not bad if I say so myself!

 

 

Other Bolt-Ons

This includes pulleys, spark plugs, throttle body, etc. Most of these mods will not show much of a gain, if any alone. I was skeptical about pulleys until we finally tired out a set. On my brother's Integra, the only difference was noticed after 6000 rpms. After 6K the engine races to redline with authority. The same holds true for Erik's Prelude. An aftermarket ignition is really unnecessary unless you are running a turbo, supercharger, or NOS. Upgrading the plugs, wires and ignition can provide better throttle response and better economy. An aftermarket throttle body will increase mid to high end response. Pick and choose as you see fit.

 

 

 

Crazy Mods

Here's where the fun begins. This includes cams, headwork, turbos, supercharges....you get the point. Anyway, you need to decide what you plan to do in the long run. Do you want to go all motor? a nice street performing supercharger? a balls out turbo? easy to install and cheap nitrous kit? Each takes a tremendous amount of thought and research. It may be much more expensive to build and "all motor" car in that it entails serious head work, bottom end work, and cams.

 

 

 

All Motor

Building an all motor car can be very, very difficult. I've been involved in many conversations dealing with trying to build a street able 200 wheel horsepower Honda B block engine. To achieve 200 wheel horsepower, it comes down to very critical head work, high compression pistons, aggressive camshafts, reprogrammed, or programmable ECU, and extensive tuning. Another drawback, aside from cost, would be the potential for an engine that needs to spin extremely fast in order to make any power. Super high RPMS are particularly destructive even on well build engines. The need for properly balanced crankshafts, pistons and rods is very critical. Most would agree, given the maximum potential, that it is not worth the effort and money to build an all-motor car. There is a prestige associated with an all motor car but sometimes, you just to go on to other options such as....

 

 

 

Turbocharging

Conceptually, using a turbo to make big horsepower is a no brainer. Most of the time, massive gains can be realized without any internal engine modifications. A typical turbo kit will cost a fraction of a well built NA motor and require a minimal effort to install and tune. As with the all motor setup, if huge gains are to be realized, some engine work will be necessary. Block reinforcement may be necessary as well as lower compression pistons, new valves, cams, etc. Tuning or a means to tune is a very critical issue. Honda computers cannot deal with boost. That being the case, one of many things can be done. A simple system would be to create a bypass for the MAP sensor and install a massive fuel pump to provide more fuel. A better approach would be to install a piggy-back device that electronically bypasses the MAP signal when boost I present. The piggy back system feeds the stock ECU what it wants to see and then adjusts the amount of fuel delivered electronically. The only drawback to this system, is compatibility issues between the ECU and the piggy back device. Lastly, the most effective method for proper fuel control would be to have the stock ECU reprogrammed with information to handle boost. In this situation, there is only one device that handles all of the functions. Reprogramming the ECU allows an individual to build a turbocharged car that runs like it had originally been built as a turbo.

 

One major benefit of turbo vs all motor is that the engine can spin at lower rpms and make generous horsepower. Revving the engine to redline is not necessary as it may be for an all motor car. In the long run a turbo could be more reliable. Depending on the car...

 

 

 

Supercharger

I'm not the biggest fan of superchargers. The two main types would be the Eaton roots type blower and the centrifugal "vortec" style blower. The roots type blower is a positive displacement blower that generates the same amount of boost regardless of rpms. The centrifugal type works more like a turbo. More rpms equals more boost. Using a Vortec blower on a small engine may not result in the most useful power curve. Since the centrifugal type blower needs higher rpms to build boost, there will be no gains realized at lower rpms which is where a smaller engine really needs the help. An Eaton roots type blower is a positive displacement blower that generates the same amount of boost at any rpm. This characteristic usually leads to very significant gains in torque at lower rpms. Back to the thoughts on small engines, this is a major improvement. The roots type blower usually doesn't increase high end power as substantially as it does at lower rpms. A properly designed supercharger can provide impressive gains, but may never be able to reach to potential of a properly built turbo engine.

 

 

 

Final note:

Bottom line, you need to plan out what you intend to do to your ride. I hope you can make better decisions with what I've outlined here. If you have any questions, drop me a line and I'll do my best to help you out.

 

 

 

Have Fun!

[BABstangv6]

NOS!!!!!

 

Type "R" Stickers!!

 

V- Tec Stickers!!

 

I am jk guys

[sup]

[airjordan223]

yes its old, this thread should be pinned

[BuddySol]

hmmm...wonder whatever happened to joe...

[redneck]

i read the cold air intake part and have one question. i found this air intake u order the pieces u need/ want with out the name brand its goes to the bumper same thing as AEM has i beleve. its 3inch in diameter metal tubing. it will give the same performance as the AEM intake the ends up in the bumper right?? just double checking... havent ordered it.

[SpeedDemon]

this thread is over two years old man.

[redneck]

this thread is over two years old man.

 

 

sorry i just joined this morning dont really got the hang of it yet. where can i go to get that question answered?

[SpeedDemon]

just make a topic in whatever area your car is.