acceleration

[Darkwing]

this was discussed in the honda civic forum, but it might be a good idea to see what people who don't visit the honda forums have to say.

The question is: I have a '95 civic ex, stock except for superficial mods like rims, spoiler etc... and I have virtually no place to race. So I perfer to have quick acceleration as opposed to top end. What can I do to make my car more torquey? better 0-60 times?

In the other thread, people mostly said only thing besides over boreing would be Forced Induction. Any other ideas? anything would help, but the cheaper the better.

Thank you all for any input.

[Heep]

That's what I like about my Ford engine, it has 20 lb-ft more torque than hp. I hate the lack of torque on Honda engines.

[hakka]

sorry, but the terms 'honda' and 'torque' don't really go together. If I had one suggestion, it would be forced induction. I like more torque than hp also. When you're trying to pass at 70mph in my '79, you just put you're foot down and those 500 ft-lbs push you forward...all the other cars I've ever driven, except maybe a Viper, feel weak in comparison.

[Darkwing]

but I don't have 40,000-60,000 dollars for a corvette! I only got 10,000!

And I just want to make the most out of what I got until I CAN afford something like a corvette. And Forced incuction is like what? 2,000 dollars for a small turbo or supercharger? eesh, just wanting a little more power to go with my rice, you know what I'm sayin here?

[Jay!]

If you want, we can merge this thread with the old one and have all the posts here.... Let me know.

[MercCougarXR7]

Love the Red Vette Hakka! I know what you mean about power on tap. Driving my Bro's Mustang is like that. Fifth gear, you just push the pedal a bit and she moves. It isn't quite as fast as yours, but it's at about 13.7 right now.

I know nothing about Hondas Darkwing, but I do know that changing gear ratios is your BEST way to increase acceleration. Now, don't let that confuse you by thinking it's more HP, it merely makes your power at lower speeds. You will be killing your top end (and fuel milage), but if your like me, you won't care. Both my cars are governed at 110 MPH anyways, and that's fast enough. I changed my gearing in my Cougar from 3.08 up to 3.73, and it was like night and day. My Marquis has 3.27's in it now, and I am going to put my 3.73's from my Cougar in it before snow. I plan on 4.10's for the Cougar.

[Racer 20]

Basically everything everybody just said was perfect. Gear ratio screwin' is great, forced induction, etc. You said you have about 10k right? Well, I know it's a gradual thing but, how about reducing some bulk? The little Civic isn't heavy by no means but you should start thinkin' about adding power before you add hundreds of pounds of fiber-glass with a aero kit. They are for cars that are already lightened in other forms and have enough power to push it at speeds were you can actually us those aerodynamics. But your thread is about adding power so I won't critisize you of 'ricing." Happy drivin'

BTW, a turbo would really be effective dispite the high cost.

[Darkwing]

ok guys this is what I wanted! I looked up superchargers and turbos and even NOS, and I can tell you the only one of those that I would even consider buying is a Supercharger. However, a supercharger costs $2,400 just for the part! Add at least $600 for addons to make it work right like oil cooler, ignition/starter, air intake, etc... and about $1,500 in labor to get it put in by someone who actually knows HOW to put one in, and you are looking at $4,500 minimum! That would eat away every last penny I got! (and some!) so as much as I would like F/I, its too dam expensive!

Now changing gear ratios that sounds a helluva lot chaper. Is that something I can do myself, or have it taken to a mechanic? the honda dealership/garage even?

And two more things I would like to say, one is: only weight I added to the car was a rear wing, supra-style. that's it. then I swapped my steel stock rims for some lighter Rage rims, and removed the hubcaps. So overall my weight didn't go up much at all. The second thing is that my car is an automatic (embarrased look of shame). Is that going to affect any of the things mentioned above?

thank you all for your help.

[Darkwing]

Originally posted by Silver S2000
If you want, we can merge this thread with the old one and have all the posts here.... Let me know.

naw, its ok, unless you just want to doit anyways

[Heep]

Well, your automatic also has one gear less to play with...the auto is 4-speed when a manual is 5. That extra 5th gear on the manual cars allows the engineers to make 1st, 2nd, and maybe even 3rd shorter than in the auto, and shorter gears are a whole lot easier for your engine to spin...equalling faster acceleration. As far as changing the ratios on an auto.....I really couldn't tell you what to do.....

[MercCougarXR7]

I don't think changing ratios INSIDE the tranny is a good idea - too much pissing around trying to get them to match perfectly. Don't worry about having an auto vs. standard. Read up on the thread Auto vs. Standard. I am TOTALLY convinced that my CougarXR7 5.0L HO with an AOD tranny SHIFT-KITTED shifts FASTER than my bro's 5.0 Stang with performance shifter. Shift kits are around $100, and another $100 should install it - you DON'T want to do that yourself.

As for gear ratio changes for final gearing (keep in mind that I know Jack Schitt about Honda's), that is where you will get your best acceleration from. It isn't more power, but more of a transfer of power from high end to low end. You will lose top end. Talk to a speed shop about them - they should be around $200 for a set. Don't install them yourself either, as installation isn't hard in itself, it's setting them up properly with tollerances and clearances and all. Best let the pro's handle that.

Good luck, and keep us updated .

[Darkwing]

Hey, y'know, that sounds alot more like what I was looking for. So far you are the only one to mention this, so I would be gullible and stupid to simply take your word for it and go buy the stuff. I am going to hunt around some more and take your suggestion seriously, and if I find that you are correct, I will have it done and get back to you on the results. It may be quite a while, as I live in hick town USA, but as you know, hick towns got some great mechanics

I thank all of you for your advice! I am still open to more suggestions, or backing for suggesations already posed. Thanks again

[Cavallino]

For quick acceleration id go with turbo ecause not only does it give you a good boost but you can get a blowoff valve to make that cool *pssssh*. Personally i think the cheapest way for you to get better acceleration is nitrous. Just be careful with it and dont blow up your engine.

[hakka]

50-60K for my vette...hell no. I didn't pay that for both of them combined. The '79 cost me around 17K total...thats after the restoration and all of the mods. I did do all of the work myself, though, so it was probably much cheaper. For F/I I would say supercharge. Turbos take time to spool up (usually in hthe higher rev range). You need low end torque, which the supercharger can provide. Try doing it yourself, you save tons of money and learn a lot in the process.

[Trigger351]

Dont know how this translates to a Honda but:

To make a Rear wheel drive auto launch hard you change the torque converter for a higher stall (The engine revs harder before it grabs), Fit a shift kit to the auto to make it shift faster, Lower the final gearing (fitting bigger tyres to control wheelspin), Add NOS or a supercharger to boost horsepower.

Keeping in mind that the trans and engine may have to be beefed up to stay in one peice.

Any or all of these things are proven methods:smoka: