New Guy- 300hp, really?

I just read a thread that someone is working towards a 300hp Civic... is this really possible? If it is, how?

Also, I dont know a lot about modifying civics yet (Im a proud new owner:smile: ) what are some recommended first mods for better performance?

Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions you can give!

Originally posted by ChemEngCivicEX
I just read a thread that someone is working towards a 300hp Civic... is this really possible? If it is, how?

Also, I dont know a lot about modifying civics yet (Im a proud new owner:smile: ) what are some recommended first mods for better performance?

Thanks in advance for any help or suggestions you can give!


well you can get up to 1000 hp with all out drag cars


but anyway how much power do you want for what aplications and how much money do you want to spend?

300 would require forced induction. But since you're new and looking for the typical quick mods, get an intake system first. Then work on the exhaust, like a cat-back system (Don't just get a muffler or tip). Also, new headers work well. Those are the typical mods done first to a car, performance-wise.

:iagree: Intake, headers, and exhaust are the most common way to gain hp. Also underdrive pulleys are another way to gain hp, but thats not an easy install. The next step would be a supercharger, or a turbocharger (Don't get NOS).

sorry but i disagree with you guys.....if he's gonna go the turbo way....which btw is best for small diplacement engines why waste money on IHE when he'll have to replace those when the turbo will come....


though if you don't wanto to go turbo then by all means get IHE

True. He could keep the exhaust, and part of the intake, but the header would have to go. Still, it takes time and money to turbo, so if you aren't in a hurry, at least get an intake. They are quite cheap in some cases. Or just remove your resonators. Heh heh. But definitely get the exhaust.

Originally posted by darkaccord
(Don't get NOS).

And why shouldn't he get nitrous?

At least not imediatly.

I say reprogram your ECU first is what I would do

Honda makes these damn cars to fuckin smart

Actually, I thought Honda ECUs were already of high quality...I didn't think getting a new one, or modding them made much of a difference.

Originally posted by Accord_Zero
300 would require forced induction.

Actually, no. Endyn has built N/A hondas that will run on pump gas that have made over 300 horsepower N/A. Not gonna happen with a 2001+ though. Since the exhaust is on the firewall side and the intake is on the outside/bumper side, it makes turbocharging a 2001+ a lot harder than any older cars. Having the pretty lousy D16 or D17 or whatever the hell doesn't make that much easier. If I were in your position i'd just leave the car alone because you arn't going to get much performance out of it, or sell it and get a cheap EG/EK and then you can buy a lot more stuff for it.

well, behind my engine I got tons of room, I havent looked under the hood of a new 7th gen civic but couldnt you get a turbo kit for any D series and then youd have the manifold, turbo, lines, etc, and youd just have to have custom piping made and figure out the ECU part of it.

whe you say its alpot harder to TC the newer ones is it because lack of room, or lack of ease to get in that area to install?

man the 7th gen engine bay are really really compact

ok, I/H/E it is then

Originally posted by 94tegRS

whe you say its alpot harder to TC the newer ones is it because lack of room, or lack of ease to get in that area to install?

Lack of room, it's a pain in the ass to try and bolt anything up that's a few inches away from the firewall, piping is generally quite complex, amongst other things.

It's more than possible. Daily my car makes 330whp on pump gas and on race gas i make 500whp. This is in a civic with a 4 cylinder honda motor.

The easiest mods to do if you're not looking for extreme power is I/H/E. You can also always go for a simple turbo kit from greddy/drag/rev hard or any other well known company.

yeah, but apperently there is no room to install a turbo back there. and what psi you running on with pump gas and what you boosting on race gas?

no room to install a turbo where, if it's a honda, there is more than enough room. I run 8psi to make 330whp and 23psi to make 500whp. All on a stock head and stock rev limiter.

8 psi wont push 330 horses to the wheels

Originally posted by 94tegRS
8 psi wont push 330 horses to the wheels

lol, yes it will. It's all about turbo sizing. With an SC61 cars have made close to 400 WHP on 9 psi.

ok, so if 8 psi gives 330 WHP with the right size turbo, wouldnt 23 psi give more than 500 WHP

:1zhelp:

Originally posted by 94tegRS
ok, so if 8 psi gives 330 WHP with the right size turbo, wouldnt 23 psi give more than 500 WHP

:1zhelp:

I dont think horsepower can be calculated correctly for each psi of boost. The rate of horsepower gain is somewhat cummilative. I have no first hand experience with turbos so I may be totally wrong. :wink:

Originally posted by Saki0


I have no first hand experience with turbos so I may be totally wrong. :wink:

same here.

You have a T4 turbonetics 60 trim?? Also you havnt done anything to your bottom end? What size intercooler....core size.

I really think that setup is possible to produce high whp. I'v heard of Civics with the T3/T4 50 trim push 250whp.....never know. Any dyno charts....did you dyno underload?

Originally posted by 94tegRS
8 psi wont push 330 horses to the wheels

You're absolutely right, it doesn't, i'm full of shit. What do I need to lie for. 500whp at 23 psi on a stock head is pretty damn good if you ask me. If the head flowed more, i'd probably make more power and not to mention this was a mild tune, nothing special.


Cougarsvt- NO, it's a precision T4 60-1, but not the sc61, it's the previous one. The SC61 flows a little better than mine. I have some slight things done to the block. The intercooler is a greddy type 24. I now a have new one though, that's rated to hold 1000whp. I had a dyno sheet of my old pass that made 320whp at the same boost level, but that page is down now.

A buddy of mine makes 493.9wrhp on 5.5psi:biggrin:


Oh wait, I forgot to mention that's on his Trans Am though:tongue:

But still, I wouldn't say it's impossible.

Was your dyno underload?

what do you mean by that.

Originally posted by civicgsr_T4_60-1
what do you mean by that.

Mustang dynos use an eddy current dyno which places a constant load on the car, which they increase as speed increases to factor in wind resistance of your car while it's actually moving. Great dyno to tune on because you can have it load the motor and hold it at X rpm's at full throttle to tune those few cells on your fuel map you've been having trouble with, but they show a lower power output than dynojets because they do factor for wind and drag. Dynojets just use a weighted drum, so once you get it rolling fast there isn't a load on the motor anymore, bad for trying to tune a turbo car because boost usually starts to drop off.

ahhh, thanks. This was on a dynojet, so i'm guessing it was under no load.

If you want mild performance, go supercharger. If you want big horsepower gains, get a turbocharger & a boost controler.

Not saying you dont have a fast car....because you do. But your real numbers are probably 40-50HP less than what you would get when underload. Still a fast car....even if you are pushing 265WHP!! You should try finding someone with that certain program setup on their dynometer, you may be able to tune it to get even more HP's!!

I've made this power on a awd dyno also, which reads less whp for fwd cars. 330whp and 500whp are that regardless. It makes the power.

Originally posted by CougarSVT
Not saying you dont have a fast car....because you do. But your real numbers are probably 40-50HP less than what you would get when underload.

No. 8 psi from a 60-1 turbo is more than enough to make 300+ WHP. If the mustang dyno's didn't compensate for drag on the vehicle he would have made more power on them because the turbo would spool up and stay spooled.

Do what? I never said he wasnt making that.... His numbers are going to be lower underload. What exactly....dont know. On that note if you check out the new edition of Turbo Mag theres a T3/T4 turbonetics 315HP RSX.....like i said, can be done easily.

Thank you for all of your comments and suggestions. After reading, I am under the impression that I dont have a lot of options yet as far as turbos because of the year of the car. Hopefully that will change in a couple of years... any other thoughts on what to do in the mean time?