performance tips please

i recently bought a civic coupe and i would like to know more about tuning. I know what air intakes, headers, and exaust are but what else is neccessary to create an excellent performing car?
I am looking at buying new rims and tires from wheelmax that are 19 lbs.
Is this too heavy?
What brands of performance parts are reliable?
Should i not worry about my back rim being a bit bent and the camber from the 2 in. drop already on the car?
What minor adjustments can i make to better improve the car's stock 127hp motor? (the gas pedal is a bit stiff at first then it jumps)
I am open to learning anything about how the car or motor works and how to shift or match rpms like a pro.

http://www.automotiveforums.com/vbulletin/search.php?

...but what else is neccessary to create an excellent performing car?


Four words: engine swap or turbo.

Four words: engine swap or turbo.
dont forget things like brakes coilovers tires =)
but swap better base motor is better then maxing out a motor that makes same power as mild tuned better motor.

If you have no idea buy a book before you do anything. This will save you lots of money down the road because you will have some what of an idea or plan. search amazon for Honda Civic, Honda performance, etc. there's lots of them out there.

For the throttle sticking you may have carbon build up around the butterfly. Remove intake hose, hold throttle wide open, scrub with tooth brush using a Throttle body cleaner from any parts store, wipe clean with rag.

19lbs is heavy for a race wheel. I would go with Rota wheels. They come in many styles and are easy on the pockets. Keep in mind, 15's with a 55 profile tire are going to be best for a good launch. They don't look the best though. I would go with a set of 16's. Light weight, and looks good.

As for your engine, I agree with doing a engine swap. Until you can afford it, you can do other things to improve performance. An upgraded suspension along with sway and strut bars will help.

I think wheels should be one of your last mods since lighter ones are quite expensive.
Suspension will help alot.
An engine swap would be you next best bet. What do you want to do however.

1.If you want to go turbo you might want an LS engine lower compression.

2. Good N/A motors would be the B16 you get out of the Civic SI

3.B18C1 out of a GSR or B18C5 out of a Integra TypeR

4. H22 out of last gen Preludes.

I've known people who've used all of these setups with good results. Hondas are light cars with good weight/power ratios hence that's why there's not a lot of need for huge torque numbers. Torque is nice but with such a light car and great flowing heads from the factory it's not really needed.
Best thing for you to do would be research on what exactly you want to do with your car and what kind of performance you want out of your car.

what would give me the most low end power?
Im looking for decreasing the lag in third gear.
What could I do for now that would allow the engine to perform more fluidly?

if you want to swap don't spend money on your current motor, just save it. Any of those swaps will kill that lag in third gear. If it were my choice I'd get the B18B and boost it. You will see some really nice torque numbers.

I would much rather turbo the engine I already have. Is the 98 civic EX coupe a D16Y8 vtec engine type?

Yup it's VTEC

Sweet, so should I save all I can to get a $3,500 Edelbrock turbo kit?
Would you recommend any suspension upgrades?
How about internals, is that necessary for the Edelbrock performer X turbo kit?

no internals needed unless you up the boost. suspension isnt needed with more power but recomended. if you have some bad traction issues with the added power, then its time to start looking into suspension and support

How much would you estimate this turbo kit would increase my hp with the 127 hp it has right now?

without upgrading internals you can safely drive at 200hp. <rough figures> 10psi on a stock d16 will give you around 200hp</rough figures>

The kit is rated for about 175 whp and that is dyno proven.

whp is additional hp or total hp? 130+170= 300!

whp is horsepower rated at the wheel, where it matters. HP is rated at the crank from the factory, so like 127HP Civic would be more like about 100 WHP, which is how much power you actually put down to the ground. WHP is what really matters.

The kit is rated for about 175 whp and that is dyno proven.

I think he wants to know if the kit adds 175 whp, or will it bring his total to 175 whp? I don't know shit about turbo. All motor junkie!

JDM nutt...

oh ok, i get the whp now, but will I have 275whp overall?

I read another thread where someone actually wanted to swap for an engine like mine. Since I already have a vtech, what parts should I upgrade for now? Or should I save for a year to get turbo? I dont know if I could wait that long.

oh ok, i get the whp now, but will I have 275whp overall?
no, 175 whp is how much you will have total.

how much total would a good intake header exhaust system give me?

about an extra 12whp. Not worth the $1000 you would be spending. That's $1000 towards a turbo. Save up another $1500 and you can have yourself a turbo kit.

right, im all set to save.

good choice

a lot of people go into questioning about preformance parts, but forget the cost.
any real HP is going to cost at least $1,000. that is on the cheap end
i figure for about for the fist 15 HP it cost about $1,000.
Price VS. HP
the biger the HP gain the less money it will cost proportionally. its like
15hp/$1000= .015
or
50hp/ $2500= .02
maybe my idea is wrong, or i am doing it wrong but either way good preformance doesnt come cheap.

that's the Edelbrock kit in stock form though. Up the boost a few psi and gain more horse. Just don't go crazy and up it too much. And even in stock form it's more than a 50 hp increase. Its rated at the wheels, not the crank. It is more like a 75 whp increase which is like 85 flywheel hp considering a 15% loss through the drivetrain.

So, doing the math you get a .034 hp to dollar ratio. Still not great, but good performance isn't going to come cheap like you said.

Pay to play and you get what you pay for.

i don't see the logic of buying expensive headers if i'm going to replace them with turbo headers anyway, but i think a halfway-decent intake would be a good idea (planning for the turbo)... don't have to spend 200 bucks for an AEM system though :D

i think the easiest thing to do is to work on the small things while you're saving for the turbo kit. clean the car, from tip to toe. fix anything wrong with it. work on inexpensive or labor-intensive suspension upgrades or other things that prepare for the turbo.

after all, there is a lot to clean on a car, and a lot you can do to prep for a turbo that makes having the turbo easier, and more efficient. for instance, i'm planning on pulling the engine apart and completely cleaning and rebuilding it... very labor intensive, time consuming, and doesn't cost much in parts for the time it takes :D

I have a long way to go (learning about how the engine works completely) before I can touch my engine without worrying about messing it up. It sounds like a great idea though, to keep my own self taugh maintenance schedule. That way, by the time i have the turbo, i might be able to install it by my self!
Gee- I wonder what stupid things I would have already done to my civic if it weren't for this forum.

turbo's are expensive compared to your standard I/H/E but it will be worth it in the long run. Keep boost relatively low 8-12psi i would say 10 pounds but its really up to you. Save a little more money, upgrade your internals and run 15-20psi easy and that some serious HP!

what up i got a crvtec should i get a t3/t4 or a t4

I have heard alot of good things about the hybrid t3/t4, but again it depends on what you are planning on running in the boost department. Alot of people that add turbos just throw on a t3 and call it a day. But if you wanna run more boost get a bigger turbo, and the get all the engine work done, as far as pistons, piston rings, get some headwork done too. that'll get rid of alot of the compression, and then you can boost the shit out of it

Lost in all the turbo talk of "you can boost it to this level" or turn up the boost a bit" is keep the motor well tuned. he Edelbrock kit should come with all you need for that set dyno proven 175whp. However, whhen you start upping the boost, things may need to be upgraded, and the motor will need to be re-tuned. The Edelbrock Kit uses a Discopotato turbo, a GT28RS, so it uses a godo turbo that can handle more airflow/psi fine. Just make sure the engine can handle it, the fuel delivery and flow is enough for the added boost, and most important the motor is tuned properly.

For the time being though, the edelbrock kit in out of the box form should be fine for yur needs. Typically, Front Wheel Drive (FWD) vehicles have 11.9% power loss through the drivetrain. OEM's rate the HP @ the crank, before the drivetrain loss is calculated. A motor rated @ 127 crank hp like your D16Y8 has approx 111hp @ the wheels, give or take, after the 11.9% drivetrain loss is caluucated. This being said, th Edelbrock kit would give you an apporximate at the wheels HP gain of 64 hp at the wheels, up to 175whp. For comparison to stock rated hp (which are rated in @ the crank hp), this 175whp number caluclates to an at the crank HP number of about 199hp.

i think the edelbrock kit will suite your needs fine. with the low boost it will be reliable with tuning and approx. 175whp=one quick civic. i think you'll be happy with it.

I have heard alot of good things about the hybrid t3/t4, but again it depends on what you are planning on running in the boost department. Alot of people that add turbos just throw on a t3 and call it a day. But if you wanna run more boost get a bigger turbo, and the get all the engine work done, as far as pistons, piston rings, get some headwork done too. that'll get rid of alot of the compression, and then you can boost the shit out of it
lol how does doing pistons, piston rings, and headwork get rid of compression?

Not that a SOHC civic motor has high enough compression to freak over, but the cheapest old school trick to lower the compression ratio of a motor is a thicker head gasket. The compression ratio isn't the biggest weak point of a D-series. Even with lowered comperssion down to, say, 8.8:1, the D-series motor still has weak rods. The D-series rods suffer from skinny construction as well as weak bolts. They shouldn't really be pushed past uast 200whp and shouldn't be reved past 7500rpm. You should also make sure the motor is tuned properly, but if your pushing a motor that close to the limit you have even less room for error.

A few cheap rod upgrades are available for D's if you don't want to spend the money on a set of good aftermarket ones (though I never recommend going cheap with a motor). Rods from a 1986-87 Integra D16A1 motor can be pushed up to around 250whp i give or take if eventhing is tuned very well. Make sure to use the correct Integra rod bearings.

Also, 1985-1987 JDM Civics and CRX ZC motor rods are will bolt in. These can be pushed to around 250whp when everthing is tuned correctly, etc.

well i dont have a d series i have a b series swap. What fuel rall fuel injecters and fuel management system should i run with a b20 block and a itr head and does anyone know were i can get a wire harness for the spool valve assembly and this is my first b series swap i did a d but it wasint much i think this is going to be a little harder i already hve a ctr radiator because i knew i would have to mess with the upper and lower radiator hoses does anyone know how to get it on a 90 crx dx without welding im willing to weld it but im just wondering if there is another way.

is the edelbrock kit ok to run on a d's internals

yes, it's was designed to run on a stock D.

Yes, as GScivic7 also said, The Edelbrock Turbo kitis designed out of the box to run on sotck D-series internals. The kit is also upgradable, meaning you can upgrade the injectors, re-tune the car, etc, to handle higher boost once the engine intenrals are upgraded/built to handle it. The Edelbrock kit uses a very good and fairly new designed ball-bearing turbocharger, the GT28RS, better known to enthusiasts as the "Disco Potato Turbo." This ball-bearing turbo is capiable of providing sufficent airflow to support power levels well beyond 175whp, providing the engine internals can handle it.

Actually, I'm pretty sure it's just a regular T28, same one that was used on the Pulsar GTiR

Actually, I'm pretty sure it's just a regular T28, same one that was used on the Pulsar GTiR

You're right, the regular turbo is a T28. Sport Compact Car reported with much enthusism when they first released the kit that it was supposed to feature the Disco Potato. Orgianlly it seemd like all their kits featured it, but it since seems they've made it an option only. They did an entire article on the kit and when first reported it @ the 2003 SEMA show, it was to feature a GT28RS Disco Potato.

You can get still get an Edelbrock kit that uses a GT28RS, the Disco Potato. It's a different part number if you choose that option. I thought I mentioned that but apperently I forget that part, LOL. Opps.



From the Edelbrock site: " NEW!!! Garrett GT28RS Ball Bearing Turbocharger Assembly with Integral Wastegate..... #15021"

http://www.edelbrock.com/automotive/sport_compact/index.html

Click on turbo related components.

You can call them @ 1-800-416-8628 for questions, 7:00am to 5:00pm, Monday-Friday, PST.

i just got my block back from the machine shop shoould i get it balenced or not is it worth it

is there a diffrence between balencing a crank rather than the hol block with the internals in (pistons rods ect.) order.

*is it not