Accord improvement

I own a 2001 accord EX V6 coupe and my question is how I can improve it's performance.
First of all I'm not able to make 0-60 in less than 10 sec.
Will high grade gasoline do something for me (currently I'm on cheapest one)?
Is anyone has some recommendations on intake systems and tower strut bar?
And I don't want to have any problems with the warranty (I service my car on a dealeship).
Any comments will be helpful.

Are you on a budget?

Higher Octane is a good idea no matter what people say, if you want better performance and a cleaner engine spend the couple dollars for the high octane. Also don't go to just any old station and think you are getting a deal. You can try your local stations out and see/hear the difference. It takes at least 3-4 full tanks before you do, but try 87 for a month or so then switch to 92, after 4 tanks you should be able to tell. You can do the same thing by going with a no name station's 92 versus say Cheveron or Texaco's 87. If you pay attention to your car you will be able to tell the difference.

As for your warranty, do you own or lease your car? If you lease then you will be limited otherwise not much you can do to hurt the warranty.

A good cheap start would be change the filter, if you can do more than just the filter element, but the whole damn thing. Lots of options for Accords. I like K&N for this. Next change out your headers, not as cheap but with stock headers nothing else you do will get 100%. Car can't breathe than who cares how big a coffee can you put on your exhaust.

Last with the automatic don't expect a huge jump in 0-60:rolleyes: Honda is supposed to come out with a stick in 2003 after the redesign.

Good luck.

BTW: Don't go adding that stupid spoiler or ugly ass body kit. Waste of money uless you've done everything possible to the engine to include swapping out the transmission.:apuke:

There's not a lot of support for the 6th gen accords out there. I have a 4th gen accord and to be honest, I always use 93 octane for it.

As for mods that can be done without voiding the warranty. You're going to hear a lot of differences in here as this topic has been brought up numerous times and almost always ends up taking the thread to something else. My opinion to you is this. The only real significant changes that you can make to notice a real difference is getting a CAI and exhaust. However, this may or may not void it. I believe it will. Any problems that may arise from modifying the engine or suspension of the car will definitely void the warranty.

So the safest bet would be, using synthetic oil and possibly adding some other fluids to make then engine perform better. You can also look into getting better performing sparkplugs and other amenities that can contribute to a better performing unmodified engine.

If you don't really care too much about the warranty( I know I don't), then modify anything that is within your means.:D

Thank you guys for your advice. I'll will probably start with better gas.
And one more thing - no one told me about strut braces. Is it a good add-on?

It's only good if you modify the suspension, which will more than likely null the warranty. However, not to say that you couldn't put them on your car now. Just that I've never seen or heard of anyone using them on stock equipment. I don't think it will work with stock equipment now that I think of it.

Actually I have seen them for stock models, but it runs the same course as a 200MPH spoiler. All you'll end up doing is wasting your monely since it will never trully be needed. If you worked on your suspension, tires, and the the engine was modded lightly... You could see some improvement, but in stock form little to none.

This would be another save your money for some good stuff:D

OK let me help you car newbies out


NO.. high Octane WILL NOT HELP YOU.


Let me explain...

HIgh Octane gas is actually more resistant to combustion...

See in a turbo or high compression engine, the temps and pressure alone are enough to ignite the fuel... this is BAD is it ignites before the plug goes off..... your engine will have to fight the explosion all the way up... SO.. HIGH test gasoline comes in... It resists the temp and pressure and wont ignite till the spark plug fires.... If your engine was designed to run on 87 OCtane... Higher ratings WILL do nothing.. IT wont hurt you.. but you are wasting your money



BY LAW: alll grades of gasoline must contain the same additives and detergents.. IT"S required by law... HIGH TEST does not contain anything special over the other grades.




If you want to make you accord faster... Try buying a new set of cams, and perhaps Headers, Intake and exhaust... It wont be much faster unless you go turbo or Nitrous Oxide..


Any other questions e-mail to


[email protected]

Hmmm... 0-60 in over 10 seconds. Not with the Accord V6. Our auto tranny gets us from 0 to 60 in 7.6 seconds. AEM and Comptech are the two biggest manufacturers for aftermarket parts for our car. I currently have the AEM Short Ram (which gives an extra 5 to 8 wheel hp in dyno tests). You can get the AEM pulleys (6 to 10 wheel hp in dyno tests), the comptech headers (14 to 23 wheel hp in dyno tests), the denso iridium spark plugs (1 to 3 wheel hp in dyno tests), and there are countless other mods that can be done. A couple include the level 10 torque converter for the tranny and a tranny cooler.

Unfortunately, without the 5-spd or 6-spd manual transmission, our cars won't get too much faster. I'm waiting for confirmation of the Evo VII to appear in the US and I will decide on getting either that or the new 260 hp Maxima which has a 6-spd tranny. I love my Accord, but I want more power and the manual transmission.

Hope I've helped a bit.

Hi, Spyder1.
7.6 sec is a good time, but on www.carpoint.com stated that Accord V6 will go 0-60 in 7.8 (I think they mean in a standard config, without any mods)
And also I started to use 93 octane gas, and it seems to me that the car is more responsive.
Thank for all replys

Originally posted by spyder1
Hmmm... 0-60 in over 10 seconds. Not with the Accord V6. Our auto tranny gets us from 0 to 60 in 7.6 seconds. AEM and Comptech are the two biggest manufacturers for aftermarket parts for our car. I currently have the AEM Short Ram (which gives an extra 5 to 8 wheel hp in dyno tests). You can get the AEM pulleys (6 to 10 wheel hp in dyno tests), the comptech headers (14 to 23 wheel hp in dyno tests), the denso iridium spark plugs (1 to 3 wheel hp in dyno tests), and there are countless other mods that can be done. A couple include the level 10 torque converter for the tranny and a tranny cooler.

Unfortunately, without the 5-spd or 6-spd manual transmission, our cars won't get too much faster. I'm waiting for confirmation of the Evo VII to appear in the US and I will decide on getting either that or the new 260 hp Maxima which has a 6-spd tranny. I love my Accord, but I want more power and the manual transmission.

Hope I've helped a bit.

I'm guessing you got your dyno test info from Sport Compact car magazine...

those gains are A bit on the high side...
changing spark plugs you wont see any gain. 1-3 HP is a load... you will only see that gain if you have upgraded ignition system and plug wires... plugs alone wont do anything.

10 HP gain at the wheels from pulleys also is VERY optimistic. maybe 5...

the Comptech Headers however ARE very good. I have heard nothing but positive things... Well except for the price.. what about 1000 dollars? but the gains are significant.
If you are going to get an intake , get a cold air one. the short ram sucks hot air in from under the hood....

even the stock intake takes in cold air.. but is more restrictive. you will see more gains from the cold air intake. ESPECIALY in cold weather... I haev the AEM CAI on my accord and the car becomes much more lively in cold weather.. it's really notciable.

IF you are gonna go big power like a turbo or NOS>.. the auto tranny on the accord wont take it... You will need a FULL level 10 rebuild on the tranny. very expensive.

Actually, no... I got my dyno information from friends that have Accords that have gotten them dynoed. I've read that the Accord does 0-60 in the 7.6 to 7.7 range. That all depends on the driver though and how the car is driven. Hell, I've even beaten a 00 Civic SI and they are suppose to go 0-60 in 7.1, so a lot of it is on the driver also.

I know that no matter what I do to my Accord, performance wise that is, I won't be happy. A lot of it is the fact that there is no manual tranny offered for it, which is one reason why I'm not sinking any more money into mods and I'm waiting for the 2003 model to come out (rumored 240hp and a 6-spd tranny).

It's really too bad... I do enjoy my Accord, and I would be a lot happier with that manual tranny and another 40hp.

Did anyone though of lowering the kick in power of VTEC controller to
1500 rpms and how much horsepower or 0-60 in seconds that would increase ? I've spoken to a mechanic and that is possible but did anyone actually have done this and how much difference did that make ?

Please help !!!:flash:

Trying to kick in VTEC at 1500 RPM will do you no good. VTEC controller should be used to kick in at the optimized time. For example a couple hundred RPM before Honda's own estimate. It gives a smoother transition. It all depends on what car you have and what mods you have done.

FC20, I was reffering to 01 Honda Accord EX V6. So you are saying that
lowering kick in power of VTEC to 1500 rpm on stock Accord would not increase any hourepower ? Can you give me more detail explantion if I could ask you. I would really appricate that. Thank you in advence.

To understand this you need to know a bit about VTEC and how it works. VTEC is a lift mechanism that allow the engine to breath more. You could engage VTEC at low RPM. But you would need to switch to low rpm cam lobe. Which would not generate a lot of performance gain. If you attempted to use a high rpm cam lobe in low rpm situations. You will see a very rough operation and bad fuel consumption.

About that VTEC kicking in at LOWer rpms...

Just one more thing...

what you could do to find the absolute best rpm for it...

You get a vtec controller and set tge vtec kickin for 500rpms, basicly idle
and you run it up on a dynomometer. then you set the vtec kickin for something silly like 9000. then you do another dyno run..

you will now have two HP curves.... one for the low rpm cam lobes, and ONE for hte higher rpm cam lobes... then you simply super-impose one graph over the other and set the vtec kickin at the point where the two curves cross.


If you set the VTEC kickin at 1500 rpms, you would actually LOOSE power untill you hit that optimum range for the VTEC cam lobes..

See you can set cam timing and lift and all of them for specific rpm ranges.. where it will function most efficientely.

A long time ago, before the invention of variable valve timing, you could install a racing cam which would ONLY give you more power in the upp rpm ranges.... You may even see some muscle cars which cam barely idle at all, because thier cam timing is so radical... OR, you could set the cam timing to give you alot more low end grunt, but as the rpms climbed, you would tend to loose power.. or the power would taper off.

with the invention of Variable valve timing. ( No honda didnt in vent it, it's been around for a while, used mainly in racing cars.) You can have the best of both worlds... a good low end cam AND a nice high end cam....

Very recently Honda introduced thier i-VTEC... which INFINITLY varies the cam timing to give you optimum performance at all rpms ranges... ALthough there is still a vtec kickin when it open the secondary intake runners, and I believe engages a second set of cam lobes.

has anyone thought of swapping a manual trans into your accord? i am just wondering if it is possible. i know that if you invest enough money any mod is possible, but i want to do most of the work myself. any opinion would be appreciated.

As you've stated in your post, with money, anything is possible. However, something to do yourself, you're not going to find any transmission that would work on the 6th Gen Accord. You could try Acura, but highly doubtful. Again, if you have the funds, I think you can have one custom made.

i actually drive a 4th gen '92 accord. i belive they made manual trans in that chassis, but i inherited an auto. this makes me belive that i could find the right hardware for the swap, but i dont know where to begin researching the swap, or if it is even possible. i have never heard of this swap being done, and at this point it may be cheaper to buy a new car, but it still intrigues me. If you have any info, please let me know.

If that is your case, and you have a 4th gen Accord, why don't you swap your engine for an H22a and get it with a manual tranny. Beats what we got now with just SOHC. Plus you get a V-TEC with the H22a. You can go to www.groupbuycenter.com and look for a group buy on an engine swap.