mods vs. car life

[MunG35]

adding mods such as i/h/e does what to a car's life span?

should i expect a shorter life span due to modding the car?
if so, how much shorter?

my civic is currently at 60k miles and doesnt get out much, barely 100-150 miles a month... until school rolls back around in september, i wont be using my car much, does the fact that my car is barely used affect it's life?

Just things I've been pondering about.

[snowman2005]

well if u mod a car most likely ur going to abuse it since the reason to mod a car is to go faster.

[Kafziel]

The way I see it, adding mods extends the life of your car. Because if you're the kind of driver who wants to do the work and spend the money, you're not going to let the ass fall out of it. You don't often see real tuner Civics with rust spots, spewing blue smoke all over the road. (I'm not talking about those pieces of shit with bolt-on tailpipes and crooked bumpers.)
Most of the work I've done on my car has been replacing OEM parts as they wear out with better stuff. I've got 125k and it's running as good or better than the day I bought it seven years ago.

[megaman277]

depending on what mods u do will affect the life of the car slightly but more on how u drive it...if u beat it up all the time then the life span will get cut shorter but then again just take of the motor and youll be fine theres some civics out there with 300,000+ miles (god bless there souls)

[jameskersten]

it all depends on what mods. if you build a motor to be a race motor, guess what they need lots of maintance and have little life. if you build a street car with some minor mods (meaning pistons,i/h/e, resonable cams,a nd other bolt on crap) there is no reason it wont last as long as stock. maintance is key to any motor so change your oil regularly and fix things as they come ie. cv boot splits, replace the boot before the joint is fucked.

[wheel1856]

true that on the CV boot. Every friggin honda I've owened I've replaced a CV joint because I didn't catch the boot split in time. Now everytime I get an oil change I have them check the boots. $70 for a boot replacement vs. $270 for the joint replacement...hmmmmm

[sageuvagony]

I wish I could drive my civic as lil as yours! I do about 200-300 miles in about 4 days. Sometimes more or less. Yes, I go out alot and constantly use my car. I rarely now use the explorer for one reason, the explorer has about 160,000 miles but the engine in it now has about 80,000 miles on it (I had it swapped out because my old engine's oil pump went bad and the engine siezed to shit) The oil pressure guage jumped back and fourth non-stop. It looked like a guage on a sound equalizer, constantly jumping. My fucking explorer has had the transmission rebuilt 3 times and the 4th time I gave up and bought a used one and everything seems fine with it for now. Fucking fords. No joke, no matter how much you maintain it they still break. Right now my gay fuel guage is stuck in the FULL position and is going to cost me over $300 to replace the lil device with the float that tells how much gas you have. The labor of dropping the tank is what jacked up that price. FUCK FORDS! I love my civic

[Jas_M]

Fix
Or
Repair
Daily

[jdmcivic04]

i/h/e does nothing to put more strain on your endgine, it only helps it breathe easier and therefore gives you a bit more power and fuel economy. blowers and nitrous however, put more strain on your engine internals and will therefore shorten your lifespan, that is if you don't upgrade your internals to withstand them.

[01CivicEX]

are there ANY disadvantages to upgrading your car by natural aspiration (I/H/E)?

[wheel1856]

potentially emissions checks if you go too far or don't use a high flow cat.

plus, and now I may be wrong, but I debate the improved fuel economy idea. A CAI, along with the less restrictive exhaust, means your car can take in, and subsequently-release, more air, which in turn means you will be using more fuel to meet the air intake, thus lowering your fuel economy. Granted, it isn't so significant that it's not worth doing - otherwise, no one would - but I have noticed that with the CAI on my DX I have lost about 4-5 miles/gallon - at regular driving, more when having fun or in a rush - and have definately increased oil consumption as it really tweeks your PCV sensor.

such is my experience

[whtcivic93]

Originally Posted by Jas_M

Fix
Or
Repair
Daily

Found
On
Road
Dead

[kicker1_solo]

Originally Posted by whtcivic93

Found
On
Road
Dead

Fucked
Over
Rebuilt
Dodge

[megaman277]

hahahahaha...this is why hondas are the most hated cars on the road

[CivicRacerX]

Originally Posted by wheel1856

potentially emissions checks if you go too far or don't use a high flow cat.

plus, and now I may be wrong, but I debate the improved fuel economy idea. A CAI, along with the less restrictive exhaust, means your car can take in, and subsequently-release, more air, which in turn means you will be using more fuel to meet the air intake, thus lowering your fuel economy.

When I put a CAI and HKS cat-back on my mom's 2.2 CL, she lost 3-5 mpg, depending on driving conditions. From a technical standpoint, I've discussed the topic with some automotive engineers at Pitt before, and the consensus is that the loss in fuel economy is normal, since you are, by design, allowing your engine to consume more air & fuel.