newbie to civics

[sampsas]

Hello all!!! Great forum!! I recently was involved in an accident where some idiot try to make an illegal left turn right in front of me and my 04 Kia Optima was written off... needless to say they only gave me $5600 for that car and I ended up getting a 99 civic coupe DX trim automatic (knee surgury prvents me from using a standard) it had 107,000 miles on it and my mech said that it is one of the nicest engines he had seen in a while from a car this old.... I am not a mech so I know there are lots of things I can do to this car but am uncertian which is mods would produce the best results.... It is the stock motor for the model/trim... I drive about 110 mile a day just going back and fourth to work so I am looking at what mods will help with fuel comsumption and add some more HP to it....
Thanks for any and all input/help given and will post pics when i get a chance to....

 

[pyropunker25]

mods wont really help with gas mileage... if you want power you gotta boost it...bolt ons wont help that much like header intake exhaust etc...but anyways welcome

 

[XpL0d3r]

! Yep bone-stock is about the best you're going to get in terms of gas mileage. Throw a drop in K&N air filter in the stock air box, and get a good thorough tune-up (dizzy cap, rotor, spark plugs, oil, etc.) and you should be good to go.

As for power, you can do the typical Intake / Header / Exhaust route if you want to keep the stock motor and not spend toooo much. But honestly you won't see a huge improvement.

You can do a mini-me swap, which is swapping a vtec head from a civic EX on there.. basically bolting on 20+ hp... but even still the difference isn't TOO huge.

EDIT: You're in Canada, so you'd need the Si vtec head.

 

[sampsas]

! Yep bone-stock is about the best you're going to get in terms of gas mileage. Throw a drop in K&N air filter in the stock air box, and get a good thorough tune-up (dizzy cap, rotor, spark plugs, oil, etc.) and you should be good to go.

As for power, you can do the typical Intake / Header / Exhaust route if you want to keep the stock motor and not spend toooo much. But honestly you won't see a huge improvement.

You can do a mini-me swap, which is swapping a vtec head from a civic EX on there.. basically bolting on 20+ hp... but even still the difference isn't TOO huge.

EDIT: You're in Canada, so you'd need the Si vtec head.

Cool thanks!! any mods needed to the block to fit the si VTEC head on to it??

 

[Mad Dog Tannen]

mods wont really help with gas mileage... if you want power you gotta boost it...bolt ons wont help that much like header intake exhaust etc...but anyways welcome

Not necessarily true. You can make quite a bit of power with a N/A engine.

Not trying to argue, just letting the OP know his options.

 

[TigBitties]

Mad dog, you cant make much power out of a d series without boosting it. actually only way is forced induction to make power

 

[Mad Dog Tannen]

^ You can make any engine a lot faster with the right work done to it.

He could get a huge cam and raise the compression and all that crap without boosting it. But I think he is looking for bolt ons. And a turbo would probably be cheaper.

I think we are going to much into this, cause neither will give him better MPG!

 

[Mad Dog Tannen]

A hondata with a good tune will give you more HP and MPG!

 

[TigBitties]

I completely agree, you can make most motors fast through N/A. but i think most people on here agree, that this motor you need forced induction. that is to get to the 170ish and up area. Most hp ive seen out of a y7 that didnt have forced induction was like 140 lol they are only 106 from factory. True though, it doesnt matter, either way they will all bring mpg down. Not trying to argue, just d16s arent made for power without very extensive mods

 

[paulx022]

Not necessarily true. You can make quite a bit of power with a N/A engine.

Not trying to argue, just letting the OP know his options.

no. your pretty much wrong. on a d series y7 non vtec automatic i dont see him pulling out at the MOST 150 even with cams. if he wants power (pointless on this car) your gonna have to boost or swap head or motor.

 

[Mad Dog Tannen]

You guys are right. It's not worth the money and not what he is looking for to go NA.

 

[pyropunker25]

if i were you...keep it clean looking, do interior stuff, bolt ons... you can make that thing decent without going over the top... lower it, some nice wheels, tint etc... but do what you want with it, these are our opinions on which you asked... take every opinion with a grain of salt...

 

[TigBitties]

lol its ok Tannen. you just joined and idk how much you know about d series considering you have a b series. D series suck, i hate mine

 

[paulx022]

if i were you...keep it clean looking, do interior stuff, bolt ons... you can make that thing decent without going over the top... lower it, some nice wheels, tint etc... but do what you want with it, these are our opinions on which you asked... take every opinion with a grain of salt...

lol im pretty sure its grain of sand? correct me if im wrong but dont think i am, if im right.. your stupid lol j/k

 

[TigBitties]

its salt lol but hey. they are close enough lol

 

[Daddy_Digital]

Cool thanks!! any mods needed to the block to fit the si VTEC head on to it??

if your engine now is non-vtec, youll have to wire the vtec to your ecu. not sure if ull need a different ecu or not. someone else know for sure?
i think since u commute so far, its best to keep it as close to stock as possible. normal bolt ons supposedly help a bit with gas mileage but for give the engine a little more pep. nothing very noticeable. if you ant noticable performance, swapping the engine out with a B series engine or forced induction is the way to go. or building the motor by upgrading the pistons, rods, valves, springs, gettin the si VTEC head on it.

 

[TigBitties]

you would need to get the ecu, distributor, and vtec solenoid along with the head. there is a write up on it in the forums.

 

[Mad Dog Tannen]

if your engine now is non-vtec, youll have to wire the vtec to your ecu. not sure if ull need a different ecu or not. someone else know for sure?
i think since u commute so far, its best to keep it as close to stock as possible. normal bolt ons supposedly help a bit with gas mileage but for give the engine a little more pep. nothing very noticeable. if you ant noticable performance, swapping the engine out with a B series engine or forced induction is the way to go. or building the motor by upgrading the pistons, rods, valves, springs, gettin the si VTEC head on it.

I would get a hondata with a dyno tune. Or do a k20 swap before a b16 swap!

 

[TigBitties]

hondata on a stock motor will be pointless. and personally i woudl go with a b16. till you drop the money on a k swap, you can build a b16

 

[sampsas]

Thanks guys!!! Well my wife is the one worried about fuel economy!!! Me I would rather have POWER!!! LOL.. Yes I do travel a good distance to and from work BUT 95% of it is highway and would love the power then!!! All of the suggestions are great!!! I have been reading alot about engine swaps and other mods just trying to see which is the best/most cost effective for me to do and keep it automatic (Damn knee!!! LOL). The first thing I did was rip out the stock stereo and put in my 7" DVD one, already sounds 10x better!!! now all I need to do to the interior is see if I can find better driver seat with a right side arm rest (miss that soooo much) any ideas???
And again Thanks to everyone who has commented on this..
I like it when I find a forum that is full of great knowledgable people who don't belittle us noobs!!!!