DX civic

BEN:Helpmycar.

New Member
I have a 96 DX Civic and I am wanting to slowly add more performance parts to it. I dont know much about what I need to know about adding particular performance parts to my car and any help would be awesome. Basically, what I am trying to do is make it as high performance as possible without turboing it. Right now I only have DC Sports headers and an intake. I dont have a high budget at the moment and plan on piecing it together.
 

Esotericimage

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Well, you have an economy car. Your not going to get too much performance out of it. Even with an intake and a header.

If you want some power, you will have to turbo it. You have a 2600lb car with a 1.5L engine. its going to be slow.

so get a power goal, then build towards it

DIY: Building your Dream Car 101
 


BEN:Helpmycar.

New Member
Well, you have an economy car. Your not going to get too much performance out of it. Even with an intake and a header.

If you want some power, you will have to turbo it. You have a 2600lb car with a 1.5L engine. its going to be slow.

so get a power goal, then build towards it

DIY: Building your Dream Car 101
Awesome that site made a lot of sense. I have also thought the same thing about my car since the engine is so much smaller. What I really want is something like a b16,18 or 20 but im not sure which cars come with that engine, and I don't really want to do a swap. I guess one of my other problems is where to go to find information on all the parts I would want to put on my car. thanks again for sending me that link.
 

Mr.Baker

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I have a 96 DX Civic and I am wanting to slowly add more performance parts to it. I dont know much about what I need to know about adding particular performance parts to my car and any help would be awesome. Basically, what I am trying to do is make it as high performance as possible without turboing it. Right now I only have DC Sports headers and an intake. I dont have a high budget at the moment and plan on piecing it together.
Cheap, fast, reliable...you can only pick two!

You have an economy car with just about 100hp, which you want to make "fast", but don't have a ton of money to throw at it.
Without a $ AND the knowledge, the truth of the matter is, you won't be fast or high performance, though those are relative terms.
How fast do you want to be?
How much of a budget do you have to work with?
Without turbo or swapping motors, you won't see any power numbers much over what you already have.
You really should read up and research yourself before you jump into any sort of modding.



Also wondering, being you have a Dx model, somewhere along the ling someone has swapped the exhaust as well.
The way the stock Dx exhaust is set up, it has the catalytic converter coming right off the manifold.
You have to swap exhaust styles, (exhaust from an EX) in order to use the DC header, which puts the catalytic converter farther down stream. So you'd need a new cat converter as well as another style b-pipe.
 


Esotericimage

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Just for correction, its:

Fast
Reliable
Cheap

^^
Pick 2 and the 3rd is what its not
 

Esotericimage

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Well, if you cant see the difference of the 3rd option, then I dont know what to tell you.
 

Mr.Baker

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Well, if you cant see the difference of the 3rd option, then I dont know what to tell you.
That's not how it works necessarily.
The point is, no matter how you word it, you can only choose two.
 

YachtBoy

New Member
more modification options you can look into to increase performance for under 500$ are Exhaust, which with a header upgrade, I would definitely recommend, since the factory exhaust on better headers are going to nullify your efforts. Also, look into the rear drum to disc swap. Most parts available from a junkyard, and if you have a jack and some stands, it's pretty straight forward. If you have a standard, a short throw shift is 100$ well spent as well. Lowering springs and strut bars will be in the price range, but take a bit to install. The handling difference is outstanding and well worth your time however. Just a few options for you.
 

Esotericimage

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That's not how it works necessarily.
The point is, no matter how you word it, you can only choose two.

In the simplest form yes, But the 3rd option tells the whole story..


Fast and Cheap >> Not reliable
Fast and Reliable >> Not cheap
Cheap and reliable >> Not fast


I dont know where you got your version, but this was the original version.
 

Esotericimage

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more modification options you can look into to increase performance for under 500$ are Exhaust, which with a header upgrade, I would definitely recommend, since the factory exhaust on better headers are going to nullify your efforts. Also, look into the rear drum to disc swap. Most parts available from a junkyard, and if you have a jack and some stands, it's pretty straight forward. If you have a standard, a short throw shift is 100$ well spent as well. Lowering springs and strut bars will be in the price range, but take a bit to install. The handling difference is outstanding and well worth your time however. Just a few options for you.

Rear disc swap isnt necessary as the added weight of the discs, plus 0 difference in stopping distance makes this a cosmetic upgrade. Most AutoX cars still use the drums for low un-sprung weight.

Short throw shifters have proven time and time again to be bad for transmissions as people force or mis-shift the gears causing internal trans damage (mostly shift forks) not to mention reducing clearance for larger exhausts.

Lowering springs can be as expensive as basic coilovers after you figure install costs. Usually required to replace the shocks as well when using springs makes an easy decision to just buy a set of coilovers.

Strut bars will be a good option AFTER proper lowering and sway bars are installed. Just adding them wont make much of a difference on an early build. Of course, this is after deciding what the cars purpose will be.
 


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