any car expert here?

[andylawcc]

what are the available upgrades for a car?

no, I am not making a RiceBurner, but just want to get a bit more performance for my future car.

I've heard of Turbo Charger, Super Chargers, but those seems like too hardcore.
Air Intake, a nice Spoiler, Body Kits, Mufflers, rims, Dash Boards, Pedals.... what else?

I am looking for cost/effective stuff, like a Golden Orb or Taisol instead of an Alpha or Copper Hedge.

 

[LAUST]

What Kinda Car???

 

[andylawcc]

errr.... [shame mode][flamecoat on]honda.... (you guess it) Civic (HX though), stick.

 

[BDawg]

Yeah, it depends on the kind of car.

I've heard that glass-pack mufflers, grocery cart spoilers, and neon running lights are all the rage.

 

[Futuramatic]

Ewww... you want to hop-up a car and do it cheap, yet still have a wicked machine? Do an 89-93 Mustang 5.0. Not necessarily a GT... NO PROBLEM finding parts for that car...

 

[Wangel]

Upgrades for an unknown model car:

1) Use premium gasoline
2) Add a K&N air filter
3) Use Mobil 1 oil
4) Add decals to rear window (Good for 10 horsepower!)

If you want to go beyond the above upgrades:
1) Change muffler to a free flow exhaust.
2) Super Tune - New plugs, high performance wires, cap, rotor, etc.
3) Get a High Performance computer chip installed

If you want to go beyond the above upgrades:
1) Replace injectors with larger ones
2) Replace cam shaft with high performance shaft
3) Replace distributor with High performance model

Also, check with your local dealer for a high performance parts catalog for your model vehicle. It should have all the parts and accessories you would ever want.

 

[LAUST]

Honda's have a decent amount of upgrades you can do depending on the money you want to spend. Turobo's and Blowers are pretty hardcore they can make more performance "Bolt on" performance then anything else on the market.. NOS too..

Air Intake and Exhaust are both very good you want to do both in some casses, Like my Brother he got the Intake kit for his but it has resulted in allot more heat for the engine cause he doen't have the proper exhaust for his truck.

Body Kits in Dask Kits are all over the place on the web and in magazines.


Don't worry about Flamecoat from me I like about everything.. I just don't like when people flame something like a Mustang for being slow stock when it is clearly a great car for mods.

 

[Buddha Bart]

Intake, headers, and exhaust will give you some better high end.
Rims&tires could help.
Plugs, wires, etc will help a smidge.. but really not much.
supercharger, turbocharger, and cam shaft are all hard core, but the only way to really see a large difference.

bart

 

[monckywrench]

Effective car hop ups vary so much with the vehicle that I strongly suggest finding owners club websites and doing a thorough web search for speed parts that fit your engine. Here are the standard cautions I pass on to customers:
Speed costs money, how fast ya want to spend?
Speed mods will not help an engine that needs an overhaul.
Decide how you will actually use the car.
Radical mods on a non-race car usually make it unpleasant to drive daily.
RTFM(s)!

A good tune up and moderate fuel/ignition/exhaust mods would be a safe starting point.

 

[vi edit]

I've got some questions - I've heard people talking about replacing/improve the intake valves on an engine. What exactly is this? Is it something expensive? And, does it have any negative impact on the engine?

Is a K&N air filter good for the life of the car? Do you rinse it out or blow it out or something when it gets dirty?

Also, When people talk about replacing the exhaust, are they talking about replacing all the way from the block to the muffler? Or, are they just replacing the muffler?

I'm car improvement impaired myself

 

[Redneck]

vi_edit,
I ain't an expert, I just know enough to be dangerous

1. You could say the K&N was good for the car's life, it has a 1 million mile warranty and unless you physically damage the filter, you only need to wash and re-oil the filter periodically (think its somewhere in the 10-12K mile range, depending on the amount of dust in your area.)

2. Replacing the exhaust could mean anything from replacing the exhaust after the catalytic converter (ie just adding a free flow muffler) to replacing the whole exhaust system from headers to tailpipe.

3. Replacing the valves is usually only one in very high performance engines where standard valves cannot take the stress. Changing the valves alone does nothing for performance. Porting the cylinder head and doing a valve job(what I think improving the valves is refering too does. Porting is where an experienced person smooths the places where air and exhaust flow, allowing the engine to take in more air and make more power.

 

[andylawcc]

ADD:

what is an afterburner? expensive?

 

[atom]

An afterburner is something you'll find on planes, not cars. Unless you own the batmobile.

 

[andylawcc]

HAHAHALOL!!! a nice upgrade though....

 

[bigd480]

Save up and buy a car meant for speed, or at least something other than commuter driving...

Regardless of what riceboys think, the civic is not a sports car. You can spend $5000 upgrading it and it might be loud as hell but not even as fast as a Stratus or other "regular" car.

There's not much you can do with a 1.7 liter engine. You have 117 hp and 111 ft-lbs of torque. That's enough to get you moving and onto the freeway but not much else.

Be like me and save up for a Nissan 300ZX Twin Turbo. You can get a good used one for anywhere from $10k-20k and it'll make your neck snap back when you punch it. Put in about $2k of upgrades and you'll be pushing 400hp.

If you want to save some money get the non-aspirated version: no turbos but still 222hp in a car that handles really well and looks great.

Also, you talk about getting more performance but then mention spoiler, kits, rims, dashboards, pedals... In my mind all that screams on a Civic is: "There's no way my car will ever be fast but if I really try hard and dump a bunch of money into it maybe I can pretend"

If you're fine with just looking like you have a sports car, that's the way to go.

 

[TrevorK]

Don't listen to all the people who tell you to wait and buy a "fast car." Like the guy who said to save up for a 300zx. If the purpose of buying a car was for speed and looks, you could build up an old Dart or something, and for under $3000, you could have a mid-13 sec car. Or a Talon and for under $10000, have a 12 second beast.

If you want to upgrade a Civic, the best thing to do is read up on ClubSI.com. They will have upgrade "paths" either listed there, or post a message asking for them. In my experience, the best thing to do first is make sure the car is tuned up, then look for air restrictions in the intake, etc...

First mod I would probably do (And since I've never owned a Civic this is just a guess) would be intake, then exhaust (Or if ya have the $$ do headers too). Outside of that, I don't think there is much you can really do that is bolt-on (No, you shouldn't need bigger injectors or anything, these are just minor mods).

Remember, there is a reason you bought the Civic, and if you wanted a different car you would have got it. If people tell you "Buy a car like mine it's fast, and user it's the same price as your Civic." Just think about how you could get a car, even faster with some mods, for less money. Then laugh at the illusion of that person having a fast car at a good price.

------
Trevor
90 Talon
90 Laser

 

[TuffGuy]

that's pretty funny. don't forget to add the 'typeR' and 'powered by deez nuts' stickers... kind of like adding the 'motorcycle' feel to your bike by having a baseball card rub against the spokes.

seriously though, there's only so much that you can do to your car. you can get a little bit more performance out of it, but unless you pour a lot of $$$ into it the difference will not be that great. anything that will make a huge difference will be expensive. spoilers, body kits, rims, pedals, and 'stock car' mufflers will do nothing but make your car look and sound like a riceburner. which is what you are trying to avoid.

 

You can pimp out a honda.
Dont go with a mustang, unless you like to spend all your money on gas (no mustang lovers flame here, its just a old beaten horse car.)
Headers, intake, blower, turbocharger, 2 more cylinders
Need atleast a v6 to get any kind of speed or acceleration.
Nitrous works well too

 

[Mill]

<< Dont go with a mustang, unless you like to spend all your money on gas (no mustang lovers flame here, its just a old beaten horse car.) >>



I get good gas mileage. What is the basis for your lie? Is it just ignorance? Don't post stupid stuff unless you want to get flamed. How is it old and beaten? What do you drive? Probably you don't even own a car.

 

[AlphaIVT]

Mustangs sucks. Hondas rule. ahahahahaha.

edit: andylawcc, are you ashamed you have a Honda Civic, a perfect example of a Ricable car, because everyone here dislikes Rice Rockets?

 

[Pacfanweb]

With a Civic, not to crack on economy cars, but it will take big bucks to make it truly fast. Turbo or supercharging is the only way to make it run fast (nitrous also)

As far as minor hopping up, the usual, K&amp;N air filter(yes, it is good for life, just wash it out), exhaust, maybe some ignition work, etc.
You can make it look better with all the usual stuff such as wheels, spoilers, stripes, etc.

As far as all-out performance though, unless you have the $$$$ to go with major internal engine mods and turbo/super/nitrous forced air induction (all are different ways of doing the same thing), again, UNLESS you can do that, then you are basically doing what is known as &quot;polishing a turd&quot;. Shine it up, dress it up, but it's still a performance turd. You need more cubic inches.(or in your case, cubic centimeters. It's all up to you.

 

[Mill]

<< Mustangs sucks. Hondas rule. ahahahahaha.

edit: andylawcc, are you ashamed you have a Honda Civic, a perfect example of a Ricable car, because everyone here dislikes Rice Rockets? >>



You don't even have a car. You are a moron anyway. Remember that BJ you got when you were 12? ROFL.

 

[Soybomb]

Just so we're clear on something you said both &quot;upgrades&quot; and &quot;more performance.&quot;
Your list of mods was Air Intake, a nice Spoiler, Body Kits, Mufflers, rims, Dash Boards, Pedals.

of those the intake probably is going to provide a negligable addition (3hp.....phfffft maybe at the redline for a brief second), the spoiler is for looks, the body kit is for looks, most rice just have mufflers with big tips for looks (although exhaust is a great mod when done properly...I prefer redoing most of it though depending on the car), rims are not going to make you any faster, dash boards and pedals don't make you happier. You're talking mostly rice here, I'm not sure how hondas like chips, but spend your money on actual engine mods like a new chip, bigger exhaust in more places then the tip, etc.

 

[AlphaIVT]

dude, i was only playing around, that Honda rules, Mustang sucks, must've slipped my mind

 

[smartt]

The only real car is a truck!