Headers for a 97' civic dx?

[jmitchell]

Yes, I know. Why bother to mod a dx? Because I want to, dammit. I do a lot of uphill/mountain driving, and really need the bump in torque from adding some good headers... Anybody know who makes one? I can find all sorts of shiz for ex/si all up and down and all over the place, but what about my lowly dx? Valid suggestions greatly appreciated.

jon

 

[Viper GTS]

Why not sell it & buy an EX?

Viper GTS

 

[jmitchell]

because for thousands less than the cost of selling it and buying a new ex (about 130 HP) I could just swap in a B16A (160 HP) . I'm going for the cheaper alternative, a good header, intake, exhaust and ecu will bring me around 120-125 at the wheels, which is much better than the ex, and for only about 1500.

 

[Lucky]

i really doubt those figures. At the wheels? What does that translate to "in the engine"? Stock DX only makes 106 hp.

 

[TuffGuy]

suggestion

seriously though, you might want to give greddy a look.

 

[jmitchell]

lucky, I read a review in a popular car mag a few months ago (should have bought it). They used a 97 dx, and simply added a good intake (not even cool air) header, and exhaust, and it dynoed at 116 at the wheels. With a good ecu/engine management upgrade, one could easily hit 120 at the wheels. Too bad I can't quote the actual mag/issue...

 

[Migroo]

Lucky has a good point.

Headers and torque? I doubt that. To be honest all I'd expect is a 5hp (max) increase at high RPMs. (from the hearders only I mean..)

 

[Lucky]

fair enough, I've got a 92 civic, just seems a bit high.

 

[TuffGuy]

i seriously doubt that they got 10hp from the intake. i have a 3.0l v6 eclipse gt, and my car gains 9hp from a CAI. i SERIOUSLY doubt that a 1.6L i4, especially one that i already HIGHLY optimized could gain 10hp.

 

[wsking]

<< i seriously doubt that they got 10hp from the intake. i have a 3.0l v6 eclipse gt, and my car gains 9hp from a CAI. i SERIOUSLY doubt that a 1.6L i4, especially one that i already HIGHLY optimized could gain 10hp. >>



2 maybe 3 at the most.....
people says 10 - 15...thats only when u put that into stang or camaro
but even at 2-3 horsies u can feel the difference

 

[TuffGuy]

yeah, that's what i'm trying to point out too. even with headers, intake and exhaust i think he'd gain a little over 10hp. and in the process make his car sound like a lawn mower.

 

[Migroo]

<< and in the process make his car sound like a lawn mower. >>

 

[toph99]

i don't think exhaust/intake work is going to be very rewarding, considering those little engines don't move much air. thought about a low pressure turbo/supercharger? it'll give you some more grunt without stressing your internals TOO much

 

[Zenmervolt]

It generally takes a 10%-15% increase in power before you can feel the difference according to Road & Track, so you probably won't be able to feel anything less than a 10 hp increase. I have to ask just how steep the mountains are that you drive because my old Accord (~2,500 lbs, 120 HP) doesn't have trouble running around the fairly hilly areas of Western PA and Southern OH. Given the Civic's lighter weight I can't imagine that 106 HP is insufficient unless you're in some really mountainous areas like the Rockies. Still, your plan seems well enough thought out. I'd look for a new ECU if posible since the base DX engines in the Civics are usually tuned for fuel economy and not for power. If I had to guess, I'd think that a new ECU would make the most difference, breathing mods probably will not have a great effect. Also, a 5% variance in engine power from the factory is far from abnormal, so the car that the magazine tested could possibly have been making 111-112 HP stock (unless they dyno-ed it stock before modding it, in which case they'd know for sure).

ZV

 

[Lucky]

When I interned in Pittsburgh, my civic had a really, really hard time making it up all the hills in the area. Just to keep up with traffic neccesitated 3rd gear, and anyone with a DX knows how load/buzzy that engine can be when you are going 65/70 up a good grade in third. At times 3rd even seemed inadequate, but since absolute redline is 52mph in 2nd, you pretty much had to use it. 4th was adequate in some areas, at least to maintain speed, and 5th is a joke in that car (unless you are going above 110 or are going downhill )

 

[Zenmervolt]

<< When I interned in Pittsburgh, my civic had a really, really hard time making it up all the hills in the area. Just to keep up with traffic neccesitated 3rd gear, and anyone with a DX knows how load/buzzy that engine can be when you are going 65/70 up a good grade in third. At times 3rd even seemed inadequate, but since absolute redline is 52mph in 2nd, you pretty much had to use it. 4th was adequate in some areas, at least to maintain speed, and 5th is a joke in that car (unless you are going above 110 or are going downhill ) >>

Ah. Must have lower gearing on my Accord then. And the Civic is probably heavier than I estimated it to be. I still like my idea of re-programing the ECU first though since the ECU is most likely set for economy. Opening up the engine's breathing will also make it a lot louder/buzzier, so that's another thing to consider.

ZV

 

[jmitchell]

so many skeptical people... for those that missed it, I'm not expecting a 20 HP gain from headers alone, but rather from the headers, intake, exhaust, and ecu upgrade. Oh yes, and I answered my own question, and found a header for my car, linky. Thanks for the (cough cough) help guys. I owe me one.

 

[Ns1]

uh chances are you'll gain HP and lose torque...at least thats' the way it is with 'ludes; you gain a bit of upper end and lose some of the bottom end; if you want to gain some torque get some pulley's, or get a prelude

preludes love hills

 

[LAUST]

Hey don't you mean "Header" singular not plural

anyway my 2 suggestions about headers... 1 always get a thick flange ofcoarse... 2 Go for Ceramic coated, I can't say how much I love my ceramic coating. helps with heat disipation so much and doesn't even look a day old after being on my truck 2 years.

 

[Fausto]

I know diddly about modding cars, but if it's torque you want you may look into getting the head planed to bump the compression ratio up a bit. It would require higher octane gas to run right, but would certainly give you a nice bump in torque. This is somewhat anecdotal but the only major engine difference in my Triumph Daytona Super 3 vs the regular Daytona (other than cams) was the compression ratio (12:1 vs 9.5:1) and it had a noticeably broader power spread than the vanilla Daytona.

The other thing with headers is that they can give you top end or torque depending on how they are configured. Do some research before you invest in something that only gives you extra ponies at 5,000 rpm and up.

Fausto

 

[BDawg]

<< Yes, I know. Why bother to mod a dx? Because I want to, dammit. >>



Don't forget the Type R stickers for your car! It would also help if you painted your car yellow.

A Cobra badge, stolen from a SVT Cobra, give the classy look that says, "Don't mess with my 4 cylander!"

 

[Mill]

You couldn't feel an extra 10hp, and would be impossible to feel 2-3.

 

[geno]

BTW - it's a header, not headers

 

[jmitchell]

remind me to never post about my honda again... Yah, why dont I say sca-rew the Type-R badge, and go for a GT-R badge(so hip, so cool, nothing like a skyline/etc badge on a honda)? Ooooh and maybe a 'racing' sticker while I'm at it? Not something like 'bad boy under 2 liter racing', but just 'racing'? I hear the word racing alone on a sticker adds 10 horsepower! (extreme sarcasm) Guys I dont need anyone to point out that I don't have a v-x (as in v-6 or v-8,10,12 etc) and would not actually add 'headers', plural, but it is a common way of referring to an aftermarket exhaust manifold. And yes, to agree with neurosynapse, for the most part, alot of these mods may drain my already pussy ass low end torque. Jesus crist speared up the a$$ with a cattle prod, man I didnt think I'd get so much resistance on this one. ATOT'ers are so pleasant until you squirt out a little typo or anything they can possible talk smack about. At least I dont want to mod a, say, 89' civic or something. THAT would be really bad. My car still looks nice, at least. (gets weekly baths, occassional clay barring, and somewhat monthly gold-class wax, and the occasional all-day cleaner, polish AND wax) Too bad it takes about 3 minutes to get dirty. Maybe it's time to buy a car that's more 'socially acceptable'-some kind of v-6 or better, gas whore, roaring man-machine, oooh ooh AND, maybe I'll start believing in god too, and that bose has better sound and more bass than my jbl/cerwin vegas) Done. End of thread. How do I lock this thing?

 

[Tiger]

NT