Hi guys/gals,

I have just bought a 1998 1.4i Honda Civic hatchback and although I am very pleased with it so far, it seems quite sluggish top-end - especially when carrying a passenger or two.

The car is on a pretty low mileage - 58k, and the engine is running like a dream even from cold with no rattles at all. The car seems fairly nippy up to around 60mph, but then it seems to die. I couldn't get it past 80mph w/1 passenger yesterday on the motorway in 4th gear - changed to fith and the car actually lost speed?! If you put your foot down, the car doesnt pick up speed - it simply just uses a **** load of fuel!

Is this normal for this engine!? I have been told that Civics with this motor are meant to be pretty quick (despite the small displacment), but mine doesnt seem anything special at all. My old 1.1ltr Fiesta seemed to pick up speed better! A friends Vauxhall Corsa 1.2 16V SXI left me for dead yesterday, and I wasn't pleased to say the least!

I have ordered an induction kit which may help, but we will have to wait and see. The airbox on it at the minute seems pretty restrictive as it has a long tube leading to the left-hand side (when looking into the engine bay from the front).

What do you Civic gurus suggest? I'm a newbie to these cars, so any help is greatly appreciated!

cheers...

=chris=

 

When I was in your shoes (noob wise) I read up alot, and I mostly learned, get your car to breath better

So this means, a cold air intake, or secret weapon intake, if your have the money, get a new header and exhaust

But you said you already ordered your introduction kit, so scrath the intake and header off the list

If your were me, I'd cancel the intrduction kit, as of now, and try the i/h/e and see if that helps, plus it's alot cheaper

Did you by a turbo or supercharger?

 

Hmmm, I'm not really following you here...You say to change the intake/header/exhaust, but the induction kit consists of an alloy intake tube and a free-flowing cotton air filter. To me, that is just about all I can do to the intake as of the time being - with out looking into bigger throttle bodies and the like.

As for eithe super or turbochargers - that sort of stuff is Waaaaayy down the pipeline. I use my car daily so cannot allow the car to be off the road for too long at a time. I have however seen those electric superchargers on Ebay, but I'm skeptical tbh. Does anybody rate them, or are they just a fancy way of throwing £100 down the drain?

Are these engines set-up for economy as standard? I wonder if the fuelling is on the lean side, but then that doesnt explain the thirstyness of the motor. Also, does anyody know if the ignition timing can be adjusted, or is do I need some kind of re-map for the ECU to do this?

cheers

=chris=

 

wow, got me there... lemme back up a minute

Did you buy a turbo or super charger?

For your application, you should go for a turbo, since you want high end, high RPM power

When I suggested to change the intake/header/exhaust, that was to prevent you spending major money on the turbo/super-charger

Civic's are built for economy purposes, but can easliy last 300,000 miles non-abused and less if turbo/super-chargered

I'm not sure, but one of our members reported a gain in gas mileage when using a turbo/super-charged, I searched for awhile but couldn't find the post

 

Somethings up with it dude! No car should slow down when changing up at 80. I'd get it checked out by a specialist. My day to day car's a nissan almera 1.4, which has 88bhp. Its certainly not fast, but it pulls strongly up to 90 in top no probs, with ot without a passenger. As soon as you start putting two or three people in the back though any car with a small engines going to slow down. In fact my 1.6 b16 with a couple of people in it struggles, but only down the rev range - not much torque!

 

Right, well I have a feeling I have found the problem guys.

A while back my old Fiesta started making a 'shushing' noise when you accelerated, and the power was seriously hampered. This was traced down to the catalytic converter breaking up and actually jamming the exhaust. I have noticed this exact same sound coming from my Civic when the revs increase. Looks like I may be in need of a new one me thinks. Doh!

I am however thinking that I may aswell just buy a performance cat-back exhaust as I've seen a few quality looking systems on Ebay for around £240 shipped.

=chris=

 

Well, after doing a 60 mile round trip today, I an pretty much say that the Catalytic converter is totalled. Get the car to 4-5k and the shushing noise gets proportionally louder. Did mostly motorway miles today, and even on slight inclines the car struggled to push 70mph at times! Annoying when trying to keep up with my dad in his BMW 323i!

I have ordered a De-cat pipe which should hopefuly eliminate the problem, and possibly give me a slight power increase. Will let you guys know if it sorts it...just incase anybody else has a similar problem in the future.

=chris=

 

Yeah, you have a good start with your intake (induction kit.) You might want to do a new header, cat and cat-back exhaust. Then if you still want some more maybe a throttle body and intake manifold. I don't know what's actually availiable for your car but look around on the net. Anything that will help your car suck in or push out air will increase your performance, think of it like a fancy air pump, the easier it can pump the better off you are.