My wife and I have had our 96 Civic CX for a couple years now and are really sold on Honda. We want to buy a new car but cant afford it for a year or so - Part of wanting a new car is that this Civic really has a lack of power.

I want to increase the horsepower but dont really know where to start, and dont want to spend thousands.

What can I do that will give me the most horsepower for the dollar? I want things that a novice like myself can replace on my own to keep costs down. I am no mechanic, but not an idiot either. If I could increase the horsepower or torque it would be huge.

We live in a very rural northern community and spend hours on the highways - whenever we hit a hill the car practically dies. We also haul a lot of supplies into town every few months, so the car is usually weighed down pretty good. More power and torque would be a huge help..

Any advice for a newbie? Any must check websites? Thx.

 

Ok first mod to do would be a 96-00 civic ex manual transmission as it has alot shorter gears and gives the engine a more direct drive to the wheels. You do not actually increase power this way but it feels like it and for $150 to $250 is about the best mod for the money.

Second would be a intake manifold from a 96-00 civic ex. Your car has the D16Y7 which the throttle body is sitting verticle. The manifold it is sitting on is a major bottle neck and is aimed at providing gas milage not power. With those 2 mods alot you will see around a second come off your 1/4 mile times, even if you dont race I just put that there to put it into perspective the gain you would see.

Third, if you are still looking get a header for a 96-00 civic ex(I recomend a HP Racing 4-2-1 header), but if you do this there are a couple other things you have to do. The stock exhaust manifold on your car has the cat. converter built into it. So when you install a header you need to buy a high flow cat converter and install it where the mid pipe part of the exhaust is. This will keep you legal and get another bottle neck off of your car.

Forth is refered to as a "Mini Me" swap. It is where you take the head and ecu out of a 96-00 ex and install it on your non-vtec D16Y7. You will see around a 20 to 25hp jump in power.