What is the most Tuner friendly Civic? I am thinking I want power and handeling more than looks.

Thanks

 

The best Civic to tune would be the Civic Si coupe. It already have a 160hp B16A engine which is quite powerful for a little engine. Factory handling is already pretty good especially for a fwd car. The reason why I said the Civic Si coupe instead of the latest hatchback one is because the B16A engine have tons of aftermarket performance parts than the K20A engine.

 

IMO its the 88-91 civic/crx. its a non OBD vehicle which makes it alot easier to get around things than the obd1/2 cars. plus the 88 crx is the lightest of all civics 88+ which aids in handling, acceleration and stopping performance. its really up to you. what exactly do you want to do with this car? drag,autox?

 

88-91 might be easier to tune but the stock engine doesn't produce a lot of power. I used to have the 89 Si before & it was a fun car to drive especially on auto-x & road racing but even after internal work, the engine still doesn't produce that much gain. It could cost a lot of money just to make a engine power to be decent. If you do a motor swap, the ECU has to be swap too. I don't think you can use the D16 ECU for a B16 or B18 engine.

 

very true. but these chassis are very easy to work with. IMO i wouldnt want to start off with a heavy car. plus you can get a crx and a b16/b18 swap for the same cost as the 99/00 civic si. the ecu you will use for the dohc vtec swaps would be the pr3. although the d16 ecu can be chipped for ls maps.

 

if youre doing your own swap then you wont want to deal with the wiring nightmare on putting a dohc vtec engine into an EF(88-91) chassis. my advice is the 92-95 civic vx hatch if you plan on swapping the more powerful dohc vtec in, as it is already wired for vtec and is lighter than the similarly wired si hatchback. also these cars are newer so they have less wear and tear on them than the older EF civicsand parts are more interchangeable with the 94-01 integras. if you are not planning to get that in depth then go with the 99-00 si, its a little heavier than the other choices you have, but a lot of that weight is in the bigger sway bars, engine, bigger brakes, you know, all the stuff you will want to add to your lighter chassis anyway. get some lightweight wheels, a carbon fiber hood and use dry ice to freeze the sound deadening tar-like material under the trunk carpet and interior carpet(i'd leave some in the front area, under your feet or put in a little dyna-mat or you might regret it with a performance exhaust and a long drive), and you should have a sweet ride with a few bolt on power adders.

 

I've done many swaps for many people and IMO the 88 - 91 civic/crx is the best car for swaps because of the weight. I have had no major problems dropping any B series motors into these cars weather it be an LS, GSR, or Si. The hardest swap I've ever done on the 4th gen body was dropping a H22 into a 90 hatchback and that was only because of fitment and not wiring although that was a pain but not impossible. Thats just my opinion.

 

not necc. true. u can get an EX or a DX for a good 3 or 4k cheaper than an Si, then put in a B16 yourself for about 2.5k. save yerself about 1.5 grand

 

I'm a 4G man myself (in case you haven't noticed...) but the 5/6G's are hands down the easiest for B-, F-, and H- series swaps (yeah... the F20C was a fun one...). However, no other Civic handles like a 4G hatch/'Rex with springs and dampers.

 

very true