performance or swap??
 

I am new to civics and have not looked back since getting mine.

I have a 2001 civic dx coupe with
2" lowering springs
17"wheels
custom 2.5 exhaust with 4.5 out
aem v2 short ram

I want to make it faster but,Im new in the field of hondas so I just putmodded the obvious.

its a stock motor.. what should the next step be in getting more passing power? is a swap the best thing to do? or is there a better way to get performance out of this stock motor?

all input appreciated!

RE: performance or swap??
 

unfortunately since you have an '01, the only legal swap (technically you can't legally swap an engine into a car if the engine is older than the chassis) of any real value would be a k20, which is quite a bit of money. If you have $5k to throw at your car, I say go for it (get a k20a2... you can't go wrong with 200hp and 6 gears:D ).

RE: performance or swap??
 

little outta price range haha. do you suggest headers?

RE: performance or swap??
 

it's header, there's only one (no "s");). Anyway, yeah, it'll help, but it's not going to be noticeable.. you might see 5hp or so. Honestly, I'd say keep looking around for a 5-speed transmission. It'll be the best thing you can do for performance.

RE: performance or swap??
 

well i would suggest getting a vtec head from an ex model cus i dont think any of the dx came with vtec that would make a noticable diffrence thats if im right and you dont have that vtechead already. and also that 5 speed tranny if you have an auto.

RE: performance or swap??
 

+1

5 speed will make it so much more fun to drive

but......at the price of a 5 speed and a vtec head. You might just want to keep saving and go for the k20....

RE: performance or swap??
 

well the head shouldnt be more than 200 and the tranny would be around 250 depending who you get it from .. and a k20 would be around 5k so thats still alot of saving he would have to do.

RE: performance or swap??
 

he will have to get a manual tranny ANYWAY, so he might as well start somewhere.

RE: performance or swap??
 

Well, you can get a Header.. But if you want REAL power, i'd go with the K20a. If you just want a little something to play around with, I/H/E is the best thing for you, but if you want SERIOUS power, swap into a K20a, that would be your best bet. 220hp, 8k redline, and a 6-speed. Honestly, modding a D17 is kinda pointless to me, since they don't put down power that well. Just trying to beef up a D17 isn't the best idea, but if you want a little something to play around with(Like me, I have AEM v2, and soon to be Header/exhaust to play around with during college, until I make the good money for a K20a). From I/H/E on a D17, you can only expect maybe 15~20 hp if you're lucky. Instead of spending like $800 bucks on I/H/E, you could use it to save up for a swap :D.

But in all honesty, it depends on what your goals are, and what you're willing to spend on performance. Also, turbo is out of the question for a D17, since the compression is low, and D17's don't like boost that much :eek:. But, there has been some people who have turbo'd their D17, and have had some nice results.. But, honestly, i'd be more better off with a K20a, you can't go wrong with one.

But its entirely up to you, and you're goals.

RE: performance or swap??
 

on the subject of a k20 swap id be 5k just for the engine how much if you had a mechanic do the swap for u and what additional costs would there be?