Hello readers,

I have recently purchased a 2005 si, and I am looking to start doing some basic modifications. I have absolutely zero experience with mods as this is my first vehicle, but I would like to do what I can to improve performance. Fuel economy is paramount, and I understand this can be improved via cold-air intake, exhaust, and by chipping the engine. Basically these are my questions:

Air Intake: What are the best models available to me of both intake and filter (preferably not over $300) and what kind of results can I expect to see?

Exhaust: Again, what are the best brands and what will the results be? Is it worth doing a "headers-back" system, or is cat-back enough? I don't want anything too obnoxiously loud either

Chip: I've heard of brands like Bully Dog making them for diesel motors, but haven't heard of any brands for civics. What is the best on the market, what will it do, and how much can I expect to pay?


As a university student money is tight, but I am willing to pony up the cash for top quality parts if they will make significant differences. Also i would be interested to know if there are any ways I could improve fuel economy other than the parts I've already mentioned.

Thanks for your help in advance, and I'm sorry if this is posted in the wrong place. This is my first post so I hope you'll excuse any locational errors

 

Intake: If you are not in California (C.A.R.B. exempt required), just get an ebay intake, throw the filter out and buy an AEM dryflow filter. ~2-5 hp gain

Exhaust: You get what you pay for with exhaust. Figure out what sound you like and go from there. Youtube is great for this. ~3-10 hp gain

Chip: You would be looking at tuning. Chips are preset tunes, which isn't the greatest of ideas in my opinion. I wouldn't mess with anything except Hondata Kpro with your car. This would be something you would take to a professional. Tuning will take that ~15 hp gain form the above mods and turn it into ~35 hp gain. Usually, tuning for just bolt ons like intake and exhaust is a waste. Tuning is meant to be a "supporting" mod to help you run other things. If you added a turbo kit to the car, it would NEED to be tuned to run correctly.

 

Thanks for your response cvcrc!

Are you suggesting that I should get basically the one of the least expensive air intakes i can find and then put a high quality filter on it? I'm not sure I understand fully.

About the chip- So if I just took the car into a garage and asked them to tune it for me that would basically be as good as installing a chip? or would the Hondata Kpro be an improvement over this? thanks

 

Yes, a pipe is a pipe in the world of intakes. Just find out what size you want (I suggest at least 2.75"), but the correct size filter and bolt it on.

You cannot just take your car to a shop to be tuned. You have to replace the ECU. I suggest going with a Hondata Kpro ECU. There may be other, cheaper options, but Kpro is best. Call around shops to see what they like to tune with since they would be the ones messing with the software.

 

hi,

You can even install the car parts own your own. You can purchase them from online store and can install them.