Let me start off this post with a little story.
So tonight as I was on my way home from work, this old '94 Grand Prix with what seemed to be 4 guys in it flew passed me. I held my speed steady and they let off and I passed them still keeping my steady 35 mph going. Then they came back and did it again. I was not going to let some little rusty Grand Prix think they could show me up, so I dropped it back into third and floored it. I hardly pulled away from them and they got me as I shifted into fourth. Eventually I flew passed them but I felt like I had let all the Civic owners out there down when I couldnt even take a rusty old Grand Prix fully loaded with 4 guys. I would love for this to not happen again so I was wondering what I could to to boost my power a bit. Im not really financially able to get a turbo kit but some other bolt-on's would suffice for the time being. My price range is anywhere from 100 to maybe 700 or 800. I already have a CAI but thats about it. Im just looking to build a little Street Warrior to help stand out around town untill I move next year for college. Ive looked into headers but was wondering how much, if any, hp gain i would get from one? Im open to any suggestions. Ive got a D16y8 if that helps at all. Thanks guys!

 

you won't see any noticeable gains from bolt ons with that engine.

save up some more cash and go turbo, or swap for a nice DOHC

GL

 

So, you were street racing a stock Honda against a heavily loaded Grand Prix?



Bolt ons will gain you 7-10 HP, max. The only way to get power from a Honda is to put lots of money into it.

 

What is the usual average cost for a nice DOHC? Should I look locally or at an online source? Also any suggestions for a good turbo thats not overly expensive?

 

Just wondering why you would drop it into 3rd going 35 when you could be in 2nd...

but yeah, for a d16, you'll get probably 20hp combined from intake($100-$150), exhaust($300), header($300), and high flow cat($150)

There was an article from import tuner that did a dyno on a 96-00 civic with d16y8, all stock, then did dyno testing with all of the above, basically what was lost through the drivetrain was made up from the bolt-ons.

D16 has 127hp, around 100hp to the wheels stock, bolts ons put it back in the 120's.

 

The reason I didnt drop it into 2nd instead of 3rd is because there is something up with my transmission and my tach :/ or else I would have

 

I woulda just let them dick around by themselves if I were in that situation...that kind of think happened to me twice when I had my hatch and both times I let them look dumb trying to street race a bone stock civic hatch...

As far as cheap bolt on parts go, you'd be better off saving for a new motor and/or turbo. What motor do you have in your civic? A y7 or y8? Just so that others could help with upgrade info based on your engine.

 

Its a y8. And recently ive been having trouble with when I stop at a stop sign or stop light my idle drops down WAY low to the point where it seems like its going to kill but it slowly builds back up. It usually idles around 1000 rpms or a little above but when it does this it idles under 1000 rpms. Is it a spark plug issue or do i have a sensor going out?

 

First off learn your car. You should know what gears go how long and what gears to grab and when to grab them. Power is useless if not able to be properly used.
Racing a rusty *** v6 has no meaning. Nothing of value was proven.
I don't recomend putting a turbo on your y8 without getting propper work done to the motor. And with motor parts, cheap is a bad thing. Regret lasts longer than the thrill of cheap parts.

 

My civic idles around between 500-600 RPMs(at operating temp), and it never feels like it's gonna die or bogs. But I would check my spark plugs anyway.