You won't turbo it for under $1500. There isn't enough support for your engine to offer you any sort of competitive prices, and things are more complex on your engine than they are on earlier model Civics, making it more expensive to turbo. It probably also isn't as turbo-friendly as the older Civics, as in there isn't much spare room in the engine bay so you have less room to work with and therefore less options.


$1500...

You could get intake/header/exhaust and maybe a stage 1 cam (since stronger valve springs/retainers and tune aren't required). That's about it. You won't have 170 HP either.


P.S. 140 HP figure by Honda refers to power at the crank. When talking with most enthusiasts, we speak in WHP, or horsepower at the wheels, since it is what is relevant.
BHP (crank horsepower) is used by auto manufacturers because it is a larger number, thus more impressive, and possibly because they want to keep it simple. WHP is usually different in the same car with the same engine when varying between manual and automatic transmissions, since automatics lose more power through the drivetrain... so if they quote the BHP then they don't have to list different figures for different transmissions.

Do you mean 170-180 BHP (crank), or do you mean WHP?

 

your best bet is to up the compression, you can get domed pistons and possibly mill the head like .020 depending on how much clearance you have to work with. there's always the option of punching out the cylinder too i'm not sure how thick your sleeves are but you should be able to go .040 anyway. so if you bore it out and raise the compression your probly looking at roughly a 30 HP gain. and then as trustdestruction said a stage 1 cam cause if you bore it out it can really use the extra breathing room couple that with a cold air intake and you will be getting close to a 40 HP gain

 

Where do you think it would be at with headers, high flow cat, and intake along with the exhaust?

 

Header (since you only have one)/Intake/exhaust doesn't add as much for small engines. You're likely looking at somewhere in the ballpark of +10 HP.

 

I thought polished ports were only good for peak hp high in the rev range? Maybe not so great for a dd?

 

regardless building an r18 right now is just pointless, maybe in a few years when new technologies are developed and when there are more competitive prices will it be worth building, but from the looks of it, probably not gunna happen becuase if you want performance you will just buy the si.