Hey im new to civics, and i was just wondering if a my hb DX motor could be changed into an HX motor without replacing the whole thing? And one more thing. If the HX motor has 9 more horses and 5 mpg more why the heck didnt HONDA just make that the base motor?

 

not sure about your first question, but your second one belongs to www.honda.com, not here

 

I'm sure you could do a mini me swap with the HX head. Pretty sure you can get the y5 (hx head) on ebay for relatively cheap.

 

not sure what "mini me" means. Like i said im new to this whole civic thing.

 

Mini me is just changing the heads, but keeping the block the same basically. Most people will go with the EX head over the HX head because of more hp. Plus the HX is very different from the other SOHC honda engines. The HX runs on 12 valves under 3100 rpm, at the 3100 rpm point the car shifts to all 16 valves (vtec-e) and continues to run in this mode to redline. Here is some more information on the mini me swap:

https://www.hondacivicforum.com/m_45390/tm.htm

 

Will i have to run 91 octane fuel if i do the swap? and will i have to hack into the wiring much?

will it be more cost effective to do the swap or to just stick aftermarket stuff on my car?