Honda Car Forum

Yesterday I bought a 98' Honda Civic DX. Can anyone tell me the best and most efficient uncostly way to upgrade my engine? Not replace the engine, but make the engine it has faster? Any input would be gladly appriciated.For the record, I'm an experienced Honda owner, and I didn't spend a lot of money on this car. It was 3700. I got it mainly for gas miliage (32 mpg city; 37 mpg highway; DAMN!) and reliability. Anyone who answers this question for me I'd rather it be a Honda enthusiest. Just thought I"d share some extra info.

you can produce serious horsepower with simple bolt on parts the cheapest way to start producing power is with a set of headers your looking at about close to 100 to 200 dollars next would be your intake system with both you would have some serious power try that first

Don't waste your time. It's a Honda Civic. If you must do something to it (waste of money) then most people would say cold air intake ($150) and a new freeflowing exhaust system ($300). Seriously, though, despite what a lot of guys will tell you we are only talking about a few extra horsepower. You could also get an underdrive pulley ($200, sacrafices other things such as AC and stereo power, but not by anything noticeable). A new chip ($250) or new spark plugs and wires (cheap) would be good too. But seriously, a lot of these Honda hot rod guys will tell you a new muffler will get you 20 HP. They are full of crap. Unless you go all out and pay a lot of money for a whole list of upgrades, you won't notice a difference with just one or two upgrades. If you want to make your car more fun, invest in suspension upgrades. A nice tight suspension with minimal body roll and a stiff body will make a pretty crappy car feel a little more racey. Whatever you do, 5 years down the road you will be saying "why did I spend so much money on a civic?!"

Nothing It's a waste of time. Next time buy a real car if you want performance. Honda's are only good for getting to point a to b and there not very good at that either.

AEM brand intake with a K&N brand air filter. its $200-300. been a while since i bought mine. should only take about an hour to install. its definitely step one in engine mods. I had a cold air intake on my civic for a few years, which works great in the winter. however, I re-assembled it as a ram-air intake recently due to fear of hydrolock. hydrolock is if you drive into a puddle deep ehough to reach your air filter. in which case, you will suck water into your filter and and totally wreck the engine. i dont think its worth the risk. i would recommend ram-air (short pipe) over cold air (longer pipe extends to wheel well).i agree with the other guys though. dont drop too much cash into a honda civic DX... if you had a EX or SI, different story. the B-series engines have much more potential than our D-series engines. you might as well keep the thing inexpensive and fuel efficient. the way it was engineered to be. an upper rear strut bar is a cheap step into suspension upgrades. it will obstruct some of your trunk space though. i've found it helps a lot with body roll on my civic dx sedan. i bought a no-name one on ebay for like 20 bucks. geart buy. simple install.good luck and keep it classy (no noisy muffler or ridiculous wings).

well you could put a JDM cold air intake on it gets you 9-15 HP and for exhaust you can get Skunk2 cams (depends if its a DOHC or not) or DC header. look on the Internet!

To be honest no good HP can come from the DX or for that matter any D series motor without major mods. You can do the basic Cold Air Intake, Header, and Exhaust. That will be cheapest and most fuel efficient. Look into eBay that will yield you the cheapest parts.For major power look into Turbos or superchargers. But they require lots of money.

Get a turbo for it...