Honda Car Forum

i hope to be getting a 2009 honda civic si coupe this summer. im interested in changing out the exhaust and adding a turbocharger. i was wondering how i can get the best for my buck. but also getting good preformance and sound out of it. i was looking at the flowmaster 40 series muffler but it seems that it is more of a truck type sound. what kindof exhaust would give me that import sound. and the turbo. i want somthing that will give me a good boost and not blow the engine to peices. and with that i need a blow off valve. from what i understand they are all pretty much the same and the difference is in the sound they give off. what would be the best sounding one? and also i know you need to get a turbo controller so you can turn it on and off. and i think ive done my research right but when the turbo is off you get better gas milage? bt when its on you can go faster? and would the AEM tru-boost controller/guage be a good buy? theres just too many products out there to really get a good opinion i figured id ask. please dont treat me like an idiot ive only recetly started learning about the various preformance upgrades and such. thanks for all your help

Since you're a beginner, I'll go easy on you. You want a bypass valve, or a recirculating blow off valve. Neither will be loud like you want. But that's because the loud ones are vent to atmosphere type. This creates unregulated airflow through your intake system. You do NOT want this, if you want the car to run well.If you're after top performance, you'll have to forgo some of the show and sound that most people want. Most things that people want, are actually pretty pointless, or even harmful to the car.Another key thing to keep in mind, is to match up your parts. For example, if you go with a small turbo, which will match the engine well, you do not need a gigantic front mount intercooler. It's totally pointless. It will just create a loss of PSI and lag.You also don't need a 4 inch exhaust, as another example.Make sure you address your pistons/compression ratio as well. Most N/A engines have a pretty high compression, and you really don't want that for a turbo car.Not saying you're going to get these things, just food for thought.The turbo is never actually "off", there's just times where it's not increasing airflow, just kind of idling. If you turned it off, you'd have all kinds of problems. Think of it like wanting to turn off your wheels.From the cars I've driven with and without turbos, it's really not that big of a difference in fuel mileage. Until you drive around while boosting all the time. Did that a few times, and fuel economy sucks. But drive reasonable, and it's not bad.