Prettyfly4aSiGy

I just recently purchased a silver 02' Civic Si hb, I originally bought it to be a sportier commuter car for me, never knowing much about the import tuner scene ( other than what I had seen from The Fast & The Furious...as well as being annoyed with my neighbors 500 dollar accord with loud *** exhaust that wakes my kids at 1am ) but after I took it out on the test drive and got a taste of it, I'm totally hooked!!! Now supping it out is all I can think about
So as it sits right now, it's totally stock from the wheels on up,
So my question is what to do 1st? I'm not much of a gear head, but I'm a quick learner, and I don't have much of a budget right now, so what can I do without raiding my life's savings, that will give me the most bang for my buck?
I am a sponge, please learn me!? Thanks.

charleso

suspension and tires are always a good way to start.

JuicedUpRice

basic ricer necessities include:
air intake
rims
exhaust

LOLOLOLOL

it really just depends on what you are looking to get out of your car.
what kind of things in a car do you find interesting?
are you a go fast guy?or are you a look clean and functional guy?

SickSi99

Bullshit, no one likes the tuna!

But seriously, what's your goals with the car? Autox? Street? Drag? As far as engine mods go, the first mods usually done or the "basic three," are intake, header, and exhaust.

SkoundrelUSA

Although you're new and we really should rip on you bad, I'm not going to because you seem to be an honest guy just looking for some advice.

But you should really just do some reading and think about what exactly you're looking to do. Here is a thread for some general information that you can look into:

https://honda-tech.com/forums/acura-rsx-dc5-honda-civic-ep3-32/official-dc5-ep3-faq-thread-look-here-before-posting-1778203/

Are you looking to just make it look a little nicer? Then look into this entire thread and see what you like that others have done:

https://honda-tech.com/forums/acura-rsx-dc5-honda-civic-ep3-32/official-ep3-picture-thread-1363862/

Since you said you're on a budget and didn't really mention what you want to do, its difficult to help you. But you should note that the EP3 (02-05 Civic Si) is arguably one of the worst cars Honda has made. I used to have one myself and really regret selling it, but you should know that pretty much anything you modify to make a real difference on the EP3 is going to cost a lot of money.

My advice is to go all in or not at all.

Paul 631

Throw in some dopey/trendy/non-functional mods and that actually sums up the current import tuner scene nicely...

I'd stay away from power mods, very low bang for the buck ratio.
Compared to modern cars/trucks/minivans/most anything with tires it's hopelessly slow.

As others have mentioned, honda really did a poor job with the suspension; a larger rear sway bar & quality springs/struts (e.g. the a-spec RSX kit) really transforms the car. Engine mounts & brakes are also subpar and easily improved...

02sia2

it all depends on what you want to do with the car if your just looking for a daily driver then I would just flashpro and coil-overs you'll pick up alittle power and better handling and not sacrifice ride quality and reliability. If you really like the car and choose to go farther then I would say a k20a2 swap with tranny and I get 27-28mpg in city driving hard i'm on s2 coil-overs 12 way adjustable on number 2 settings ride is fine and if want i can make it tighter and handle better i bought a k20a2 for 3500 full swap motor tranny ecu harness and sold my a2 for 1k so I paid 2500 bucks for a swap car right now is about a high 13 second car and handles great minus my understeering issue

Prettyfly4aSiGy

Awesome! I sure appreciate all the responses....as well as SkoundrelUSA not ripping on me, Thank You. As far what I am trying to accomplish with my Si is go fast, street use only, no autox, or drags ect. I just want to be able to smoke the guy in the WRX who messes with me on our daily commute to work, and another guy I know with a tricked out 97 accord, I'd like to leave him in my rear view,as well as seriously increase horses with out messing with too much of an mpg loss.
O2Sia2, I like your engine swap idea. If I can buy a better engine for 3500, will I be money ahead going that route vs intake,header,exhaust, etc? As far as hp for my $$$.
Also, I saw a guy on Craigslist selling an older tricked out civic, and he said he had a "rebuilt" title because he did an engine swap. Do you know if that's true? If I swap motors, will I have a rebuilt title car?
Thanks again everyone! All input is GREATLY appreciated!! Please keep any other ideas/thoughts/advice coming.

Prettyfly4aSiGy

Also as far as intake, headers, exhaust, what's the best brand to go with?
Is a catback header what I want? Or is there a better way to go?
Thanks

SkoundrelUSA

1) I hate to burst your bubble, but in all seriousness, an EP3 will never beat even a bone stock 2002 WRX unless you do some kinda engine swap or forced induction (turbo, supercharge). I really wouldn't spend too much on intake, header, exhaust for the stock K20A3 engine, unless you really know what you plan to do in the future.

For instance: If you plan to do a complete K20A2 swap in the future (from a RSX Type S), then you can likely reuse parts like a short ram intake, header/exhaust combo that are meant for the EP3.

But if you decide to go some sort of boost route, intake, header and possibly the exhaust might be a waste of money.

FYI: I had a K24A2 (TSX) swap in my EP3 with stock 5-speed transmission with just bolt ons. The torque was awesome, but I still wasn't really beating too many cars out there. So like I said, you really should do some reading and thinking about what you really want to do.

2) Car should NOT have a rebuilt title just for an engine swap. Likely the car got stolen at one point, insurance paid for a new engine and it had a salvage title.

3) Back to point #1, really think about what you'd like to do. Do some research before making any purchases. You may regret it.

turbohatchBnuts

Ep3 is not a fast car stock at all. Im a ep3 owner and know from experience. To be able to beat anything fast on the street you will need turbo. Done...

SickSi99

Do a K24/k20 Frankenstein build, turbo, Kpro and call it a day.

SkoundrelUSA

lol you make this sound like its child's play.

Remember you're talking to a "noob"

SickSi99

With all the build threads and resources on this site it shouldn't be that complicated with a little research.

Prettyfly4aSiGy

You guys rock! Thanks for the info. I'm going to have to hold off a bit on swapping engines. But what are your thoughts on turbo vs supercharger? And I'm way bummed on the reality check on the likelihood of ever taking a WRX. I have fallen in love with my EP3 and plan on keeping it. I would like to ultimately turn it into a "wolf in sheeps clothing",lower it a tad, skunk2 coil overs, body kit, carbon hood,black tsw track stars w/ Toyo proxys, tint windows, but keep appearance relatively stock other than that. Though whats kpro, SickSi99? Thank you guys !!
After reading your replies, thinking I'll go the turbo route, with exhaust, header, intake, performance chip?

HONDARIDR24

you will just have to accept the car that it is. the car your comparing it to (wrx) is in a higher class altogether (urs is a 20k car, that one is nearly 40k) so dont feel bad. honestly u should just add exhaust, suspension, intake and ecu. turbos kill the life of your engine especially if you run any psi more than 6-8. that way itll last you forever and ur not blowin money. if you want anything beyond that, swap engines to some sort of type r engine like k20a2 for example. or get a wrx lol

SickSi99

Kpro is essentially the best tuning option for any of the K-series engines: http://www.hondata.com/kpro.html

02sia2

just do the a2 swap and while you have it out put higher compression pistons in it replace all the seals and gaskets get some stage 2 cams new intake manifold and header and you still drive your car around all you want and when your done building your engine it should take less then a day and you can pull the motor and trans and drop in a new one easy swap (you can even do a wire tuck and make it look nice and you'll go from roughly 120whp to around 250-260whp in a day and as long as you catch the wrx on a roll you should win.....I dominate mild build wrx and evos off the line and in the long stretch with my cobra even with there 2 step i'm cutting better 60's

and the power to weight ratio of my honda right now is close to the cobra but after i do cams and all my other stuff the honda will have better power to weight

SkoundrelUSA

SickSi99

My thoughts exactly.

doood

iTrader: (1)

lol stop talking

PS...throw some periods in your sentences. kthanxbye.

charleso

agreed.

02sia2

oh i'm sorry i forgot i'm not an uneducated little teeny bopper who barely knows how to change oil i guess i should make sure to put periods in my posts to keep you happy and do some studying on how to properly post to a forum then just forget everything i've learned about cars and hondas specifically so i can fit in with you guys or since I am already educated and spend more time actually working on cars then in fourms running my mouth about things I don't know about i'll just continue to post without periods and make little bi{ches cry

doood

iTrader: (1)

haha you mad

02sia2

not mad just annoyed that when someone comes on here asking for advice you can always tell which ones don't know anything about cars cuz all they do is run there mouth to the people that are actually trying to help