monochrome

My Dad drives a '93 Civic Si, and I'd like to get him something for it for Christmas. I don't know much about modding these cars, so I thought I'd come over to H-T for advice.

The car is basically stock - only wheels and a stereo. It's daily-driven, including Iowa winters. My Dad is 65 years old and quite practical, but he loves his Hondas and is interested in improving this one.

I want to get him something performance- or function-oriented, as opposed to any kind of appearance mod. My two main ideas were sway bar/s and intake/exhaust. I also looked into snow tires but I can't afford a full wheel & tire setup for him.

After researching sway bars for these cars, I'm still confused. I'm not sure what's on an Si, what would be good to add and what is involved in installing it.

As for exhaust, I would only want to get something that is pretty quiet, and most of the clips I've seen on YouTube are fairly loud and/or raspy. Also, I'm coming from the Scion tC world, where exhausts on N/A cars are basically just for looks and sound. Does an exhaust and/or intake give any useful performance gain on these cars?

If anyone has any suggestions beyond my couple of ideas, I would love to hear them. I'm looking for something that costs a couple/few hundred bucks and is relatively straightforward to install.

Thanks!

deadazleep

i have the same car, 93 teal si haha, sway bar is one thing i would like aswell. I have the bar but not the LCA's yet since the stock ones dont have sway bar mounting holes, that could be a good way to start and pick up a sway bar from a junkyard off a integra for cheap.

Vindicator9000

No problem man... a lot of us here are a little older and still like to do tasteful mods on our Hondas.

Believe that a 93 Si has a swaybar stock. The ASR subframe brace / swaybar kit is very well thought of, and can be had for like $379. The subframe brace is almost a requirement for 96-00 Civics, but 92-95s have a stronger subframe, and should be able to use a large swaybar without tearing out. If you decide to go without the brace, and just do a swaybar, there are good ones from ASR, Eibach, and others for probably under $200.

None of them are fantastically hard to install if you have control arms with the swaybar holes already there. The biggest problem that you may run into is rusty bolts. I'm religious about cleaning the underside of my car, so I've never run into rusty bolts after 200K miles, but you may not be so lucky.

Same on N/A Hondas. Any exhaust that's going to cause a noticable performance gain is going to be annoying and loud, and any that are quiet and sound good aren't going to really help performance.

All that said, the Apexi World Sport 2 is an excellent low priced exhaust that's almost as quiet as stock and sounds great. It won't really give you a performance gain, but it's the perfect exhaust for people who hate the typical aftermarket Honda exhaust sound.

No problem.

Vindicator9000

Well... according to the guy above me, I was wrong and a 93 si doesn't have Lower Control Arms that'll accept a swaybar. If that's the case, then you'll have to pick those up too. Most Integra LCAs will work on an EG Civic, and are fairly easily junkyard'ed, or you can buy aftermarket.

I thought they did because my 00 doesn't have a swaybar, but does have control arms with holes for them. Apparently I'm wrong though.

deadazleep

Yeah i was very surprised when i saw that they didnt come with them stock since my 99 ex did and it was a breeze installing a sway bar...and removing before i sold it

joelmatt89

I would think for what you are looking for your best option would be exhaust if you want to spend just under 500 definitely get apexi ws2. If your more around the 100 range a nice intake. You could also get him a header for around 2-300 if you want to spend somewhere in between.

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monochrome

Cold as hell ATM, but we're back up into the double digits so things are looking up! lol

Thanks everybody for all the tips! Just what I was looking for. Keep 'em coming!

00 civic si

I'd say an intake, like a cold air intake maybe by aem or a password jdm intake(whale *****). Hondas always have a nice growl to them and newer intakes just enhance it and makes hitting vtec such a pleasure. That would be my choice. fairly cheap as well, like 300 bucks or so.

CRX T-Si

If your dad is 65 and loves his Honda then don't get him anything for his car. Once you start modifying it THEIFT will become an issue.

Get him a I Love Honda shirt or something.

If you really want to get him something cool for the car then get him something then get him a drop in K & N air filter......a Drop in not one of those CIA or anything that makes the engine look modified.

That is very practical and to the point.

monochrome

Eh, theft just really isn't an issue where he lives. The boringness of Iowa has it's advantages!

CRX T-Si

Then I would get him some wheels man.

Some nice wheels will always make any Honda look awesome instead of hubcaps or just steelies.

monochrome

He has wheels - 15" O.Z. Superleggeras.

94civiccupew/b7

being that he's older and he's not gonna be racing it or nothin. i say get him an ebay short ram intake and a DC Sport replica header for it. it's will add a few more ponies and if you leave the stock exhaust on it wouldn't be hardly any louder that it already is. it would only cost you around $100 for both and would make the drive to the grocery store a little more fun. you don't need top shelf parts for a grocery getter, it's just tubing how could they mess that up

slammed ej8

get a picture of the car and we can get a view of what would make your car better bro GL

NOFX

Maybe a gift certificate to a company that sells parts that he might be interested in?

Linked

instead of something performance (unless it gives a huge improvement)

get something aesthetic + functional

Fog lights or Corners,

depends on what you wanna spend, there are o0ther things

r22thomas

x2
If its a replica, it has the same bends/diameter thus the same performance increase as the real thing. It may not look as good or be as durable though. But im pretty sure he wont be beating on it. lol.

fastrxu

The si comes stock with a front sway bar.
You can upgrade the front sway bar.

Get him a nice stereo, maybe some integra leathers if he likes, h.i.d.'s to improve his visibility, es shifter bushings (theyre like 15 bucks)

Pics?

boarding2008

id say fogs or a SRI(short ram intake). im not a fan of CAI bc the risk of hydrolock and being it your from a place with snow. that will melt and turn to water. plus there are no performance enhancments(if there is one) from a SRI to CAI.

thumper64

Integra front seats (much more comfortable than stock), new Honda transmission fluid, a set of platinum spark plugs, hoses... You know, tune up stuff, if he could use it. Maybe gift certificates to a car wash place?

monochrome

Here's pics - like I said, nothing too fancy just wheels.

slcivic96

clean looking car, i would say go with some fog lights i know i would like some

Duc_du

dump that car!!! cheapest upgrade would probably fog lights.

Linked

depending on what you wanna spend!!!

new headlights, side fender corners, amber corners, fogs, taillights

but that is probably between 3-400

monochrome

Thanks everyone for all the suggestions.

I think I'm going to go with the Apexi WS exhaust, as it's simple to order and install and I know he has mentioned exhaust as a mod he is interested in. I listened to some clips on YouTube and the WS seems to have a nice mellow sound but still more aggressive than stock, which is just what I'm looking for. Even if it doesn't do much for performance I think he'd like a bit more sound. Plus the rusty tiny little stock exhaust tip looks so pathetic lol.

I'd still like to be straight on sway bars, since that could be something for the future. Am I correct that if I wanted to get everything necessary to add a rear sway bar to this car, I would need something like this kit
http://www.weaksauceparts.com/store/...roductid=18421
and these LCAs would have the mounting holes that the stock arms don't have?
http://www.weaksauceparts.com/store/...roductid=16234
If I get those parts, that all I'll need?

Additionally, would adding a rear sway bar and not upgrading the front one get the suspension out of balance? Should the front bar be replaced with a larger one when adding a rear bar?

Thanks