so, i have a '95 civic sedan w/ a b18b swap... i currently have:
-exedy stageII clutch
-2.5 catback
-cai

i lost against an integra gs...2x... i had a perfect launch and perfect shifting, he had exactly one car on me ie. his rear bumper was lined up with my front bumper, after second gear. and it stayed that way all the way to the end... he has the same mods if not less... i don't understand why? what can i do right now to get the edge on him? no stripping of interior, extreme advanced timing, forced induction... any boltons that would help? thanks

 

headers, highflow cat/testpipe

 

If hes not pulling away from you after the launch then its not a power issue, the difference sounds like the launch. Perhaps tires could be the culprit.

 

hmm.... good point about the launch, what rpm do you guys launch at? is 25 too much? or 2000?

 

Your launch speed will be determined by your tires more than anything else. You want to launch as high as you can while maintaining traction. IMO the best times are achieved with slight controlled wheelspin. When I had my 15" RE730s I could lose a bit of air in them and launch around 3k with good results, lower with the 17" kumhos, but I've upped the HP of the car too, so it's hard to fault them.

 

2500=booooooogggg, there's nothing wrong with launching at 3500 or 4k, it doesn't hurt to have a little tire spin, just gotta work on feathering the clutch. Your 2500 launch is probably your problem, try to launch at a little higher RPM and watch you be right next to him.

 

when i launch, i drop the clutch and just floor it... so is 2500 still too much?

 

It depends on your tires bud. Did you stay hooked up? Or did you get lotsa wheel spin? Did you feel the car bog down?

 

it actually DOES hurt to have wheelspin. the ideal launch would be one where you have no wheelspin whatsoever. try launching at about 5K and slipping the clutch out as you roll on the gas. it's hard on your clutch but it's usually the most effective way to launch a FWD car.

 

It certainly makes sense that any wheelspin at all would be bad. Just the same in my experience the very best times are nearly always accompanied by very slight wheelspin, and yes a good launch is all in your left foot.

 

Theres a million different launch techniques. No ONE method is right. Just do whatever works for you. But 2500 is low, and you deff are bogging.

 

i have yokohama z-rated, i have never ever even considered launching at 4 or even 5, that seems absurd to me... the reason being i always drop the clutch... if i launch at 4-5k that's over half my power from first gear from the getgo isn't it?

 

u launch at 2500? you should launch higher. like around 3000+. the civic and integra doesnt have too much of a weight difference between the two. the civic is lighter but not by too much, so dont expect to have a big advantage over the integ.

 

The weight difference was only about 100lbs before switching to the B18b motor, so it's not going to be any factor at all. What about gearing? You still have the stock Civic tranny? Which tranny?

 

Launching at 5-6 can work, but I doubt you'll get away with just dumping the clutch. As far as power band goes you'd have to shift almost immediately on the B18B to avoid bouncing off the limiter, but I shift from 1st earlier than the other gears with my GSR and 9300 RPM redline. I get better results by shortening 1st and shifting at 7.8k ish. Every other gear I shift just prior to redline. I suspect allot of people do this, since redline comes up very fast in 1st and bouncing off the rev limiter is painful to your 1320 ET.

 

The 2.5 inch exhaust is hurting you - too big. 2.5 for 180hp +

It's making your power band narrow.

 

i had an auto but was converted to a manual after the swap... i think i'll try launching at 3-35 and slip the clutch and see how that helps... i'm gonna need practice because i usually just dump it at 25... hope this will work...
also, the reason why i had 2.5 custom catback done was to leave the option open for a turbo upgrade. i was running my civic lx exhaust w/ the ls motor for a long time... i'm sure it was overly restrictive. thanks for the info bros.

 

in regards to an ls tranny ,Y80, i found the specs:

gear1: 3.230
gear2: 1.900
gear3: 1.269
gear4: 0.966
gear5: 0.714
final drive: 4.266

which gears are the strongest ie) pull the hardest? because if it's first gear than i would want to rev lower and utilize the full powerband, is that correct? third doesn't feel that strong for me. what are your opinions?

 

what size piping is on the Apexi N1 catback for a '98 GS Teg?

 

2.36"

 

ive launched at 5500 with little tire spin but that was with azenis and a lsd...