em2_blk_01

Hi:

I am completely new to import tuning. Can anyone give me crash course? How to go about it? what are important components to upgrade? Torque vs HP? Best cars (but cheap) to tune. What does it mean "forged pistons"? what do they do? What good is a strut bar? how do dampers help? .. i know too many questions.. :-)

but any help will be appreciated.

Thanks

Vantage

Tuning is USUALLY classified as a way to manage the engine. IE. Fuel/Air mixtures, spark and all that good stuff.

You seem to have a loootttt of questions about power for your car, and all i can really say is... Its gunna cost you WAY to much money to make an auto fast. If u are already tight for money, and thats the reason for sharing cars( as u said in ur last post) then you more than likely dont have enough $$$ to make your car quick keeping it auto.

Every component has its up's and downs to upgrading. Price is a common down factor, but others do exist. For a d17, i personally think there is NO good components to upgrade unless ur going turbo or nitrous.

As for the rest of the Em2 chassis, you can upgrade to strut bars ( see bottem of post) Dampers ( coilovers,springs,struts), sway bars, brake rotors, brake pads.

Forged pistons are a way of making the piston using the forging process. This makes metals a lot stronger than regular casting, as well as lighter. They are usually used for HIGH boost(turbo) applications, and will yeild MINIMAL gains to a Naturally aspirated car( no nitrous/turbo/supercharger)

A good strut bar for the upper front is the Neuspeed, a good one for the up rear is a megan, and a good one for the lower rear is Progress, DC, megan there are many others.

By dampers i believe you mean Suspension.

There are a FEW options here

By FAR The best but most expensive are coilovers. most range in the $1000+ range. They are a spring/shock combo and are MADE to work near perfectly with each other. They are also high adjustable

Coilover sleeves - Kinda cheap -these are JUSt height ajustable coil's. NO SHOCKS/STRUTS INCLUDED. These can be used with stock shocks, but will DEFINATELY hinder the performance.

Springs - Cheap - a spring give you ONE rideheight. they can drop anywhere from 1" - 2.25" depending on Make/model. These again dont come with shocks/struts. Aftermarket shocks/struts can be purchased and will work well, but once again if u keep the stock shocks you performance will be limited.


Please go through A LOT of threads on this forum. Most will have information you can learn from.

My BIGGEST advice is.. ( no offence intended) since you are a newb to honda tuning, DO YOUR HOMEWORK, there is nothing worse than buying a product and having it work crapily.

Feel free to post questions as often as you like, but make sure you use the SEARCH funtion in the top right corner. If u ask a question that has already been asked a bunch of times u WILL get flamed.

Good luck and welcome to H-T

fventura03

iTrader: (1)

xtheenderx

oh btw, tuning isnt about just going fast bcuz that'll get u nowhere. its about expressing yourself through your car asthetically pleasing to yourself and others. there is no right way of tuning because everyone has different tastes so find your own style and not just copy others. take different styles and create your own. if you like it then keep it, and if someone doesnt like it, who cares?? its not their car so do what you want. have fun in the process too!

pr0jkt

say word son!!!!

devani

Well that means watch more Fast and Furious movie...

em2_blk_01

Hey B18a_CRX Thanks for the detailed information.

Sorry couldn't reply sooner as my account is limited right now. I appreciate all the info. you provided. Curious though our "coilovers" a whole set of components that create the suspension system or they are just a individual product.

Also is there any way to change gear ratio (i am trying to say how quickly your car shifts) in an automatic?? so there is quicker pick up.

Thanks to everyone for there input.

Vantage

First ill answer the gear ratio question.
You could theoretically change the gear ration's but it would be to much work/expensive for a regular person.

As for the Coilovers.

Coilovers are just the RIDE part of the suspension, they will control how fast your car picks up bumps/ stiffen the body during corners and other stuff. They replace the stock springs/shocks.

To stiffen the chassis of the car during corners you will want to buy strut bars.

To help with under/oversteer and stiffen everything u will want sway bars( i think all my info is correct, other people let me know if its off my suspension knowledge is very slim at best)

Curiouz_G

in a auto, im sure there is but no one on either 7thgencivic or this forum has done it before. even though gears are cheap on most cars, the R&D for new gears for a auto tranny wouldnt be. ive pondered that question myself but hey, its just a daily driver. my s2000 is going to be my real car in a yr or two

em2_blk_01

okay first of all i read in my other post from curiouz_g "ems" i hope from my understanding that means "engine management system"? and also i hear all this about psi which i know is air pressure (right??) what does that have to do with its effects on the internal walls of the engine and how do you get it? (i think i phrased that right) .. i mean i know turbo's run at some level of boost and psi is the measure of that boost but how it translates into plain english ... i don't know.

how many kinds of k series motors are there? and which one would be adequate price ranged for a moderate budget?

Vantage

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tanoli &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">okay first of all i read in my other post from curiouz_g "ems" i hope from my understanding that means "engine management system"? and also i hear all this about psi which i know is air pressure (right??) what does that have to do with its effects on the internal walls of the engine and how do you get it? (i think i phrased that right) .. i mean i know turbo's run at some level of boost and psi is the measure of that boost but how it translates into plain english ... i don't know.

how many kinds of k series motors are there? and which one would be adequate price ranged for a moderate budget?</TD></TR></TABLE>

Psi = Pounds Per Square Inch, its a unit of Flow that meansure's ( for cars) the amount of air FORCED into the intake manifold, by a turboor supercharger.
Turbo's are like a small fan that forces air into the intake. Intakes suck as much air as they can, while a turbo/super FORCES increased volumes of air into the engine.

The reason for an engine management system, is because with this increase in airflow causes the engine to run lean ( not enough fuel) so u need an INCReASE in fuel to accomidate the increase in airflow.

Boost levels are set using a wastegate, or a boost controller.


For a list of K series engines, go to the Stickied thread at the top of the page. I made a list of every possible Kswap that can be swapped.

Engines can range from 800-5000 depending on model. Installation is expensive and so is Kpro(the computer required to run a K-series engine)

Sean DM

ebay
you will fall in love with that name

em2_blk_01

okay i was talking to a friend and he said that it is legal to have a turbo installed in your car. Than how come i can't have one in mine? (i understand from some of the other posts that there isn't one for the d17, but what about a k-series motor??). I mean turbo being illegal .. does that mean that if i put one in mine i can't drive it anywhere except on a track???? so no giving that sti standing next to me a run for its money?? i mean than what is the point of it?

I am sorry i have to stay away 'cuz of this post limit thing put i have so many questions... i know to some of you they might appear amature ... but i am the new kid on the import tunning block ... and b18a_crx buddy i never figured out how to get to that thread that you stickied to the post .. help with that too please. I am interested in swapping the motor but should i do a transmission swap first?

xtheenderx

u should stick with your transmission for now. if your planning to kswap just do the transmission swap when you get your new engine. a moderate budget engine would prolly be the k20a2 aka the rsx type-s motor. as far as turbo, most are illegal due to emissions control. the amount of chemicals your car releases is restricted by state law depending on what they see is reasonable or legal.

Vantage

Turbo's are illegal in all states/provinces. You must check out your LOCAL laws for this one. I know in California there is NO legal turbo kit, but here in Canada everything is legal as long as is passed smog testing.

There are about 4-5 turbo kits for the d17a. The best being a dezod ( but its also top $$) it can be found at http://www.dezod.com other turbo kits can be found at http://www.turbo-kits.com

Here is the link to the K20 engine post.

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread/1759092

As for the auto to manual swap, it will be POINTLESS to do this if u eventually want to Kswap, because u need to use a Kseries tranny for the Kseries engine, therefore all teh $$ u just spend on a manual D series tranny is a waste.

em2_blk_01

B18a_CRX thanks alot man. The thread is owesome with information on all the k-series motors. I checked the k20a type r motor around 5500 bucks .. ouch .. but i guess i better start saving and putting aside.

Once i do buy the motor where would be a good place to get it installed? no experience in this so please recommend someone good.

thanks

Vantage

sorry dude, i have no idea. I live a LONG way away from u.

I'd keep asking around here to see if anyone knows of a GOOD local installer in ur area.

K20a's are a little expensive IMO, and not worth the $$. Id go k20a2 or k24a2

Curiouz_G

hmm, you live around my area. there are plenty of places to get installs but it would just cost you.

Borokazan

Just don't go revving your engine around cops and they shouldn't hastle you too badly for the turbo. I've had experiences with SR20DETs and never once got asked to pop my hood. Drive cool.

em2_blk_01

okay how do you go about engine swaps? Does the engine you buy have the transmission with it? what about the radiator and all the other stuff thats attached to the engine? will a civic 01 stock radiator and fuel system work with a k24a2 or k20a2 motor? also what is the method of detaching all the existing wiring and hosing from the current engine from my civic?

Last but not least if i install a turbo that means i gotta take it out when time comes for emisssion inspection right?? and secondly if i am driving carefully like borokazan said than i won't be bothered with ??

Its just i want to be able to get good power out of the engine if i am going to invest in it. And oh what in the world does "em2" stand for? i know i've read it only about 100 times but don't understand what it means?

Curiouz_G

EM2 is the chassis code for your coupe. and as for driving carefully, VA cops are **** as hell. oh and emissions you'll have a tough time passing. i did. all i had was a SRI and cat back exhaust with a stock header and cat. but sometimes things work out for the best

Vantage

its damn hard to pass emisions with a turbo, ive seen it done but it requires a LOT of work, and a lot of expensive tuning, that if u cant do urself is $$$.

U really need to start searching man, everyone of your questions has been asked before.

em2_blk_01

sorry for some reason i haven't figured out how to use this search feature i type kswaps and it returns nothing i try to put in emissions+turbo and still doesn't go .. may be i am quering it wrong .. but i'll attempt. What is a good book on learning about swapping motors .. i hope this hasn't been asked before.

Vantage

There are good books, but none for Kswaps.

for the search, u want to enter something like

Search For: K-series engine swap

Forum: 2001-2005 Civic

Search in: Post Bodies

Data Set: Archived


and then hit NEXT in the bottem left.

Curiouz_G

or you could click the FAQ