eagarcia88

i have a 2002 civic ex coupe i wanted to know what should i install to get more power out of my d17?

eagarcia88

anybody help me ?

toyomatt84

iTrader: (1)

You'll want to wait more than an hour for responses, as this is a forum not a phone line. (General rule of thumb is 8 or so hours, before bumping a thread.)

As for an answer to your request, you'll want to start with the FAQ's here: https://honda-tech.com/forums/honda-civic-2001-2005-78/faqs-guidelines-read-before-posting-2101211/
(It's a stickied thread at the top of the forum, by the way.)

husyk

No cheap way to earn power from the D17.

Questions you need to answer:
1. AT or MT?

Most effective methods to earn power:
1. Turbo
2. K swap
3. Sell car for more powerful one

Traum

Here is a quick, easy, and *free* one -- get rid of as much weight as you can in the car.

Our ES1/EM2 is already as light as most cars can get these days, but if you are willing to make a few sacrifices (in terms of convenience), it can help you squeeze more performance out of the car.

Things like:

- no junk in the car AT ALL -- you wouldn't believe how much junk you could accumulate in the car
- ditching the spare tire and tire change kit
- only keep a minimal amount of windshield wiper fluids -- US cars have 2.5L while Canadian cars have 4.5L -- that's almost 10 lbs in the Canadian car right there!
- don't fill up the whole tank (of gas)

If you are hard core, you can start stripping things out (back seats, sound deadening material, etc.).

-Lik

justBrowsing

He hit the nail on the head, it's either turbo or k swap. You could spend a grand on intake, headers, exhausts, cams, and other cheap bolt ons but you'll only get a better sounding 1.7L and 20-30 hp.

toyomatt84

iTrader: (1)

Unless he bought K-Pro, 20-30whp is really not a feasible goal for standard bolt-ons. It's more like 10-15whp.

eagarcia88

thanks guys do you think 1000$ would be good to start

sol_searchin

EM2/ES1's aern't fast, to make them fast the cheapest would be turbo, K20 swap's are a bit more coin but more reliable. Personally if your unhappy with the pick up of a civic I would sell it and buy something more peppy, after all the civic is an economy car I'm happy that I save money on fuel lol.

UKDM_EM2

Your better off going for stance with an em2, set of rims, camber, full lip kit, tints and slammage etc.... then maybe an exhaust system and CAI for a lil sound....

I have owned my em2 for 3.5yrs and havent ever though of spending £500+ for an exhaust system due to it not being ethical or worth the 4-5hp gain you earn. im just rockin a short ram intake, that provides me with a lil engine note... Now im going for stance, just being really fussy about things...

like said above your not going to gain huge power from the d17, your best bet is a k20 ep3 or k24 accord type s swap then go k-pro with that... the d17 can be the expensive way to go slow....

drissn

you will not get any power out of bolt ons. all you'll get is sound, and maybe some gas mileage. you'd be lucky to get 5hp out of boltons due to the d17 ecu. If you want to get more than that, start with kpro. you're going to need it if you swap or turbo anyway...

toyomatt84

iTrader: (1)

Do some searching here on Honda-Tech for how much it costs to build a proper turbo or K-swap setup. It's going to run you $1,000 just to get K-Pro. So, to answer your question, $1,000 won't help you.

Traum

I forgot to ask -- what kind of wheels are you running right now?

IIRC, the stock alloy wheels are ridiculously heavy -- 22 lbs seems to be a number I have in mind, but that can't possibly be right since that weights more than some factory 17" wheels. But 15x7 Enkei RP-F1 is less than 10 lbs each, and 15x7 6UL is less than 12 lbs at $130-ish each. Shed the rotational mass, and the performance gains will be quite noticeable. Even when tires are included, it'll still fit under your $1000 budget.

-Lik

eagarcia88

i dont mind raising the budget some more but do think its worth it since my car has high milage im talking about 140,000 lol

UKDM_EM2

that millage is nothing....... just do a full service to start, all belts, head gasket, oil/filter, plugs... check all bushings/mounts/joints for diteriration etc....

get the car back to its original manufactures condition, then start to play.. that way you will have a smaller chance of finding things in the process.

MindBomber

You have two options with EM2s:

1. Spend $2k+ entirely on hp upgrades to have any noticeable increase in performance.
2. Accept that your car is slow and focus on the cosmetics, handling, brakes, sound.

I wouldn't build a d17.. if power was a huge concern I would go straight to K.

toyomatt84

iTrader: (1)

Considering I'm starting to put work in on my hatchback which has almost 300,000 on the clock, I do not see why 140,000 would be anything to be afraid of. As long as the car has been maintained properly, mileage is a non-issue. Replacement parts are out there for anything damaged, so it's not like you couldn't repair anything on the car.

husyk

Did OP mention if the car is AT or MT? If its AT you either have to do MT swap to use K-pro or get a good piggy back system.

Traum

As everyone knowns, the problem with high mileage cars -- even if they have been well maintained -- is that in terms of dollar value, they aren't worth very much at best, and worthless at worst. Why sink $4k's worth of upgrades / repairs into the car when it is only worth $2k? And then there is the danger of doing all that fix-up work for your car, only to have it written off in a minor fender bender accident b/c the insurance co. doesn't want to repair it.

-Lik

toyomatt84

iTrader: (1)

Well, that may be your view... but if you're truly modifying a car, you're going to cause it's value to depreciate. You'll never get face value on parts bought for the car in the return, if you choose to sell them separately or together.

That being said, it stands to reason that if the car is worthless, it's a better platform for modification (from a resale value) as it's only going to increase the car's overall value.

Traum

Matt,

I am not really talking about the mods causing the car to depreciate or that you won't get face value back on the upgraded parts. I am simply referring to the fact that I can't justify spending more $$$ on the car than what it is worth. For me at least, if the car is only worth $2k, why would I want to spend $4k on it to fix it up? It'd make more sense if I simply go out and buy another $2k car to replace the one that broke down.

Of course, that is a personal decision. Your view of fixing the car up is entirely valid as well as long as you can justify it.

-Lik

Curiouz_G

Crower stage I cam. Makes more power than I/H/E combined without any ECU management needed.

toyomatt84

iTrader: (1)

That's definitely one way to think about it. Where as, with a person like me, I can't not modify a vehicle. It's just something with my psyche preventing me from being okay with a car in it's manufactured form. Cost is irrelevant, as long as I feel I have made the car suit me better.

husyk

Dyno graphs or lies, I will see if I can notice a difference with my car by the end of week for I am getting Stage 1 cam installed.

MONEY888

The fast way too gain more power is NOS if your down with it or simply get a K series if you got the cash in hand fixing up that little motor is a no nO , step it up and K series it .