Both in terms of how much I'm expecting to pay and if they're decent upgrades. I'm on a tight budget, I'm really not looking to spend too much more over 1 thousand on these upgrades.

So basically, tell me if I can find certain upgrades for cheaper and where I should buy them. I know honda-tech is very knowledgeable, so if I'm getting my n00b *** ripped off by buying from some expensive online vendor, please DO tell.

Make recommendations as to different car parts, but don't recommend a more expensive part unless the difference is huge. I'm not even sure if I can afford this, so I may have to cut the short shift system in order to buy books for this year. So basically, just look these over.

1. Sony CDX-F7715X CD/MP3 Player w/ wiring harness and install kit - $203 (Ebay - 175 + 28 shipping)
2. Skunk2 Mega Power Racing Exhaust - $415 - (Ebay - 415 + 0 shipping)
3. GReddy SUS Header - $308.67 - (Online store - 280 + 28.67 shipping)
4. AEM Cold Air Intake with Bypass Valve - $217 (Honda-Tech sponsor - 175 shipped + 42 bypass valve)
5. Skunk2 Short Shift ****, Shifter, and Bushings - $144.89 (Honda-Tech sponsor - 144.89 shipped)
6. 4 NGK Spark Plugs and Premium Spark Plug Wires - $55.50 (Honda-Tech sponsor - 46 + 9.50 shipping)

 

Oh yeah, I'm driving a 1995 Integra LS SE

 

what i would do first is develop a power goal for your car, and purcahse the mods to support it. Are you planning on modding your car anymore after those parts? If so you may want to re-think.

I would skip on the bypass valve for the CAI, since your filter needs to be completely submerged for that to work. I would also skip on the spark plugs and wires, unless they need replaced. They dont really offer much of a performance gain.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by b18c1995 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">what i would do first is develop a power goal for your car, and purcahse the mods to support it. Are you planning on modding your car anymore after those parts? If so you may want to re-think.
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Good advice. Lay out a plan of what you eventually want to get to and then go from there. Outline your goals and budget and we can probably offer better advice.

 

uh, the filter on the cold air intake is significantly lower to the ground, and where I live, heavy rains aren't that uncommon (michigan). In fact, the other day I accidently drove through a good really deep puddle and I pretty much hydroplaned. I'm not taking that risk with a CAI and no bypass valve.

Also I heard that sparks offer a good performance gain for their price (only like 55 dollars for new plugs and wires, and you get more powerful sparks you get more powerful explosions right?).

My performance goal isn't something to take to the drag strip, but just stuff I wanna bolt onto my car for now just to make it a little quicker. I'm not going to get a super or a turbo, unless I win the lottery and can afford it, but then I'd sell my SE and buy a Type-R or something else.

 

Well my goals are just to get a faster and quicker car.

My budget is around 1000-1500 but I really can't afford around 1500, so with this setup I've got about 1300 in expenses. I can't afford new cams or things like that, so I was going with bolt ons.

 

I would skip the short shifter itself as it will really give you no perfromance gains and in the end could mess up your tranny/ The bushings are a good idea seem to help shifting alot smoother. I wouldn't get plugs or plug wires unless they are needed like mentioned above and if you do replace them get factory honda plug wires. I would consider another exhaust one a lil cheaper since that is also not going to give you much of an increase. Greddy header is a good choice though I would look at a jdmshit header I think they are a little less and actually perform pretty good. Just me 2 cents

 

anything more specific? where can I get factory honda wires, what exhaust do you recommend, and what's a "jdmshit" header?

 

short shifters do not damage trannies! i will replace every shifter on every honda i would ever own with a short shifter. they all feel like truck shifters to me now.

 

I honestly see no reason to change the shifter in all reality imo it really dosen't help you to shift any faster. I've seen numerous trannys screwed up by short shifters. It is a possibility though it does not always happen. You can get factory honda wires from honda where you can also get the factory plugs if you wanted too. I'm not sure how much power you wanted to make and how much you care about the sound of the exhaust but I would recommend the apexi world sport exhaust. Check out http://www.jdmshit.com for the header. Here is the exact link to the header http://www.jdmshit.com/ITRssheader/

 

I've never heard of a short shifter damaging a tranny, odd. You can get a decent SS for like ~50$, this won't make or break your budget. I love my SS, every stock car I drive now feels like 2 foot throws.

If you want a little more oomph out of the car, put your money on improving your breathing. I hear good things about jdmsh!t headers.

In your case, replace wires/plugs when they need to be replaced.

 

Okay, so how do I know when they need to be replaced? Also, can someone give me more detail about the jdmshit header? I see it's a 4-1 config and the GReddys are 4-2-1; is there a significant difference in performance? The JDM **** is a bit cheaper I believe

 

also the piping is 2.5", so it says i'll need a 2.5" cat but i think most of the exhausts I want to buy are 2.36 and I don't think my stock piping is 2.5 either.

 

kteller.com sells exhaust piping kits for very cheap, SS and mandrel bent. I bought a set of pipes and the muffler of my choice and built a great exhaust system for cheaper than the name brand stuff. Granted i cant weld and had to have an exhaust shop fit the stuff, it was still cheaper to go this route.

Also, the only way to get more "powerful" explosions is to add more air and fuel, the spark plug merely starts the reaction. So they offer very minimal to no gains unless your stuff is bad already. Id go with the platinum plugs only since you dont have to replace them as often.

 

well the main deal for me, now
is if I got the JDMSh!t header, it'd cost $240 which is $60 less than the Greddy. But Greddy's collector is 2.36", which is the same size of Apexi, GREddy and Skunk2 exhausts. The collector for JDMSh!t is 2.5, so it'd be bigger than my exhaust, and, I think my cat.

I was looking at cats, I can buy a pretty cheap one for like 20-40 bucks 2.5" on both sides, but if it's 2.5" to the exhaust piping and the piping is 2.36" it doesn't line up.

 

if you want cheap but still give a gsin in performnce get a megan racing header, they are like 120-150 on ebay and are actully a good design, just dont have a big name like greddy

 

Here what you should do imo.

Jdmshit Header (Proven Gains) Megan header good header very minimal gains.
Kteller 2.5" Custom piping for exhaust with high flow cat
Pick your muffler from Kteller
Aem Intake
New plugs and Plug wires pref honda stuff if you need them.

This should give you some good stuff with gains and you should still have a good bit of money left over to do whatever else you want.

Don't get me wrong greddy makes a good header and it fits your factory piping, but piping that small will be very restrictive on making any power. So I would definantly consider upgrading the piping size.... thats one reason I put what I did.

 

i think you might be better off with 2.25-2.36(60mm) piping. 2.5 could be too big for an ls with minimal mods.

 

but the problem is the JDMsh!t header has 2.5" piping. The exhaust system I want to get (Skunk2) has 2.36", so there'd be a bottleneck at the cat.

So Megan or whatever isn't a good header? Minimal gains? We got to take performance in accord to cost, too, because I can't afford to completely change over my exhaust system unless it's affordable. So Forsefed, you're telling me:

JDMshit Header
New exhaust piping and 2.5" high flow cat (Can I just get one off ebay for like 20-40?) with a Kteller muffler

For my exhaust system? So basically, just a 2.5" exhaust system?

 

it's ok. that's a really small bottleneck (.14"), but if it really bothers you, you can get a tapered cat.

 

Here is what you shoould do... skip the short shifter.. high performance wires... and expensive header. Look for a used DC sports or something(I got mine for 150 shipped)... then look and see what exhaust you like. Get a aftermarket cat to match them up too. For your intake... juet get an AEM Short ram intake. You can find them for like 80 bucks or so shipped and they make like 2 horsepower less then a CAI... don't have to worry about the water puddles either.
Pretty much, if you havent yet, replace your distributor cap and rotor, wires(with OEM equivalant) and spark plugs. Plus you might need a new fuel filter(spendy like 25 bucks). Just do a tuneup. That will help you a ton. Good luck though.
Oh, for your radio... just look on ebay or here for people selling theirs.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by LSvtec03 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">short shifters do not damage trannies! i will replace every shifter on every honda i would ever own with a short shifter. they all feel like truck shifters to me now.</TD></TR></TABLE>

haha, thats exactly how it felt driving my dsm after installing a short shifter in my integra lol.

 

anyone got a place where i can buy a tapered cat? i might just go with the JDMshit headers, tapered cat, used exhaust system (GReddy, Apexi or Skunk2) and an AEM short ram if it's that much cheaper. Also, where can I get those OEM wires and plugs, and are they really cheaper than NGK? Thanks.

 

the megan header will give a gain just not as much as say a comptech, spoon, ITR, ect header. For the money its a very good header, its only 150 shipped, i mean come on DC sports only give like 6 hp and they are in the 250 range

 

LOL..megan sucks