I'll cut straight to the chase. I've been wanting to work on my 91 dx for some time now, but I've always been on a budget. My experience working on my CRX will not be for street credit, but experience for when I move to another car (after college).

My girlfriend has a 2006 c230. It's an amazing car to drive. It's sporty, comfy interior, amazing sound system, but it's V-6 seems lacking at 201hp. Don't get me wrong, it's more than double of what my car has, but I think I can turn the tables.

She was "playing" with a 4th gen maxima (190hp) and was getting beat in every pull (yes on racing). My statement of "looks like he had you" didn't go over well. Her defense was that she was always unsure if she should (fear of ticket) and thus started late. As a last ditch effort she put my car in it's place and said that I was jealous (me being the car enthusiast)

Call it stupid, call it prideful, but I want to at least be able to stay at par with her car while learning how to work on a car engine.

I'm thinking mini-me/homemade turbo kit, but I need to research the pricing.

Any other input is appreciated.

 

Looking into ZC+tranny swap with homemade 14b kit

Or MPFI+14b kit

/

 

you just need to get a d15b2, an si transmission, and some good tires. do those things..and you can beat her easily.

whatever you do, dont race her in the dx.. cause youll lose horribly.

even an mpfi swap with a si trans on the dx will probably get you pretty far. and thats like $300 and a day's worth of work.

 

So you recommend mods but say "not in your chassis"?

 

not quite.. dont race your car as it sits.. put an si trans and atleast mpfi in your car, and youll have a fighting chance. with a d15b2 or zc, youll have even more of a chance, and with a properly tuned turbo setup, youll beat her easily.

the only problem is that its gonna cost you a lot of money for all these mods.. and if you havent done much wrenching before, they may not be the most straightforward things to learn.

a b16 is a great platform to start with, and youll probably beat her out of the box with it, but it will set you back about $2k for the ful swap.. more if you take it to a shop to have it done.

good luck

 

Haha that is one of the funniest reasons I've heard to get an engine swap...to beat the girlfriend!

...although I gotta say I'd be all over that too. Ya just can't have your girlfriend smokin' you in her ride.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by djphonics &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Haha that is one of the funniest reasons I've heard to get an engine swap...to beat the girlfriend!

...although I gotta say I'd be all over that too. Ya just can't have your girlfriend smokin' you in her ride. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I almost would rather stay perfectly lined with her than beat her. As of now I'm going to mpfi+zc trans once I start getting money in. I don't know if I should do a while swap for 15hp over the mpfi conversion.

 

Is it proven that the Si tranny is that much faster over the dx tranny? I know the final drive is shorter on the si, but I dunno. I've driven both and never noticed a huge difference. My brother has a dx tranny and I have an si tranny and neither pulls on the other, and the gearing seems to be about the same.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by HBK &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Is it proven that the Si tranny is that much faster over the dx tranny? I know the final drive is shorter on the si, but I dunno. I've driven both and never noticed a huge difference. My brother has a dx tranny and I have an si tranny and neither pulls on the other, and the gearing seems to be about the same.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Only difference is the final drive gear wise. But every little bit helps and they're what...$100? ($175 from hmo)

 

difference in si vs dx is huge, in my opinion. my GF has a stock dx, and i a relatively stock si, and i hate driving hers because it accelerates soooo slow. my car accelerates like a madman.. obviously testimonial isn't proof, but the final drive difference is ALL the difference. 92 hp vs 108 hp deffinetly is not the whole story.

the other issue is big wheels. if you rolling on 17's or something in an si, you are deffinetly not going to notice a difference vs a stock dx.

my friend, who is a very knowledgeable mechanic always tells me my car is "curiously fast", and i dont have anything done to it. stock d16a6 block and head with ebay intake +k&n filter, and dynomax muffler and a chipped ecu with a bone-stock pm6 map and launch control. none of these things are good for anything more than maybe 5hp total. i waste the crap out of his 91 prelude si with the weird 2.1L b21 engine, which has 140hp.

the guy that can tell you the details on the difference in transmisson is Tyson. he is on this board and knows the transmission information pretty well, to be able to tell you difference in acceleration all that or point you to somewhere that you can calculate the difference yourself.

 

i agree that the transmissions are very close, but when you do the math the si transmission with the final drive is a better transmission for pure acceleration purposes. that is if you are all motor. a dx tranny and final drive is very good though if you are planning on eventually going turbo. however, as stated above, if this is your first project, turbo is costly and not always fun. any boosted car is much more maintanance than an all motor car, lots of money and time go into it running properly, and tuning is key.

if you need help with transmissions pm bense. he knows his **** about transmissions. good luck with the project, and beatin the gf. lol

 

first off... your girl is retarded for buying a C230, let alone even considering a C class. i mean that in the nicest possible way.

second... a C class is buying into a name-brand (Benz)... but getting none of the respect, performance, or luxury from the true MB cars. a C class is on par with a Camry... the 4 cylinder Camry.

third... your CRX need not much to out perform a C230. at 3500lbs... add a driver, and you got a 3650-3700lb car motivated by an anemic 2.5L V6. 201hp is barely shuffling this vehicle around. Your CRX at 2300lbs would need maybe 120whp to help the C230 see your taillamps at every possible straightway and corner.

Fourth... averaging at $28K... there are plenty of better cars out there. G35 Sedan or coupe is just one.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sanimalp &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">the other issue is big wheels. if you rolling on 17's or something in an si, you are deffinetly not going to notice a difference vs a stock dx.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

I have Fat 5s<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Driven &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">first off... your girl is retarded for buying a C230, let alone even considering a C class. i mean that in the nicest possible way.

second... a C class is buying into a name-brand (Benz)... but getting none of the respect, performance, or luxury from the true MB cars. a C class is on par with a Camry... the 4 cylinder Camry.

third... your CRX need not much to out perform a C230. at 3500lbs... add a driver, and you got a 3650-3700lb car motivated by an anemic 2.5L V6. 201hp is barely shuffling this vehicle around. Your CRX at 2300lbs would need maybe 120whp to help the C230 see your taillamps at every possible straightway and corner.

Fourth... averaging at $28K... there are plenty of better cars out there. G35 Sedan or coupe is just one.

</TD></TR></TABLE>

You are too funny. But alas even with mpfi, and i/h/e I dont think I can see 120whp without starting on a ZC base. I'll probably keep the dx tranny. ~4k freeway cruising is already kinda annoying for long trips

 

just throw a wet 100 shot on it and call it good. I ran 14 sec with a auto d15. thats got to be faster than her car. I probably ran 50 10 lb bottles before i had an issue ran out of fuel and smoked the rings.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ChickenH &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">just throw a wet 100 shot on it and call it good. I ran 14 sec with a auto d15. thats got to be faster than her car. I probably ran 50 10 lb bottles before i had an issue ran out of fuel and smoked the rings.</TD></TR></TABLE>

mpfi + goodies is at least somewhat functional (more so the first)

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Driven &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">first off... your girl is retarded for buying a C230, let alone even considering a C class. i mean that in the nicest possible way.

second... a C class is buying into a name-brand (Benz)... but getting none of the respect, performance, or luxury from the true MB cars. a C class is on par with a Camry... the 4 cylinder Camry.

third... your CRX need not much to out perform a C230. at 3500lbs... add a driver, and you got a 3650-3700lb car motivated by an anemic 2.5L V6. 201hp is barely shuffling this vehicle around. Your CRX at 2300lbs would need maybe 120whp to help the C230 see your taillamps at every possible straightway and corner.

Fourth... averaging at $28K... there are plenty of better cars out there. G35 Sedan or coupe is just one.

</TD></TR></TABLE>

i have to agree. after working on Benz's for over a year they def. suck
also... i have a b series for sale. it'll def beat the girlfriends car

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Slow *** EF &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

i have to agree. after working on Benz's for over a year they def. suck
also... i have a b series for sale. it'll def beat the girlfriends car </TD></TR></TABLE>

How can you generalize that all MBs suck? And a B-series could take it, but not for less than $1000 like I want to

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by TehMoonRulz &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You are too funny. But alas even with mpfi, and i/h/e I dont think I can see 120whp </TD></TR></TABLE> Pssh, I pulled an even 113/113 out of my D16A6 on a Mustang Dyno, with just bolt-ons and with a stock exhaust. Did I mention it was 102 degrees when dynoed? And I have to agree with Driven for every word he has said except for the fifth word in the first sentence, we try to say "Genetically Disadvantaged" around here.

 

def c230 sport SuperCharged 1.8L A/T is slow! my friends mom has one, but nice for parking lot DORIFTO when the supercharger kicks in!! and great for parking lot pimpin

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Serdar &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">def c230 sport SuperCharged 1.8L A/T is slow! my friends mom has one, but nice for parking lot DORIFTO when the supercharger kicks in!! and great for parking lot pimpin </TD></TR></TABLE>

This is a 2.5L V6...

 

yea boiiiiiiiiiii go with a home made turbo kitttttt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!, best bang for the buck and you will beat her foR suRe.

Dont waste your money on any other mod, honestly unless your going to get a b18, dont even bother. The only problem with a turbo kit is that you said you were on a budget and your a college student so im guessing you need a reliable car, and a turbo car is never 100% reliable.

 

lol, i know how you feel. my wife drives an evo. she looks damn sexy in it though!
notice the flowers hanging from the rear view mirror.

 

Im going to MPFI i/h/e and see where that gets me, even if it is dead even she'll get pissed and off her high horse

 

damn, im glad i dont have to keep up with an evo.. that would suck.

good luck, and keep us updated.

 

yea i did change it to mpfi i forgot about that. I could never get that car enough fuel at the right time. I could have gotten bigger injectors and fuel pump and some kind of engine management. but at the time i thought of it as junk compaired to my saleen. these days though a crx with 40k miles on it is a little hard to come by. so i regret not doing a better job on it before it burned down.