Bought this Si off a friend from college two years ago with 33,000 miles on it. I now have 95,000 miles. I drive the thing 200 miles a day. It is a blast.

It came with a SRA and cone filter. I change the oil religiously and have added a DC sports header (kept stock cat) and a Greddy Evo2 cat back. Neighborhood kids stole the front lip and tried to get the rims. My dog likes thieves. I haven't had any more problems.

I want to, well I have no idea what I want to do. I don't want to make it look ridiculous. I am 36, married, with 2 kids.

I want to keep it naturally aspirated, NA, right? Not a big fan of turbos. I need reliability and know if it had a turbo I would blow it up quick.

Where would one find the specs for a Type R? What exactly does this mean? I see kids running around with Type R badging.

Any help appreciated.

 

man 200 miles a day is alot of driving...if i was you i would probably leave the damn car stock because of how much miles you put in daily.. but if you wanted to go NA i would suggest getting I/H/E and CTR/skunk2 camshafts and ecu upgrade..then dyno tune.. you should get good power with those..

 

Wow, lots to learn. I don't even know where to start...

Being an Si you need more than the factory Alarm system to keep it safe. Locking lugs are good for protecting your wheels.

For "not making your car look ridiculous" this is the site for you. The majority is all about function over form. Any wild aesthetic mods are usually inexpensive and miniscule. Take a look in the appearance and cosmetic forum once you get a chance.

If you're looking for more speed/power it's always difficult and exponentially more expensive to go naturally aspirated. My buddy Anthony has been running a homemade turbo kit on his 97 hatch for 4 years now. Turbos are plenty reliable compared to N/A setups when the tune and boost/build is right. A good turbo kit can be put together for ~$1000-$1500 Tuning can be free with Crome software.

Other than that, keep up on your oil changes and basic maintenance. Before you mod do research here first, look at other users trial and errors with products and upgrades. Welcome to H-T.

EDIT: If you can afford it, I would buy a daily for your commute (I.E. $2000 grandma's dx hatch from the early 90's.) And mod your Si, drive it at home, weekends and on your days off.

 

Ideally I want to get the new SI Sedan and keep the Si Coupe for a track/twisties car. Won't know if that is doable for a few more months, so was looking to just toy around with the coupe.
Tint and lowering kit soon. Do you guys think coilovers or no?

 

I/H/E = intake/header/exhaust, right?

 

ya thats right

 

you are correct!

 

def lower it,but not to much,coilovers ftw(for the win)..... U need to turbo a b16 to get power but thats the way it is

 

if you 2 kids and you need reliability ...just keep it n/a .....i/h/e!

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">...ftw (for the win)...</TD></TR></TABLE>


<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I/H/E = intake/header/exhaust, right?


ya thats right</TD></TR></TABLE>


aw look at the h-ter's being nice...good to know there are still some good people on here...

 

If you're going to get coilovers get the best. Eibach ground control. You can find them used for ~150-200 or new for $250.

I've never liked coilovers, so I just bought H&R race springs. Top end spring. But I don't get adjustability. Keep in mind, even with adjustable height, you'll have to get an alignment each time to adjust height. Another reason why I got springs. If I want to change my height, I just trade my H&R races for H&R sports or tein s-techs. They all have about the same value.

 

get a quiet exhaust like a apexi world sport, espeially since you have kids. WS is the quietest exhaust ive had besides the rs-r i had on my gsr.

type r motor swap is definitely not worth the money (somewhere between 4-5k) IN MY OPINION to gain like 30-40 hp. you could do it the cheap way by getting any integra block to get a little more displacement. ls, gsr or type r, ls block would require some extras to get it to work with the vtec head.

good luck on your quest for more fun.

 

Eibach Ground Controls and KONI yellows FTW
Cheap and reliable around 800 I believe.

 

will never understand the reason for buying a spring shock or coilover shock combination for 800+ when you can get NICE damper kits for a little more money if not the same amount. i paid well less than 800 for my ksports and couldn't be happier.

 

Thanks guys, good info. I am going to leave it pretty much stock. Seriously thinking of lowering it an inch or an inch and and a half. I drive in NYC everyday so don't want to bottom out, any suggestions?
I had 17's on it for about 400 miles, but bent a rim. The car came with the rims, so I was only out the price of the new tires. Live and learn.

I am thinking tint and a lowering kit and then just ignoring every ricer who tries to get my goat.

 

H&R sports on ebay.

intake manifold and cai.

stock exhaust

 

two best exhausts in my opinion is anything made by thermal R&D (except the 3 inch cause that's for turbo guys), and the RSR ex*Mag system is excellent.

With miles like that stock is best. No car will be as reliable as one that rolled out of the factory, period. But once you get two vehicles and car start playing around, you're gonna wanna go fast, and then faster. It's like a drug. Cheapest speed you can get for it is nitrous, but most will say it's the most dangerous. Personally a supercharger sounds like it may be right for you because they don't need a whole hell of a lotta upkeep and if you're smart with them they can be pretty reliable (same goes for a turbo set up, but that requires a little more work in my opinion).

 

This is why this site is bad influence. You have a perfectly good running car, and now with all the suggestions people make you will do things you're going to wish you didn't do to it.

I used to have altezzas and clear corner lights and thought i was the ****...this website turned my car into the biggest money pit I'll ever own because i let it get to me.

Having a beater is such a bad idea....keep one car and be happy with it, or upgrade to that Si you talked about, selling the EM1 in the process.

 

I have thought about nitrous, and would definitely get a supercharger before a turbo. The more opinions I hear the more I think I am going to just dump money into my TJ (jeep) and leave this thing stock.

What is the difference between intake and intake manifold? I have a short ram air. I know a CAI is longer and lower ( near the fender). Is an intake manifold different?

Thanks

 

the intake manifold is the part of the intake after the throttle body that is bolted onto the cylinder head by 8 bolts. An intake is simply referring to the tubing leading to it.

CAI are notorious for causing hydrolocking and i would advise staying away from them.

 

Just gotta be careful where you drive.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Boostedb20EH2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Just gotta be careful where you drive. </TD></TR></TABLE>

x2 and did anyone say bypass valve?

CAI's are harmless to the right drivers.

 

A lot of things in general aren't so bad if common sense is involved. A little goes a long way. It's when you don't think ahead that things break and you wind up spending a ton of money.

 

I hear H&R springs on some KYB AGX's w/ 2 setting on F/R drive pretty close to stock with good handling. I believe it was the H&R sport. With the right piping an ES tuning muffler sounds nice and can be quiet. Also the cops will lay off because it looks fairly stock (not a huge noticeable canister)

 

you're a family man, and you've already had problems with people stealing ****.
my complete, honest opinion is to put the car back to 100% stock and leave it alone. i mean COMPLETELY stock....go back to a stock intake box, stock exhaust manifold, stock exhaust. this will also help the vehicle hold its resale value. IF you end up buying the Si sedan later on, THEN mod the '99.....until then, stock sounds best for you.