I never thought there was such a thing as too much power but after buying this civic i have realized that without traction power means nothing. When i bought it the owner had it running on ethanol @ 496 whp. I wanted it changed to run on pump gas, he de-tuned it on pump gas to 419 whp @ 15psi on pump gas, said there's definately more to be had with timing and such. I haven't had a chance to run it on the track with the slicks on so my question is.... is 419 too much, too little or just about right for an eg hatch

 

I'm interested to hear some different opinions as well. IMO I believe that anything over 400whp is to much power for the roads. Now remember if its your daily driver its fine but if you try to boost your going to do no more then just spin tires. As far as track I really cant make a statement because I've never been passed 350whp but I would assume that as long as you can get traction regardless of the power your good(also depends on your goals).

 

350z is my dd, this is just another toy... my intentions are to drag race and have a little fun with vettes/vipers/ etc. from 60mph roll-ons. on street tires i'm spinning in 4th at 7k rpm's, i have a feeling a track and slicks are hopefully going to give me some traction in 2nd... hopefully

 

Are you speaking of your civic when you mention spinning tires or your 350z??

 

the civic of course.... the Z weighs 1000 lbs more and has 20 X 10's on the back, no traction problem at all

 

The problem with lot's of HP on the street is, your never really sure what the pavement is like, or what the other car is going to do.

Things happen very fast, at the speeds the car is capable of. Remember that chassis was not designed for the HP your putting through it.

That's one of the reasons race cars for roll bars and chassis work.

Just think about what could happen if things go wrong on the highway, think about the letters, RIP.

 

Everyone's opinion will differ, I have driven an 2400lb EG with 550+hp GSR geared on the street and a 2650lb Teg with 550+hp B16 geared on the street, its definately not the smartest thing to do but it can be done, you need to actually drive the car if you want it to go anywhere and not just lay into it and ride the limiter.

400whp shouldnt devestate 4th gear too bad, I would focus on getting the suspension squared out and throw some MT 235/60/15's on the car if you want to roll race and hook up.

 

x100000000000000

 

Everyone has good points so far. I think usually 350whp in an Eg hatch is good/borderline(on the street). But hey, 400 isn't that much more right? You should be able to still have fun with some radials up front on the street. You will probably lose to some things you shouldn't because of running out of road, but with good radials you will prevent this as much as possible. Slicks will hook with 419whp. What size do you have? We usually stick to a 24.5" since none of us put down over 500whp.

 

Be realistic. what do you really need for a daily driver. We get guys telling us they want to have a 500+hp daily driven car. They dont really plan to race at the track, just mainly for the street. That much HP is just overkill and more for just brgging rights to say you're making that much. A reliable, safe daily HP would be under 400hp.

 

i think tires are a major thing.. if you have shitty tires you will have traction issues no matter what... you have to remember your car also makes 350+tq...thats alot for a honda thats only making 420whp... Get those tires i told you to get... then youll see the difference...

 

daily driver civic.. 380-420hp is plenty. if the motor is built and tuned right it'll last a long time and there isnt much you'll run into on a daily basis thats faster.

a stock motor... 280hp on a healthy motor will last a long time and be very fun. you'll still get beat every now and then though.

 

Yeah 400 is fast for the streets

 

10 billion megawatts to the wheels

 

no such thing as too much power! its all about gettin it down

 

Ya for street 400 is worthless, if ur on track than id say go for more!!

 

i dead hooked 440whp in 3rd gear on the street... just depends on the car really..

 

you should be able to hook 400hp in 3rd gear on good street tires with out too much of a problem and not break parts... much over that and parts start breaking

 

An LSD helps a ton. I agree tho, 400+ creates serious traction issues without running 235/60-15s

 

I was dead hooking 550+ in 3rd gear when I came right off the dyno with an LS Tranny and some shaved 205 BFG DR's, swapped to a B16 tranny and couldnt hook 100whp less in the same gear, but with a set of 225 BFG's I could get 3rd gear to hook with a passenger and squeezing the throttle for a second at 450whp.

 

didnt on my friends car, he cut 1.60's open diff and with a quaife, still blazed every gear on the street.

 

its not about being right for the car... Its being about right for you...

Do you feel safe driving the car? Do you ever feel like your not in complete control?

basically you need to set a speed you wish to attain... Then upgrade your car to meet that goal... 419hp is useless if you cant put it to the ground...

BUt with a drag suspension setup, traction bars and boost by gear im sure that will aid in meeting your goal of a certain ET...

 

How did the car feel with 550whp and a LS tranny?

Did you still get good acceleration? Did you feel like you was in complete control?

 

honestly I had more fun lighting up street tires and leaving burnouts on the highway at 60mph than i did getting traction :p

 

With boost by gear I could hook~500ish whp on the street in 3rd gear with just b16 tranny, bfg's, lsd and traction bars. I think the most I could put down in 2nd was around 400ish. To start out with 350whp was nuts on the street, after awhile though anything less than 400whp was boring. There are people around here than run mid 600's on the street with boost by gear.