on my 97 dx auto the throttle body sits straight up and down, but on every other civic ive ever seen in my life the throttle body faces off to the side. what is the reason for this? why is it different for this car?

 

Honda uses 2 styles of throttle bodies, down draft (like yours) and side draft.

 

it depends on the engine, doesn't matter what type of tranny it is.

D16Y7, which in this case, should be your engine, has the down draft ones ..


if you want to swap to a side drafts one ..
here is a link: (thanks those guy who created it, I just copy&paste)

http://www.makuragi.s5.com/civic_99/Y8maniswap/