I've had my civic si for about 3 years now. I want to make some more power but don't know which direction is for me. I don't need to make crazy power, I like NA and I like boost. If i had a max goal it would be 300ish whp, lowest would be like 220whp. I daily drive my car so I need it to be reliable. It has the stock b16 in it now with 68k miles. I'm either debating on boosting the stock b16, a K swap or something like a oem ITR block and some aftermarket cams. I'm not too sure. I want it to be clean and reliable, and done right.

Any input or suggestions would be great!


Here's what my car looks like so you can see what I'm working with.

 

just keep the B16 n/a and build it, thats what gets my vote

 

keep it a true Si and keep it n/a

 

I would just work on the b16 and see what power you can get out of that.

But if you really want more power then boost the b16.

 

well 200hp is about all you can get maby a bit more on all motor but im the "keep it original (since it's a real si)"

 

A few of my friends told me to just work with the b16. And everyone else tells me to boost it. If I leave the b16 n/a, I don't know where to start

 

i boosted my em1. ill never turn back...

 

I can guarentee you that you will never hit 220whp with your b16 without forced induction and doing any type of N/A build is going to cost you a decent amount of money, as is a swap. The b16 is not a good N/A engine to build. It's torqueless and you're going to spend a lot of money building it N/A to make any power.

For MUCH less than the price of a swap you could turbo your b16 and EASILY hit 220whp RELIABLY. You just need to make sure that you find quality turbo parts and do it right the first time. Plenty of people daily drive their boosted cars.

Look around in your area and find a good tuner with a good reputation. Your b16 has very low miles and hopefully with those miles is still in great condition. I think you'd be very happy with boost.

 

Just boost it, you can make 300WHP on stock block. And it can be a daily driver with no real issues.

 

K swap- have fun spending all that money on the swap. lowest i've ever heard of a k swap going into a car and running for was 4 grand.
ITR swap- if your goal is at least 220 whp you're going to need more than just aftermarket cams to make it there, and you could end up running at like 3500+ once its all said and done depending how much you get the block and parts for.
the best option would be to do an N/A build or a small turbo. The N/A build on a b16 could have you looking at around 200whp if you get good parts and a good tune, which may not sound like much when compared to other cars and set-ups, but a 200whp N/A is more than enough for daily driving and you can still put the hurt on a large portion of the cars driving on the road.
If you go the route of a smaller turbo and go at about 8 psi on stock internals you would hit your 220whp "minimum" without much trouble. both the small turbo and N/A build will last forever if you dont do anything stupid, such as get a cheap, crappy tune, or try revving it to 10k and riding around all day in that rev range.

 

by the way, nice wheels

 

booooooooooooooooooooooooooooost but do it RIGHT and dont cut corners, it is an original Si.


N/A B16 is pointless and whatever power you do end up getting out of it, you wont be satisfied with it. THe gains arent that large.
Ride in a turbo B series car and Ill guarantee youll never wanna go N/A again.

PS: I daily drive my turbo Civic and its pretty reliable. If it helps, I **** on LS/VTECs, B16s, B20VTECs, etc with it and its a stock engine with only ARP head studs.

 

Oh and your car is SICK.

 

Yeah if he wants to spend a fortune.

 

ha exactly^

 

It'd be less than a k swap or getting an ITR to 220+ at the wheels unless he has insane hookups or plans on stealing parts

 

yeah but even if he spends that kind of money on just a b16 build it'll be a screamer but still no real power, maby swap the blocks and get more low end tourqe

 

yeah that'd make more sense. haha i'd almost feel bad for ditching an original 11 year old honda motor with 68k miles on it, thats rare as hell

 

yeah im with you^, i wouldn't scrap it or crack it open, just keep it alive or sell it to me haha jk

 

i'd say keep the original 68k b16 and boost it. head studs and a good tune. 7-10 lbs and reliable.

 

if it weren't an si, it'd say swap it. but since it's an si and i keep it real and build it! it would be completely bad *** if you went n/a, but i understand if you need turbo

 

Build a B20VTEC and keep the B16 stock and unmolested. So many Si's have been wrecked, stolen and swapped. Keeping the original B16 is worth something, IMO. A 220 whp B20V would run mid 13's on street tires and be a blast to drive.

 

this is true but it defeats the purpose of owning that motor if your not gonna use it, and dont boost it or build it maby just bolt ons but thats it

 

Keep the original motor in, like everyone else has stated it's a real em1. If it were me I would go towards boost, it'll be cheaper and easier and you could always up power really quick. Whatever you do, please don't wreck it.

 

please don't let it get stolen