I have a 98 civic dx. I bought it stock and did some mods. It came with 17" wheels and changed to 15's. I added a CAI aem v2. Megan header no cat and axle back exhaust. Have mid pipe but haven't put it on. Idk if I should. Exhaust gets raspy at 3k rpm idk if it's because of that. Already did all matainence. Anything else I can do. Idk what might be hurting or helping and y? What's the diff of a WAI and CAI. Why one over the other and what are pros and cons of removing my ps belt? Thanks for any advice.

 

Are we talking about MPG or intakes?

 

What is your average gas mileage (miles/gallon)? How many tanks have you been through?

List the maintenance that you've done.

 

Talking mainly about mpg but had the questions Bout the intake incase that mattered. I live in the desert where temps now are about 115 but the best I've ever got was 34 and recently it's been about 25. Mainly city driving. Been through alot of tanks.

 

Please answer the maintenance question in post #3.

 

Auto or manual transmission?

 

You drive a dx so you should already have good mpg. If your civic is a manual shift at lower rpm. I know the dx doesn't have a tach but you can still hear he engine and base your shift points off of that.

 

Ya it's manual and I have a tach. I usually shift at like 3k. Will removing the ps belt help.

 

Perhaps, as it would take less drag off the engine. However, driving w/o p/s is annoying, to me at least. But if you don't mind then go for it. Oh, and don't just remove the belt, remove the pump too.

 

driver mod, easy on gas lots of coasting in gear while coming to stop. Go 1-3-5 with lots of cruising in 5th. Note if you have your foot off the gas with the car in gear you are using no fuel. Shift early and get it into 5th when you can.

 

You took off the catalytic converter and expect good mpg? Put your intake, header and muffler back to stock. Only mod I would do is a K & N reusable drop in filter. Run a CAT please.

 

What he said^^^ aftermarket intakes/exhausts are good for better engine performance but unfortunately only make a difference after roughly 5000rpm in a Honda like yours, anywhere under that your getting less MPG than you would with a stock system with a good drop in filter and a cat.