I've wondered about what consequences one would run into with upgrading the engine. I've heard that if one upgrades the engine to too much the transmission will suffer more abuse and there is probably some reliability issues that will pop up. I have a 2000 Civic coupe 5-speed stick. D16Y8 engine and stock tranny (don't know the transmission code).

 

i dont understand your question the stock tranny can handle up to 500+whp

 

Are you even asking a question? What kind of mods are we talking here?.


These cars are not bullet proof.

 

I'm not sure if D series motors are even capable of burning through a D series transmission with out doing some serious modifications, such as complete motor rebuild and or a good sized turbo. Whenever you do any performance modifications it always impacts the reliability of your car, depending on how good of an installation job is done and how big of a modification it is. Now your clutch on the other hand will need to be upgraded in accordance to the modifications done to your car.

 

D-series trannys start shredding gears at around the 350 - 400whp mark. For what they were designed for they're extremely tough, but they wont handle 500whp without at least a handcuff unless you're driving really easy. Diff and final drive is definitely the weak point.

 

Meh, if you abuse it, you can kill it with a quickness.

My friend bought a 95 hatch with a z6 swap it in (trans too) and it failed the next day.
It literaly locked up, car wouldn't budge. Had to take the axles out just to get the stupid thing to move.

 

Well, if I was to upgrade the engine I don't think I'll be going past 230hp at the most. I mean, I'd mostly do basic upgrades like exhaust, intake, and the such at first. Maybe later on some more mechanical upgrades inside the engine like headers.... But it's good to know the D series trannys can take a lot of abuse. I mean, my car has nearly 139,000 miles on it of completely normal driving (previous owner was first owner and an older gentleman) as far as I know. I just want to make sure I'm not going to run into some big problems in the near future. I'll most likely be doing suspension upgrades and strengthening first, though...

 

In the words of Biggie:

Mo money, mo mods, mo problems

 

You have A LOT of reading/researching to do. To get 230whp, you need to turbo the car. Intake/header/exhaust will at most add 10whp. The D-series engines respond well to boost, and not naturally aspirated mods.

The transmission will be fine even if you boost the car. You are far away from that as you still have to educate yourself on how to mod/tune/improve a car. The header is not inside the engine either. It's external and is a bolt on.

 

I don't think you've heard this anywhere. I think a lot of assumptions and misinformation on your part. Read the link in my signature and those in the FAQs to educate yourself.

 

 

D16y8 tranny's are one of the best d series tranny's to handle higher hp because of the steel fork instead of the aluminum in earlier tranny's like the z6

 

Steel forks are overrated IMO. They just bend instead of breaking, and they wear. I've only seen one aluminum fork break yet. On the flip side every single Y7/Y8 tranny i've pulled apart has had a 3rd/4th fork worn past the service limit.

 

See, this is why I love this forum! People actually know stuff. And yes, I know I have a TON of research and learning to do.

 

D series transmissions are still fairly easy to find, just get a spare.

People mate the H and B motors to the D series transmissions for shorter gear ratios. Needless to say, Honda made some strong manual transmissions. Automatics however, not so much.

 

I honestly want to keep the engine NA. I want to make my car a sleeper. It's like.... submarines. I love subs because I kind of like the idea of sneaky warfare. A sleeper is sort of like that: looks stock, but can kick ***! Obviously, I need to do some more reading, but what kind of mechanical mods can be done to the engine besides intake, exhaust, etc.?

 

If you plan on leaving the D series engine in there, the answer is nothing. You will have to extensivley modifiy the engine (internals). At that price a B18C1 swap will be cheaper to do.

So if you want to stay NA than you need to buy a B18C, B18C1, or B18C5. There is no cheap/easy way to go fast. Cheapest way to go fast with your current motor is to turbo it.

 

im sorry but NA on a d series is a waste of money u will get maybe 160WHP 5k dollars spent and be slower than everything on the road and loud as sh*t

 

Intakes and headers are not mechanical internal engine parts.

I'm trying to imagine an N/A D-series with 230hp...

 

Well, maybe 230hp is extremely optimistic, but I wouldn't mind a little extra kick when I hit the throttle. Moving away from horsepowers, how could I increase torque? I realize it'll involve lower gas mileage, and I expect it. What kind of things would increase torque in general? (low end, high end, both, whatever)

 

A b series

 

we know its not what you want to hear, but listen to the people that have seen 10k dumped into a d-16 and had the doors blown off by car with a 2k turbo kit and half-done tune.

this is the just of it, with the d series, its turbo or go slow and chug up hills. as said before, if you are dead set on N/A then a b is what you want.

also just an FYI, dont believe what you read on the descriptions of the parts for the d-series.... the 10-15hp increase for a header is more liek 3-5 tops. everything is liek that... 2 or 3 hear and there, no real "uncorking" like on most other cars

 

You don't.

 

As mentioned, Honda basically already pulled all the power out of that motor.

If I were you, I'd swap. In fact, I did. I have a 98 EX coupe.

But tbh, the best thing you can do is slow down on the mods and just read for a while. I know peeople who upgrade looks and interiorand even suspension first sometimes get looked down on, but it's better than making expensive or fatal decisions regarding your engine.

 

that's what i'm doing. appearance and things like that first. get it how i want it to look then decide what i wanna do to make it fast.

OP, don't go NA with a D series. if you want the sleeper look, look up an H2B (h22 with B series tranny) idk what your budget is, but you're better off swapping instead of trying to make a fast NA D series. if the H2B is too much for you get a GSR motor/tranny and put some bolt-ons on there.
what's your budget?