Ok a little background on me. I have always loved American muscle cars, my last car was a 2005 mustang that I had completely fixed up, so I am not new to modifying my cars. Early 2013 I was T-boned at an intersection and needles to say I lost my car. Now in mid September 2013 I decided to buy a Civic as a daily commuter for work and school, I ended up purchasing a 2008 Civic LX coupe with the little 1.8 fellow under the hood, I had absolutely no intention of modifying this car. That is until now so first thing is first my goal: I want to focus more on the suspension of the car, I want it to handle better and look good doing it lol, and I also want to to do two basic engine mods, 1 being an exhaust, 2 being an intake, and that should be that while I get through school.With my experience with the mustang I do know how to make a car look good and handle good as well, the issues I am having is what to do with the exhaust. Would it really be beneficial to have a 2.5" tubing from the muffler to the cat, or should I just leave the stock piping cut out the resonator, add a new muffler and call it a day? also once I add the exhaust and intake would it be necessary to re-flash the ECU to adjust for the proper air/fuel ratio? This was necessary for the Mustang, but I have heard that not so much for the Civic?! I'm still new to the whole Honda scene, so please be patient with me haha, every day that I have this car I'm falling in love with it more and more

 

I would suggest trading it for an Si, but if you love your car too much, I'm not going to argue with you I can't remember if the LX trim comes with VTEC or not, but Jackson Racing did come out with a supercharger that gives the R18 some pretty nice torque, but seeing that you're in school, that might be a bit out of your budget.
To be completely honest, upgrading the exhaust on that car is mainly just going to make it loud and the power gains will be minimum. I would say focus on the suspension more and turn it into a fun track car.

 

Thank you for your input, and as much as I would love to trade this car in for an si I am still making payments on it and as stated before, yes, I am still in school. Really what I am looking for is to just allow the engine to breath better I am not trying to get 300 whp out of it. A good looking, sounding, handling car is what I am after. With these areas addressed I think this will be a really fun commuter car that I can be happy to look back at while I am walking away after parking it.

 

exhaust and intake won't gain you much interms of HP... even if you do a full exhaust with headers that engine wasn't designed for making power but for fuel efficiency. So getting the most out of that engine will be very hard.

Also you will need to get that computer flashed with Hondata Flashpro which you will need to purchase. After that you will need to get it tuned.

I think honestly this would be money thrown away as the gains will not be significant to justify the amount of money these parts will cost plus the tuning!

Honestly if I can give you my personal opinion I would just get a catback exhaust and that is it. Focus on upgrading your suspension to a full quality coilover, get a bigger rear sway bar (or the one off of an Si), camber kit, upgrade your brake pads to Hawks HPS and get some nice wheels and tires. Next just have fun... it's the best way for you to enjoy something without breaking the bank on performance parts and tuning that will give you at most an extra 15 hp and even at that...

 

Thanks so much for your opinion, what you said is exactly what I was thinking about. So the plan is Apexi N1 style muffler and I'll just do the step down from the 2.5 outlet, so it will fit stock piping, cut the resonator out, and just throw in a drop in K&N filter in the stock air box (mostly for the re-usability) and I'll do full Eibach sways, and springs, paired with a good, if possible, adjustable shocks/struts, tint windows, throw on some 18" wheels and call it a day

 

That will sound like @ss and draw unwanted attention from the cops. Either do it right or don't do it at all.

Not sure about the 8th gen cars, but I'd look at borrowing exhaust parts from the Si or seeing if the HFP muffler will fit.

Why 18's? They are going to kill performance, drag down mpgs and ride like crap.

Your mods remind me of some kid who reads ricer forms on the internet (or Super Street magazine).

What you are doing is a complete waste of money (besides the suspension, which will vastly make the car more fun to drive). Why don't you just get through school and leave the Civic close to stock and save your cash? Then you can get something more performance oriented and perhaps time will teach you a bad mod from a good mod.

 

Bagahahahahahah. Wow!!!

 

Todd00 is right about a few things...

One the Apexi N1 wills sound like crap because its a loud obnoxious exhaust. I would get something like the HFP exhaust and get it welded on it has a nice deeper tone but not loud enough to get you any attention from the cops. A lot of Si guys have them and will sell them when they upgrade!

18 big and they will make acceleration suffer a lot! I would get 17 instead and run a 215/45/17 tire.

As for sway bar you don't need to upgrade the front one as you want it to be small. It's the rear that you want to ticker so it will help to rotate the car better. I would suggest the progress 22mm over the eibach!
http://www.progressauto.com/products.../productID/441

Don't forget really important you need to get a camber kit or else you will be eating tires within 4 months!

Also look at get a coilover kit instead of piecing out a suspension combo.

 

Thank you for your input, I can see logic in your info. As far as Todd00 goes whether he was right or wrong that's not for me to decide, I don't agree with and don't appreciate his post. Granted yes this is a public forum and everyone has the right to voice their opinion how they see fit, but too assume that I don't know anything? to use a derogatory term such as ricer? Todd00 knows nothing about me, my knowledge, or my background.

Now can you Explain in a little more detail on the thicker rear sway? I am used to higher HP rwd cars and it was always the o posit, we wanted a thick front sway and the thinner one in back. The sway bars or anti roll bars are intended to keep the car flatter through the turns, or in other words keep the body roll to a minimum if not completely eliminate it. Coil overs and cambers? I don't see the benefit of having it on a street car, I'm not looking to slam my car on the ground and I probably won't see the track in this car ever so the ability of fine tuning the suspension + camber + the price tag associated with such a set up, just doesn't make sense to me. A good spring paired with the right adjustable shocks/struts would make for a much better handling car without having to go all out and pay out of the a$$ with the coil overs, a good wheel alignment should be ok with what I have planned. Now as far as the 18" wheels go, will the acceleration suffer? Yes it will!!! Now will the car be able to turn them over? Yes it will!!! its a matter of preference, what I like to do on a STREET car is pair it with a set of wheels and tires that complement the car, something that looks like it belongs it must flow with the car in order for it to look good. I have seen some civics with 18 they look good if its the right wheel I have seen 16-17 wheels look awesome on these cars, but again it must be the right wheel/tire combo. The only reason I would go 17 or even 16 is to be able to have a little more side wall on my tires, because hitting a pot hole on the frwy with a rubber-band of a tire is no fun.

 

As for the wheel size well that is you preference and I won't argue... but like I said I wouldn't go for it my opinion.

The thing about springs and shocks vs a coilover kit is that a lot of time the drop isn't even all around. So having the ability to adjust each corner is a plus. Although since you aren't planning on hitting the track maybe you can skip it.

Why a camber kit because no matter what adjustments you make to the car in terms of drop will create too much negative camber which will wear out your tires unevenly! Camber kits are used for 2 reasons, one being to adjust for better handling and two to avoid excessive tire wear. Usually the inner side of the tires will wear out fast leaving you will a lot of thread on the outer side and nothing on the inside.

Rear sway bar... reason for it being thicker is because fwd car under steer just like rwd over steer. So you are wanting to help the rear end to rotate more so you go with a thicker bar in the back and keep the small one in the front. You are basically doing the opposite you would do with a rwd.

As for Todd00, well i have known him for many years know and although he may come out strong his advice usually is spot on. You have to understand that we have see these sorts of post a million times and know the usual ending. We both have our way to explain or reason with the user to try and make them understand that they aren't doing things the right way.

I will say this Todd00 has a lot of experience in the Honda community and once you soften up to him he is a really cool guy. Plus he has a lot of experience suspension setups as he did a little racing in the pass not sure if he is still doing it. In my books, he is a good guy!

 

Well like I said in my first post, I am completely new to civics and fwd cars period, I asked a couple of simple enough questions and the responses although I am grateful for them were simply these cars don't make power, trade it in for an si, really only point of an exhaust is sound, etc. so I focus on having a slightly better handling car that looks and sounds good. Seems simple enough, this car will still be my daily driver, it won't see track time, I am looking to just improve on it enough to make it a little more fun.

As far as Todd00 goes I never said, or assumed he was a "bad guy" I don't know him personally and I won't judge him off of one post, I simply don't agree with how he came across. If he has the knowledge that you say he has than instead of coming off so abrasive, he should share that knowledge in a way that teaches the newbies the "right way" simply with one post like his most others would be too embarrassed, shy, or simply pissed off enough not to come around this corner of the web. Just like everyone else on public forums, this is just my opinion

 

Yes, we all see these questions time and time again. After this long, it gets hard to sugar-coat a reply. You may be new here, but many of us are not. We see these mistakes time and time again and they are usually by young kids.

Would you rather hear the truth or would you prefer that we all say how good your ideas are?

You have a 140hp Civic. Modify the positive aspects of the car, such as its handling. It will never be "fast" and 18's will only serve to make it slower and less economical. Also, an N1 style exhaust on your car won't sound good. It'll be louder, but louder does not always mean better.

If this car is meant for daily driving, I'd look at the HFP suspension kit, Si rear swaybar and an HFP axle-back exhaust. Wheels are up to you, but personally I would go no more than 17's. That will make the car more fun to drive, handle better and sound slightly better as well (which is your goal, right?). You could top that with an intake if you are looking for more noise...but unless you spend the cash on the Hondata reflash...you really aren't getting anymore power out of the car.

You posted the question and got your answers. Just because you didn't like them--it does not mean they are not true. We see this all the time and it is saddening to see things like N1 exhausts on Civics buzzing around the streets making nothing more than noise. N1 exhausts were originally designed for all motor cars on tracks that don't have db limits. For some unfortunate reason, this fad caught on for street cars.

It is your car and your money though. Do what you want--you don't need our approval.

 

Tod00, Thank you for this second post, it is much appreciated and and I can respect how you portrayed your opinion the second time around, And for what it is worth I agree with the 17's being the biggest wheel to put on this car after much thought and looking at the car with the stock 16's I agree 18's would be a little too much. I truly do appreciate your opinion.

 

See if you can find a used Invidia Q300 and have it welded on it will have a nice sound!

 

Would there be any benefits to cutting the resonator out, or will it simply just make the car louder? And thank you for the advice I'll see if i can find one

 

In your particular situation I wouldn't cut the resonator out.

I would just find a Q300 exhaust or HFP exhaust and have it welded on. The Q300 has a deeper sound then the HFP which I have currently but changing to soon to something else.

Remember deeper and loud do not mean the same thing... the only time a loud exhaust sounds nice is when it's on a race car because it has all the supporting hardware to make it sounds great! Or then that you want a nice deep sounds cause you want to be able to enjoy the sounds and not get fed up of it!

 

Thank you, I'll keep that in mind