Hi, I've been driving my civic for about 2 years now, and I am now looking forward to changing things up a bit. The car has 90k miles on it, and hopefully I can a lot more into it. With that being said I was thinking about putting in new headlights like one of these two: http://www.ebay.com/itm/1999-2000-HO...-/301128648910 or http://www.ebay.com/itm/99-00-HONDA-...-/400606718845 which one do you guys think would be better. The next customization I was thinking could be a lip kit, but I really don't want to spend more then $60 USD on that. Possibly a new exhaust tip under $30. Let me know what you guys think, and I am always open to cheap performance enhancements, too.

 

Don't buy cheap *** parts from knock off companies. Save some money and buy quality stuff otherwise you will be buying it anyways when the cheap crap breaks/leaks/fades.

Figure out your goal and you budget for your car and go from there. If you are doing a purely cosmetic build then there is the appearance forum, this is the tech forum.

 

How much horsepower will an exhaust tip net you OP?

 

Exactly, 0.200394680390955553232112324559098567 HP

 

I'd hate to say it but there will not be any "Cheap performance enhancements" for your car... Anything like an Intake or an exhaust will do nothing for your car besides add noise.

Personally... my suggestion would be the same as doctorake.

 

Well........you can gut your exhaust, remove your airbox get rid of those rims, lower your ride for better aero dynamics, lose the a/c and p/s to gain some hp by freeing up the drag on the crank pulley. you can remove the alternator too but you'll need to jumpstart your car every time you need to go somewhere.

 

^was that a joke

 

og rice. cut the roof off, save weight.

 

Lose the rear doors too

 

Tint the windows that always looks nice

 

A trans from a D16Z6 or D16Y8 is a good upgrade. And after selling your Y7 trans, that comes out probably around $50. It will do more for your enjoyment and the car's performance than any bolt-on.

 

is the gearing that much better?

 

just take off those RIMS! wheels, and get some si rims wheels , in my opinion!

your car looks very nice and clean, try to get 99-00 tail,

here https://honda-tech.com/forums/appearance-build-threads-122/conversion-97-civic-ex-coupe-si-clone-3193259/

 

Significantly better. It's similar to the gearing of a 94-01 Integra LS/RS/GS/SE. Non-Vtec D series gearing is so bad.

Your MPG will stay about the same. Around town, it might even improve since you wont have to be mashing the gas quite as much.

The next most effective mod for a D series would be a VTEC head. The D16Y8 has 21 more HP than the Y7.

So for the cost of about $250 for a trans and maybe $200-300 for a head and T belt components, you could have large improvement in power and accerleration as compared to stock. You could then recoup some of your costs by selling your old parts.

Beyond that, you'd want to turbo it. There aren't any bolt-on's that are worthwhile on a D series.

 

I'm already half way thru rebuilding my d15 head, I couldn't find a good replacement head for a reasonable price. I'm fixing it, doing an intake P&P w/ a z6 intake, 16 valve replacement and valve grind. But driving the car, as soon as I shift, even at redline it sucks getting back into the curve. I figured it was because of the misfire but I wouldn't be surprised if its the long gears too.

maybe ill look for a z6 trans, I want a spare anyway incase my EH9 auto blows up.

 

That won't work. The 96-00 sedan uses different tail lights than the coupe. The EL tail lights, however, will work.

 

I think he meant to get 99-00 sedan tail lights. They updated in 99, IIRC.

 

Yet the thread he linked was about SI tails. They were updated for 99-00, but the change is minimal - the white section moves from the bottom to the top