I'm completely new to working on cars at all. Eventually want to turbo and engine swap and make this a long term project car. However for now...what are some things I can do to increase the torque on it. Sooooo slow upshifting after a red light and sux having to wait for a huge gap in traffic BC I know its so slow I can't get up to speed fast enough. Thanks guys!

 

The first step to improving power on the D17, would be to turbo it. Bolt-on's don't really provide a quantifiable performance gain. In all reality, though, it's best to just save for a K-swap. The D17 is a pretty weak platform, all-round.

 

Thanks for the reply bro. Well ya I'm sire a turbo would be upwards of a grand and I'm sure the kswap would be right around the same ballpark. Used to have an RSX s type but didn't seemto be that fast cause my friend said the body was heavy. Anyway I really can't afford either of those options at the moment. My complaint is when I'm at a red light and it turns green I feel like a grandma upshifting up to speed and same like I was saying with trying to turn into traffic. I have to wait for a huuuuuuuuggggeeee gap since I can't get up to speed quick enough. That's torque and not HP right? But there's like no alternatives to getting around that?

 

I'm telling you from experience. Unless you're willing to beat the crap out of the D17 by using NOS until it pops, there's nothing you can do short of a turbo.

A good turbo setup will be closer to $2,500 if you want it to work right (tuning will cost you a grand by itself). And, a K-swap is closer to $3-4k, depending on how talented you are with a wrench.

 

Man oh man that's expensive. Thank you for your honest opinion so the turbo will be 2500 including tuning or 3500 with tuning? Also will a turbo mess up my engine on a d17? And if I had to pick one which would be better? Turbo or engine swap? My friend told me he did a b20 on his integra and that might work on my civic with right engine mounts. But I have no idea about cars so idk. My head gasket is leaking so gotta replace that and my friend said to replace water pump and timing belt while I'm at it. Said its a good car and will last a long time. I already replaced radiator but it looks like it might be leaking oil and not sure if that would be coming from engine. Guess I need to have a full diagnostic on it. But cool I guess when I stack some money instead of getting a new car I'll either get the turbo or swap whichever you think is more worth it. And lastly...will it really be a huuuge diff? Like haul *** or just be pretty powerful or what exactly? That ks in advance bro!

 

$2500 would be with tuning, if you're good at sourcing parts.

I wouldn't bother with turbo'ing a D17, as in the grand scheme of things it pales in comparison to the performance potential of a K-series. Will you notice if you swap to K? Umm... that's unquestionable, as long as you have a K-series that isn't broken. You won't be running down Ferrari's in stock trim, but you won't have a problem getting off the line. Even a stock K20A3 will be a huge difference.

B20's won't work legally, nor does anyone make mounts for this chassis. Please see the FAQ's thread for more details.

 

I drive the dread d17 engine, and I love the economy and reliability. When I do my 100k service and adjust the valve lash there is a noticeable improvement in torque. Not enough to impress your friends maybe, but if you just bought a civic that lacks the normal pep, that'd be the first thing I'd do.

"If God doesn't make junk, why would Honda?"