I'm wanting to turn my 2002 accord into a decent sleeper, but I'm not exactly sure where to start. I know it has an f23 engine so I'd probably have to end up swapping that because I've heard it doesn't do well with turbo, but what other things should I focus on upgrading to give it good launch and acceleration? I'm not too concerned about top speed, I'm mainly just wanting better acceleration.

 

Is it manual or auto? You'd want it to be a manual transmission as the first step in any sort of build that you are looking at.

 

J swap it

 

It's auto sadly, but would that really make that much of a difference?

 

I don't think I could fit a J into my engine bay. I was thinking of swapping to a F22 if I were to do that

 

Yes. Your model accord is known for having very weak auto transmissions, so the moment you start adding power, you are going to reduce reliability.

You can't even begin thinking about boost (turbo etc) without a manual transmission.

That is step 1

 

That’s a good point I didn’t think of that. I’ve definitely noticed the crap transmission though cause sometimes just shifting up a gear can take like 5 seconds

 

Yep. My advice would be this (from experience of being in your position about 15 yrs ago)

If you just want the car to sound better, keep the stock intake but swap the airbox for a cone filter. It'll sound great accelerating and make you feel like you are going faster than you actually are.

Then you can begin pricing out the cost (parts and labour) of a manual swap, or a complete engine and transmission swap and decide if it is worth it to you. There are definitely cheaper ways to go faster now on the used market ,but if you like your accord it may be worth pursuing.