Quick and simple, here's my dilema. I want to keep my 5th gen as practicle as a daily driver as i can. I put about 150 miles per day on the ride and hate the cost of fixing everything that goes wrong when you start upgrading parts. Here's the question.....what are the top 5 mods I can make to my car, that will enhance the performance and longevity of the car?

 

AEM CAI, Cat Back, Header, Type S cams, VAFC

 

a GOOD header
a GOOD CAI
a GOOD but maybe quite cat back system
AND.... if used properly nitrous oxide can be a very reliable, inexpensive means of horsepower

but one of my suggested mods is not even engine related... SUSPENSION!!!

 

Exact situation for me too! It's not cheap making a Prelude fast, but I tend to stay with Honda or Mugen parts. Here is what I've done:

1. K&N Drop-in Filter $40
2. JDM Prelude Type S Air Intake $120
3. Mugen Radiator Cap $29
4. Mugen Thermostat $69
5. Mugen Fan Switch $45

That's the cheap stuff, now for the more expensive (but well worth it!) parts!

6. Mugen Header $975
7. Mugen Cat-Back Exhaust $975
8. JDM Prelude Type S Strut Tower Brace $190
9. Mugen (Showa) Suspension $1,300

High quality, reliable, but not cheap! I'm pretty much done with mods, but I might switch over to 5W30 Redline synthetic oil.


[Modified by jji106, 1:59 PM 3/22/2003]

 

jji106 are those all your mods? you didn't upgrade the suspension/wheels?

 

These are the parts currently on my car in the order they went on:

1. K&N Drop-in Filter
2. Mugen Header
3. Mugen Radiator Cap
4. Mugen Thermostat
5. Mugen Fan Switch
6. JDM Type S Air Intake

These are the parts still in the boxes:

1. JDM Type S Strut Tower Brace
2. Mugen Suspension

Parts ordered and not here yet:

1. Mugen Cat-Back Exhaust

I decided to stay with the stock SH rims. Hell, my whole car looks stock! I like it that way, subtle!

If I lived in a warmer climate or had a winter beater, I'd buy the Mugen body kit and get a set of 17" mirrorface MF10s with Bridgestone So3s, but I don't... So I won't! Besides, Ive spent enough money already. Do you realize that I've bought all this stuff since January of this year?

 

Free up the Intake and Exhaust..

AEM CAI
Mugen Header
High-Flow Cat
Cat-Back Exhaust
VAFC

and yes suspension is probally the best thing you can do to the lude..you will be amazed at how your lude will negotiate the corners

 

cheapest mod you can do to your car is to lighten it.

 

you can also try removing the balancer shaft belt.

 

did anyone forget about the timing?

 

since when does modifying the car increase longevity???? you know with performance cars... the golden rule usually is that you sacrifice longevity for performance. if you want your motor to last, do what honda recomends.... keep the car totally stock and do regular oil changes and services.
but, if your looking for a higher horse power rating... do what everyone is telling you to do. its all really good advice.

 

you can't adjust the timing on 5th gens. The ECU on 5th gens uses a "timing map", the timing is a function of the RPM and load to help performance over the rpm band. Unless you can hack the ECU code, your not messing with timing on a 5th gen.

 

ummmmmm......
nitrous
nitrous
nitrous
nitrous
i guess CAI, pullies, exhaust, VAFC.......

 

thats good to know... thanks for the info

 

98 Sh is obd2 ...so timing is sort of out of the question


i say a test pipe, remove balancer shaft belt, remove intake resonator, use a k&n drop in filter, remove weight where possible, and run synthetic oil


[Modified by stylinlude, 7:25 PM 3/24/2003]

 

Oh you can advance and retard timing..ha i said retard

you just need an aftermarket igniton like an MSD