Honda Civic / Del Sol (1992 - 2000) EG/EH/EJ/EK/EM1 Discussion

Better power for the money: engine swap or purchasing a whole new class of vehicle?

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Old May 10, 2004 | 03:09 PM
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Default Better power for the money: engine swap or purchasing a whole new class of vehicle?

Alright, guys, here's the decision I find myself having to figure out.

I currently own a bone stock 00 Civic EX. I'm close to getting it paid off (I bought the thing for $9000 (and, yeah, I have a feeling I got ripped off, but whatever)).

My question is regarding either dumping thousands of dollars into this vehicle to make it more powerful or selling it and pouring the money instead into another car payment of another newer car that is, stock, incredibly faster than my Civic is.

So say I've already put $9000 into the car. If I work on this car, I am going to want to swap in a DOHC VTEC engine into it. I don't want to build an engine. I don't want to use FI on my d16. I want to drop a whole new engine into it with the probability of using forced induction later on.

To get to the point, what engine do I have to swap into my car, what additional modifications do I have to make, how much will it all cost, and what will be an estimated final horsepower total (NON WHP)?

Or do I instead sell my Civic and buy an Evolution VII?
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Old May 10, 2004 | 03:17 PM
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Default Re: Better power for the money: engine swap or purchasing a whole new class of vehicle? (m0dr0cker)

Well you will have to import the Evolution VII, because the U.S. only has the VIII Anyway, for the money you will spend on a car payment, it would be cheaper to make your civic faster than the EVO. The only thing, is that in the end your still in a civic and he's got the evolution.
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Old May 10, 2004 | 03:25 PM
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Default Re: Better power for the money: engine swap or purchasing a whole new class of vehicle? (ih8danoles)

How exactly is it possible to make the Civic faster than the Evo. That's what I want to know. Engine swaps, bolt-ons, forced induction, and the price tag for it.

I, personally, want to keep the Civic and work on it since it's much more interesting to do that. But not if it's going to be a money pit and I could have better performance with a stock Evolution.

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Old May 10, 2004 | 03:35 PM
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Default Re: Better power for the money: engine swap or purchasing a whole new class of vehicle? (m0dr0cker)

Either a B18c for about $3,000 or a B16 for $2,000 (you said you wanted VTEC).. Since you probably don't know too much about turbo's, a $3,000 turbo kit.. and $2,000 worth of suspension and brake upgrades would definitely do it. If you knew how to do a lot of the stuff yourself, you could probably beat one in a civic for half of that though.
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Old May 10, 2004 | 05:09 PM
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Default Re: Better power for the money: engine swap or purchasing a whole new class of vehicle? (m0dr0cker)

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by m0dr0cker &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">How exactly is it possible to make the Civic faster than the Evo. That's what I want to know. Engine swaps, bolt-ons, forced induction, and the price tag for it.

I, personally, want to keep the Civic and work on it since it's much more interesting to do that. But not if it's going to be a money pit and I could have better performance with a stock Evolution.

</TD></TR></TABLE>

spend 30k on a civic and it should be faster than an evo in every way...

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Old May 10, 2004 | 05:15 PM
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Default Re: Better power for the money: engine swap or purchasing a whole new class of vehicle? (degooser)

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by degooser &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

spend 30k on a civic and it should be faster than an evo in every way...

</TD></TR></TABLE>

yeah but it aint going to be nicer...

go with the evo, you can get them dirt cheap, and if you get a new one its got a 10 year warentee
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Old May 10, 2004 | 05:18 PM
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i say fix what you got... even if you do get a new car.. your just gonna end up suping that up too.. lol
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Old May 10, 2004 | 05:27 PM
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except if you supe up an evo it'll kick the **** out of suping up a civic. Not to mention most of the major mods such as turbo, dropping in an engine etc. require much knowledge, and require significant downtime for your car. If you're paying a shop to do all the mods you're DEFINITELY better off getting th EVO because it won't be any cheaper modding the honda to even come close to matching it's performance. Not to mention awd &gt; fwd. Anyways, long story short, unless you're doing all the work yourself, and can afford to be without the car for months at a time, buy the evo (I'd buy the evo anyways personally).
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Old May 10, 2004 | 05:27 PM
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Default Re: (jazz215)

EVOs are nice.

I work on them all day.

Much rather work on my own eg though. They aren't bad to work on, but it's no honda for sure. Oh, btw the clutch job on an evo is a bitch. 10hrs labor

i could do 3 or 4 clutches on my civic in that time
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Old May 10, 2004 | 05:45 PM
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Default Re: (Sketch_hs)

sell your car. get an old *** high *** mileage POS runniing 92 hatch with a good body. you can get one for like 1500$ swap in a c5 or gsr or k20a. upgrade the suspension and brakes. you're set
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Old May 10, 2004 | 06:57 PM
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you're still forgetting the key question... can he work on it himself? If not, what's the point of doing it? Get the evo if you can't work on it yourself.
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Old May 10, 2004 | 07:07 PM
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Default Re: (SFC)

$9000 for a 2000 Civic EX is not bad at all. i say swap an H22 and boost it.
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Old May 10, 2004 | 07:38 PM
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Default Re: Better power for the money: engine swap or purchasing a whole new class of vehicle? (m0dr0cker)

k20.....build with that
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Old May 11, 2004 | 05:19 AM
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Default Re: (SFC)

As far as working on it myself, yes and no. I personally don't have the knowledge to drop in an engine, but I know a guy who works on cars all the time (he did an engine replacement on my dad's Altima once) that I could use for help.

Indeed, the EVO is extremely nice and I wouldn't mind going into debt for awhile just to drive the thing.

ih8danoles says about $8000 more for upgrades that may, but probably won't, be comparable to stock Evolution specs. That's a $17000 total investment. I'm still missing horsepower numbers on all the modifications ih8danoles has suggested so I don't know a final hp number to compare to.

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Old May 11, 2004 | 05:27 AM
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Default Re: (m0dr0cker)

You'd be better off with an Evo.

New car, rust free, all new components, better looking interior, exterior, more power, better suspension... If you can afford one I can't see comparing it to a civic at all.... The choice should be an obvious one.
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Old May 11, 2004 | 06:42 AM
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Default Re: (Got Spoool)

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=785609
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Old May 11, 2004 | 08:00 AM
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Default Re: (turbogixxer)

1st or 2nd gen eclipse gsx with a 16g turbo upgrade and a few bolt-ons, high 11's all day
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Old May 11, 2004 | 08:05 AM
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Default Re: Better power for the money: engine swap or purchasing a whole new class of vehicle? (m0dr0cker)

How about something with a V8 and RWD?
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Old May 11, 2004 | 08:16 AM
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Default Re: Better power for the money: engine swap or purchasing a whole new class of vehicle? (bad93ex)

gsx is AWD and could smash a V8
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Old May 11, 2004 | 08:27 AM
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Default Re: Better power for the money: engine swap or purchasing a whole new class of vehicle? (ih8danoles)

i would fix up the civic... since it will be pay for soon and plus the insurance rate
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Old May 11, 2004 | 08:36 AM
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I don't know if you want to risk dropping a motor in it. Might get stolen.

How many cars are interchangable with a evo?
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Old May 11, 2004 | 08:37 AM
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Default Re: Better power for the money: engine swap or purchasing a whole new class of vehicle? (sohcMONSTER

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by sohcMONSTER &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">gsx is AWD and could smash a V8 </TD></TR></TABLE>


my gsx beat the **** outa v8's, and i stayed in 5th gear and pulled on hondas all day long, and they were getting on it, my car was stock btw
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Old May 11, 2004 | 08:37 AM
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Default Re: Better power for the money: engine swap or purchasing a whole new class of vehicle? (m0dr0cker)

i'd rather get the EVO VIII over a modded Civic EX
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Old May 11, 2004 | 08:38 AM
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Default Re: Better power for the money: engine swap or purchasing a whole new class of vehicle? (sohcMONSTER

i envy you beaterdriver....... i just want to drive one one more time
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Old May 11, 2004 | 09:12 AM
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Default Re: Better power for the money: engine swap or purchasing a whole new class of vehicle? (EGkwazhimot

"i would fix up the civic... since it will be pay for soon and plus the insurance rate"

This is true. Does anyone happen to have a guess as to what the insurance cost on an evo is anyway? I've heard that it's killer.

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