getting some more performance from my honda

i'm new to this site so heres some info. i have a 1990 honda civic lx . its
the first car that i'm trying to get some extra performance out of. so far
i have a bigger catback exaust, a k&n filter. a neat little gadget from a
company called rapid velocity, that attachs to the o2 senser on the intake
manifold which fools the computer into thinking the air is colder than it
is and therefore it increases the fuel mxture and gives me some extra
horses. it works quite well! now this car is my daily driver so i want
some more perfomance but i'm not going to spend a fortune on it or get it
so highly tuned that it becomes finicky. my next move is some bigger
rubber which i already have a line on. but i was considering a high
performance flywheel. can anyone tell me how much difference does a light
alloy perfomance flywheel make ? also looking at a header to go with the
catback exhaust. any other low cost tips on getting some more juice from
my honda?? thanks

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gitnfastr wrote:
> i'm new to this site so heres some info. i have a 1990 honda civic lx . its
> the first car that i'm trying to get some extra performance out of. so far
> i have a bigger catback exaust, a k&n filter. <SNIP>

-----------------

If you're not planning to keep the engine too long anyhow, the K&N
filter might be an OK modification.

http://home.stny.rr.com/jbplock/ISO5011/SPICER.htm

I've walked away from a Honda I wanted because it came with a K&N (and
the compression was bad).

'Curly'

gitnfastr wrote:
> i'm new to this site so heres some info. i have a 1990 honda civic lx . its
> the first car that i'm trying to get some extra performance out of. so far
> i have a bigger catback exaust,

cop magnet. spend your money on the motor first - cops can't see that.


> a k&n filter

will ruin your engine. and it sucks hot air from inside the engine
compartment, not "cold" air like advertised.


>. a neat little gadget from a
> company called rapid velocity, that attachs to the o2 senser on the intake
> manifold which fools the computer into thinking the air is colder than it
> is and therefore it increases the fuel mxture and gives me some extra
> horses. it works quite well!

that's bogus - you're wasting gas and contaminating your oil - simply
putting your foot on the gas increases mixture. and it's a temp sensor,
not o2 sensor.


> now this car is my daily driver so i want
> some more perfomance but i'm not going to spend a fortune on it or get it
> so highly tuned that it becomes finicky. my next move is some bigger
> rubber which i already have a line on. but i was considering a high
> performance flywheel. can anyone tell me how much difference does a light
> alloy perfomance flywheel make ?

makes zero difference to output, but means you can shift slightly
quicker. it comes at the price of lumpy idle - not something you want
in a daily driver.


> also looking at a header to go with the
> catback exhaust. any other low cost tips on getting some more juice from
> my honda??

yes - other than finding the [slightly larger] si front intake tube,
forget all that aftermarket intake crap. spend the money on a
performance cam. even the si cam, something you can get from a junkyard
easily enough, will make a difference. best of all is the zc cam which,
if you're lucky, you can get from a junkyard as well. i got mine for
$30 and it's good for at least 10hp, with no other mods, even with stock
dpfi.

if using those cams, being as you have the d15 block, you'll need to fit
an adjustable cam timing gear. the si and zc cams need to be advanced
5.5 degrees because the deck height is different between the d16 motor
those cams come from, and your d15. when swapping cams, don't forget to
buy new plug tube seals, top and bottom. you can buy new "race" cams
too for ~$300 which compares very favorably to the cost of buying
headers and intakes, and yields more power. but surf your local
junkyards first - or just fit the whole new zc motor - you can buy them
from jdm importers for ~$400. not legal for smog in california, but
they work very well. don't buy what may purport to be a zc cam from
ebay - good chance it won't be genuine as there's no way to tell
differences other than by measuring the cam profile, and you need
special gear for that.

other than that, make sure your ignition system is in top shape -
replace the cap and rotor with new oem, use ngk or denso iridium plugs,
[don't get sweaty fingers on the white insulator] and get coiled core
plug leads like magnecor. also, consider replacing the ignition
condenser if your distributor still has one - they degrade over time and
reduce spark energy.

oh, and final thing - if you're going to do any of this stuff, make sure
your brakes are in top shape and buy the best tires you can. it's not a
rewarding experience to spend a bunch of time and money on going faster
if you can't stop or corner and wrap the car around a tree.

"gitnfastr" > wrote in message
lkaboutautos.com...
> i'm new to this site so heres some info. i have a 1990 honda civic lx .
> its
> the first car that i'm trying to get some extra performance out of. so far
> i have a bigger catback exaust, a k&n filter. a neat little gadget from a
> company called rapid velocity, that attachs to the o2 senser on the intake
> manifold which fools the computer into thinking the air is colder than it
> is and therefore it increases the fuel mxture and gives me some extra
> horses. it works quite well! now this car is my daily driver so i want
> some more perfomance but i'm not going to spend a fortune on it or get it
> so highly tuned that it becomes finicky. my next move is some bigger
> rubber which i already have a line on. but i was considering a high
> performance flywheel. can anyone tell me how much difference does a light
> alloy perfomance flywheel make ? also looking at a header to go with the
> catback exhaust. any other low cost tips on getting some more juice from
> my honda?? thanks
>


More performance? My '07 V6 Accord EX-L leaves rubber if I hit the
accelerator too hard at a red light. A kick down when passing zooms me
around just about anyone-- the way I remember my 50's and 60's muscle cars
doing...

And I get 30 mpg on a highway trip. Hard to beat that in my opinion...

"motsco_" > wrote in message
...
> gitnfastr wrote:
>> i'm new to this site so heres some info. i have a 1990 honda civic lx .
>> its
>> the first car that i'm trying to get some extra performance out of. so
>> far
>> i have a bigger catback exaust, a k&n filter. <SNIP>
>
> -----------------
>
> If you're not planning to keep the engine too long anyhow, the K&N filter
> might be an OK modification.
>
> http://home.stny.rr.com/jbplock/ISO5011/SPICER.htm
>

Nice charts. It would be nice if they have some for oil filters.

| getting some more juice

get your juice from supermkts, twit