N/A build discussion
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By newbie101
#181045 I have a 94ex 5spd. I want to make it perform a little better and sound a lot nicer. No mods have been done yet, since my first payday has yet to come :thumbdown: Here's what I want to do:

INTAKE- Short ram, since I can't afford the water risk with cold air. What do you guys recommend? I see that some people here like AEM a lot. . .

EXHAUST- I don't want rice( and I'm sure no one here does either). The cat-back exhaust magnaflow makes. . . is it ricey? I can only find videos of their muffler on stock exhaust. Does anyone recommend something else in the 500-600 dollar range? Please tell me if I'm being too cheap. (FYI looking for cat-back exhaust systems.)

CLUTCH/FLYWHEEL- Since I'm going to have to replace the input shaft bearing and throwout bearing soon I might as well just spend the money now. What brand/weight? Is it possible to go too light on the flywheel?

Thanks for any opinions in advance, and just in case (even though this is the N/A section) PLEASE NO TURBO SUGGESTIONS! Maybe later, but not right now. If there are any other mods you would suggest feel free to make them but please keep in mind this will all be done in my driveway without any special equipment. thanks!
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By Classiccarsrule85
#181053 Ok intake wise really any will work but id get aem =carb legal etc or look for something thats carb legal that way one it provides marketability since your car is legal to own in all 50 states and is up to standards with its intake=no trouble with the police if your state has carb laws. I have seen people with the password jdm whale penis intake but apparently there are problems with them....so i wouldnt go with that. So my votes with AEM...

Next lets move onto another intake option......
-Heat shield it the best way to take advantage of the intake is to have a heat shield since there is alot of heat in an engine bay and heated air means less power not too much but its nto taking full advantage of what you have so id get a heat shield....

Ok onto exhaust for the time being....Since ill explain later on some other mods to do right now lets just go in order from what you are asking....

Axel back -- ive had flowmaster magna flow fart cannons etc and right now i have a straightpipe to a stocker it sounds awesome but yea probaly not best for people who live under laws.....

So here is my suggestion as people have different ears and minds and love different sounds id get on youtube and do some sound research people often have their exhausts and mods posted along with a quick video clip now most civics will be the same sounding with a D series so just veiw those b series wise different sound....

Clutch/Flywheel....
Now this is a touchy subject as many have different setups and need different things to perform correctly to be honest a lightweight flywheel and a oem clutch or upgraded clutch setup will probaly be teh best result for a semi stock motor because with the amount of boltups you put on there wont be enough power to blow apart a clutch....

and as long as the flywheel is built with quality and standards and has been tested rigorously there should be no problems with possibly weight issues....

Now other mods......
Intake
-B18b1 TB or other will allow for more air flow however it you dont port your intake manifold it will be worthless to use.....
-A Y8 intake has better flow (though i dont think its been tested completely but in general its a big discussion some people think it dose others arent sure me i dont know lol) but yea it may flow better and if it dose then its a good intake for your setup since it will bolt in. I am told its one of the best oem d intakes as well...

Exhaust
-Headers would be another good start thre are many different styles adding different power at different times research for what you want....

And other mods that would make your car perform better in general would be suspension, wheels and tires because you may have the best motor ever but if you cant put the power to the ground and control it theres no point....

So there is a quick overveiw of my thoughts .....
By tigerafro
#181063 ^^^

that was a lot of great info.
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By newbie101
#181079 in terms of exhaust. . . is there any particular brand that you would suggest? Magnaflow's cat-back system is in my price range as we speak. . .

Here is a clip of the cat-back I'm looking at unless this dude messed up the title. Tell me if you all think this is ricey, cuz I respect non-ricers and want some in return
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z5svD4hP90g :D
User avatar
By Classiccarsrule85
#181169 I think i actually have one of them sitting in my parts bin....had it on my hatch it was nice but to be honest once i gutted the cat it was loud lol.....anyhow before that it sounded good not like a fart cannon. had a deep tone to it so id say would be good for that only thing i really didnt like was the whole size of the tip it was quite large..... but yea thats a decent sounding muffler.
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By eg84dr
#181450 first offf welcome :thumb: :thumb:
well i would start with an intake like you said aem intakes are popular i have one myself and i love it
Classiccarsrule85 covered the bases pretty damn well
as for a specific exhaust if you have 500 to 600 bucks to spend on an exhaust then id go for a greddy evo2 or maybe an hks hipower system
if you dont wanna spend more than like 200 bucks just custom fab one thats what i would do
but just a word of advice you get what you pay for so a 500 dollar exahsut may look the same as a 100 dollar exhaust off ebay but trust me there is a huge difrence if you pay over 500 bucks for a cat back its going to sound really good
User avatar
By newbie101
#181485
if you dont wanna spend more than like 200 bucks just custom fab one thats what i would do



What would that entail? Would it need to be mandrel bent to fit the sedan chassis? I have already decided to use 2.25 piping since most of what I've read and researched comes with that anyways. There's no welding involve with that, right?
User avatar
By eg84dr
#181501 depends how you do it
my exhaust will be a shitty ebay exhasut cat back with a difrent muffler welded on instaed of the shitty fart can and bam your done you pair that with a nice high flow cat and a decent header and you should make some decent power and sound good
ill try to find a picture of a custom exhaust like im talking about