What Should i Do NExt?

[**Ghost**]

Hey guys... i'm facing a bit of a dilemma here...

My Car : Ek4 VTIR has

Mods
Coilovers
I/H/E
Color Coding
Grill
Badging
Wipers
Rims
HD Clutch
Sound System

I'm unsure as to what i should do next for around $500 mods?

Cosmetically i think my car is complete so i'm lookign at performance or handling

I have read the Bang For Your Buck thread, and i know clutch/flywheel is next step, however, i'm going to wait until my current clutch dies **touches wood*** before i do that...

So wot mods should i do next? I dont want to do cams cos i think the power gains are negligble against the cost. I dont want to get a proper ECU cos i dont need it yet (i think) and cos if i was going to i'll get the ECU after i do some major internal work so i can get it tuned all at once

So wot u guys reckon in terms of bang for your buck, not for performance but for general enjoyment of the car...

I am thinking

VAFC - for some mild tuning (i dont consider the VAFC a ECU btw)

AFC - Cheaper alternative to VAFC, without the bling bling blue screen

RSM - SO i can know how fast my car is, but i think the "wow" factor of this mod will wear off

Rear Swaybar - despite what ppl claim, i've been in a EK4 with coilovers + rear sway 20mm from whiteline... to be honest i odnt see a MAJOR difference

I'm seriusly outta ideas here!! for mods under $500

and NO i dont want to get a turbo ok... well actually i do but i'm not going to do it to my current car... i'd get a DC2R before i turbo my car

[ONV73C]

with a $500 budget...

I'd go rear sway & front strut

or

VAFC

[panda[cRx]]

front and rear struts and some nice whiteline sway bars :)

[ek004]

option 1: rear sway bar... & cam gears

option 2: save more money for a better ecu, Power FC or something similar.
(why spend the money twice? on the same thing. DO IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME )

option 3: save more money and semi-slicks

option 4: save more money and when the clutch dies, lightened flywheel/clutch/final drive & lsd

please bear in mind some or all of these things will be useless unless you state the intention of you car. ie: do you wanan track your car? do you wanna 1/4 mile your car? etc etc..

I think we can give a little better answer with a little more detail as to what you are aiming for.

[egads]

yeah i'd go with some handling mods. sway, strut and tie bars

[CTR Coupe]

I’m currently looking at new rear sway bar and lower rear tie bar.

Your ek4 already has front strut bar so assume there would be no point upgrading that.
Going from no strut bar to a spoon item made a big difference. But I imagine that the standard Honda item does the job.

What’s your tire wear like? Maybe invest in a camber kit to correct the camber problems you might have.

Maybe even some adjustable castor rods? You can never have too much castor

Upgraded bushes in the front? Being a 10-year-old car replace the old rubber bushes with new nolathane hard bushes that will stiffen everything up in the front end.

I’ve got an RSM. It’s a bit of fun but not really that great. I wouldn’t bother with the VAFC (600 bucks for 4kws max :confused: ).

[**Ghost**]

i dunno... my car is a street/twisties car... cams and everything else dont net that much more than than a VAFC...go to www.importuner.com they have dyno gains for all sorts of mods on b16As... (serach Civic)

i reckon yeh, bushes would be the thing to do....

[type one]

bushings are amazing.. don;t underestimate a set of new bushings... those tiny pieces of rubber phew...

[egads]

i believe its two t's. www.importtuner.com :)

[garett]

if you have 500 bucks to waste.... and dont know what you like why dont you just not get anything, i think its bad to buy something just cos you have money to spend. otherwise its dead money, go on a holiday

[J-MuN]

prob go the sway bars... vafc aint worth buying imo...

[CRXY01]

I good set of sway bar bushes will make a nice difference, and they are cheap as well. Save the rest of the money up for a bigger mod.

[**Ghost**]

hmmm so whiteline is the way to go? ; ) or is there another brand?

[J-MuN]

go SPOOOOOON!! :D

[siba]

VAFC - for some mild tuning (i dont consider the VAFC a ECU btw)
wats this and were can you get these from and how much

[type one]

spoon suspension bushings and rear trail arm bushes.

[tegstar83]

Brakeoooooo!!! Upgrade

[SiR JDM]

ITR shiftlinkage and bushings

or

Some quality tires .. no matter how good your coilover/strut/sway systems are... if your running shit rubber your ferked... $500 would be enough for 1/2 a set of decent rubber .. you want your car to handle? grab these before anything else

Some quality brake pads would do great too, but if your after bling/braging, go the sways + struts

[[[d a n n y]]]

sway bars and strut braces

[**Ghost**]

i have BF Goodrich tyres already : )

i guess sways would be the way to go... i just want my car to be safer in the twisty roads :)

[Zdster]

go SPOOOOOON!! :D

Didnt know that spoon made swaybars. Got any links?

[joyride]

i'd go for brakes.

[EGB16A]

i'd go for brakes.

agreed, braking upgrades are awsome! grab some cross drilled/slotted rotors and you will still have some money left over.

[**Ghost**]

dont i need better calipers to take advantage of the rotors tho

[gelo]

Didnt know that spoon made swaybars. Got any links?

i dont think they do
they only make tie bars

i would say rear sway and rear lower arm tie bar

[CONAN]

where can you get these new nolathane hard bushes ???
i think my bushes are worn, thinking of getting some cheap aftermarket branded ones.
i was told by a mechanic they were better than factory. who knows.

And what type of sports brake pads do you recommend for street use?

[**Ghost**]

use endless... or EBC

bushes u can get from repco

[keric_02]

go for a good airfilter, ignition leads, good sparkies, or exhaust system?

[CTR Coupe]

go for a good airfilter, ignition leads, good sparkies, or exhaust system?

he already has a airfilter and full exaust system(thats what I/H/E stands for).

leads and spark plugs make no difference in power what so ever.

[**Ghost**]

i got NGK iridiums a year ago so i think those are good enough : )

as for leads.. always have been meaning to change my OEM ones, but my mechanic shined this little "laser" (apparently voltage and heat detector) on my leads and they were fine

[keric_02]

he already has a airfilter and full exaust system(thats what I/H/E stands for).

leads and spark plugs make no difference in power what so ever.

true is that wat it stands for....

[Vivski]

Intake, Headers, Exhaust.... no?

Get a nice pair of driving shoes. :thumbsup:

How about a new set of good tyres? Nothing better than fresh rubber.

[Surrufus]

wish i had an EK4 full stop

[**Ghost**]

well i've finally decided... its VAFC : ) all for the blingy blue screen lol

i'll let u guys know my reasoning (for what its worth) in case someone has the same problem in the future... as TODA AU so rightfully pointed out somewhere else in this forum the whole thing with modding cars is a case of diminishing returns, more so for NA cars. So basically i've done all the "cheap" or if u want to call it "money effective" mods...being I/h/E

the next step was probably cams, high comp pistons, then port/polish, then throttle body, intake manifold

the problem with these mods is undeniably the price. CTR cams cost 800 bucks a pair with springs, valves, retainers... and if ur lucky u;ll net urself 5kw at wheels

cTR pistons are about 500 bucks, and a lot of labor...so so all up around anohter 1000 bucks...

for that kind of money the diminishing returns becomes ridiculous on a b16A EK4...for that i could have either

a) buy a new car (not an option atm, again insurance issues)
b) get a turbo

since i'm not going turbo (insurance issues) there is absolutely not point in doing THAT much to a EK4...

so why VAFC? cheapish kind of mod, takes advantage of all my current mods,

[CTR Coupe]

How much are you getting the VAFC for? Your only going to net about 2-3kws at the wheels and that’s with an experienced dyno tune.
Plus it’s going to be needed to be retuned every 12-18 months as the computer "learns" and adapts to the VAFC and you loose the 3kws you have gained.

refer to this thread here
http://www.ozhonda.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2399&highlight=VAFC

[BLKCRX]

so why VAFC? cheapish kind of mod, takes advantage of all my current mods,
blah i would save your money !! before buyin a VAFC u will have more fun spending your money at the strippers !!

Regards James

[**Ghost**]

hahahah i dont need to go to the strippers to see women naked james :P

as for the VAFC "forgetting" or the ecu adapting...have u had personal experience with this? this seems to be an internet myth more than anything else for OBD2A vehicles i think :) but i guess we'll see... i've reserached the USA forums, (whcih in my opinion have more material) and there have been no problems with the VAFC forgetting on older hondas... there have been probs with K series engines, and 2001+ hondas tho... as i understand it, yes the OEM ECU tries to maintain a ideal A/F ratio...however, the VAFC intercepts that signal...it doesnt try and change what is being generated... i dont know if i'm making sense here btw

i'm getting the VAFC for 200 bucks btw + dyno tune by andy (not going to give out the price, as i dont know if the trader wants me to)

a hondata or emanage would be better alternative i know, BUT

1. no one tunes emanage properly and its more expensive
2. hondata, as good as it should be, is too expensive in australia...not starting nething with u james, but in the USA its just cheaper to use hondata than in australia. I aint questioning ur business or ur work, just making a statement here mate.

So with those 2 piggybacks (hondata/emanage) outta the consideration, and me not wanting to go the hassle of buying a obd1 and then chipping, VAFC seemed to be only option

what else could i have got for the money? well if i went cams/pistons/portnpolish i would have needed an ECU to take care of that...then i would be looking at a haltech/hondata/etc

u guys gotta understand that i see a definite "limit" of what i should do to my car until i might as well change cars or go full turbo on low boost

i mean if i didnt go for VAFC, i dont seea ny other mods i could do for power that doesnt involve tearing my head open and needing a new fully capable ECU to control...i am NOT going to buy a fully new ECU for an Ek4 for na mods...

either that or i could use highly doubtful mods like earthing systems (bleh) or top fuel power neos...

[CTR Coupe]

you have already stated that your a twisties nut. Why does your car need more power? Why not make it corner even better. The hard bushes are a great improvement.

You seem to be intent on getting your new blue bling.
Me and james are just saying that theres alot better things you could do with your money than a VAFC.

[**Ghost**]

i have fully adjustable koni yellow coilovers man... for now i think that satisfies my cornering abilities... in fact i dont think i'm skilled enough to take full advantage of them as yet : )

I do agree bushes would be a BIG difference, but at this moment i dont want such a uncomfortable ride...

As for tie bars and strut bars and swaybars... personally speaking i've taken the stock ones off at times just to see the difference between having one and not having one... personally again i'm not at the skill level where i MUST have a swaybar to net me that 0.05 seconds faster around a lap or down a hill as yet i dont think...

cheers for teh advice tho ^_^