What can be done?

[vanzo]

Ok I'm a noob when it comes to the modding scene so please don't flame me. I was thinking about pumping up the somewhat lacklustre performance under the hood of my car. I want a ride that will get me to work from day to day of easy driving but will be able to rip it up a lot more on a saturday night.

Here's what I have:

a 96 EK model 4 dr sedan with a D16Y5 CVT engine

So as you've probably already guessed it's an AUTO. My question then is it possible/worthwhile modding the engine to juice the car up a little ?!?

From what i've read, NO. So first things first there's a need for a tranny swap obviously - because autos just don't cut it ??

then there's the debate over deciding to boost a D or to swap to a B series. From a fair bit of reading, apparently the D16y5 is not the best model for boosting given the nature of it's 'economy' status. Thus I'm thinking, at the moment to swap to a B series engine with a new transmission.

I really know fairly little about this and was wondering whether someone could shed a little more light on what would be the best options. Obviously it's ALL very expensive as well, but if anyone had any rough Australian price guestimates that'd help too.

thanks guys

[bennjamin]

sorry to say but there is nothing you can do to your engine to spice up the performance significantly.
Either get a full front cut and transfer over the engine/gearbox/etc etc and then decide after that , sell your car and buy something with a decent engine / gearbox already or keep your car as is , save $$$ and enjoy the most reliable car in the world.

[Paul1985]

cheaper to sell it and buy a EK4 / EM1. I know that they arent a sedan, but they are the closest to it.

EM1 = EK Coupe (w/ b16a)
EK4 = EK Hatch (w/ b16a)

Now from there, you could go ahead and turbo.

I think this is a good option to consider depending on the condition of your current EK, if you get a good sale with it, you wouldnt need to save up all that much more $$ to get the EM1/EK4. Depends on whether you only wanna do it on a sedan and whether you like this model car enogh to sell and re-buy a similar.

Ballpark figure for a B16A cut is $3k, you would also need to upgrade brakes and sussy.. add another $1-2k for those. Labour will set you back $1-2k unless u do it yourself... You will also need to pay for new fluids etc...

Now what i recommend you do.. is search carsales.com.au, autotrader.com.au, carpoint.com.au, drive.com.au etc... check out the prices on:
Honda Civic VTiR's Hatch's and Coupes. The VTiR model's are the ones with the b16a engines in them (EK only). Now compare the cost of selling your car and saving a tad bit more and purchasing one of these, and the cost of installing the b16a into your car.

Dont quote me on any prices ive mentioned.. just trying to give u a bit of an example of what to expect. I think on top of those costs, if you were to turbo.. it would cost anywhere from $5-10k for the turbo conversion.. I remember barefootbanzai's turbo EM1, i think he paid close to $10k by the time he had completed his turbo..

IMO it all comes down to how much u want it and how much u are prepared to spend on your car..

[Slow96GSR]

Wow you all mean to tell me that you all don't do swaps down under? Geez the poor guy wants to go a little fater and you tell him his car can't. Bud these guys are right if you have more money to spend. Yes the auto trans sucks but then if you live in a busy town with a lot of stop and go traffic it's better than a manual. Manuals are strong and great for at the track but were not designed or even still designed for a lot of stop and go traffic. If you're not going to the track every weekend or so keep the auto as it will be more than sufficient for what you will do.

We'll start with the basics... Air flow. There are a few manifold makers out there... Skunk, OBX, and Edelbrock is comming out with new parts everyday. Throttle-body: Skunk and Edelbrock. Air intake: AEM, OBX, Generic Ebay! Exhaust: just do what I did, go to a exhaust shop and get a custom exhaust... cost me about 300 bucks and has the best parts... Flowmaster and 100% custom bent pipe! Then the manifold from DC Sports. All total about $3k USD in parts and that's if you get the best parts from the big company. I added it up from my prices and came to $1700 USD. It will add a little hp but not as much as a turbo. You can then go on to a cam gear and cam then a port n polish and other internals but that's where the money is. True doing a front clip would help but you'll spend just as much on the parts as you will on just the body work. Its good if you are hit in the front and insurance is paying but not for this. You can find, I'm pretty sure, a full swap down there for a b18c or b16c maybe a h22. All those would be a drastic improvment. All you need to get then is the motor, trans, ecu, wire harnes, mounts and a few othe misc. parts. like a shift linkage and new center console for the shifter. All this would be about $5k USD and the car would be down for a weekend if you know what you are doing. And not having to match up the paint!

Well either way you go good luck and I wish you the best! Now for the "Damn Yank" jokes!

[|N|]

sorry to say but there is nothing you can do to your engine to spice up the performance significantly.
Either get a full front cut and transfer over the engine/gearbox/etc etc and then decide after that , sell your car and buy something with a decent engine / gearbox already or keep your car as is , save $$$ and enjoy the most reliable car in the world.

ben ... i m cut la

[[[d a n n y]]]

Wow you all mean to tell me that you all don't do swaps down under? Geez the poor guy wants to go a little fater and you tell him his car can't. Bud these guys are right if you have more money to spend. Yes the auto trans sucks but then if you live in a busy town with a lot of stop and go traffic it's better than a manual. Manuals are strong and great for at the track but were not designed or even still designed for a lot of stop and go traffic. If you're not going to the track every weekend or so keep the auto as it will be more than sufficient for what you will do.

We'll start with the basics... Air flow. There are a few manifold makers out there... Skunk, OBX, and Edelbrock is comming out with new parts everyday. Throttle-body: Skunk and Edelbrock. Air intake: AEM, OBX, Generic Ebay! Exhaust: just do what I did, go to a exhaust shop and get a custom exhaust... cost me about 300 bucks and has the best parts... Flowmaster and 100% custom bent pipe! Then the manifold from DC Sports. All total about $3k USD in parts and that's if you get the best parts from the big company. I added it up from my prices and came to $1700 USD. It will add a little hp but not as much as a turbo. You can then go on to a cam gear and cam then a port n polish and other internals but that's where the money is. True doing a front clip would help but you'll spend just as much on the parts as you will on just the body work. Its good if you are hit in the front and insurance is paying but not for this. You can find, I'm pretty sure, a full swap down there for a b18c or b16c maybe a h22. All those would be a drastic improvment. All you need to get then is the motor, trans, ecu, wire harnes, mounts and a few othe misc. parts. like a shift linkage and new center console for the shifter. All this would be about $5k USD and the car would be down for a weekend if you know what you are doing. And not having to match up the paint!

Well either way you go good luck and I wish you the best! Now for the "Damn Yank" jokes!

shut up yanky boy :p
your country takes all of my B16a/b/B18C's/H22a's and even the K20's

[Slow96GSR]

Well I'd be happy to send em all back!! I don't need em it's all the ricers up here!!

[bennjamin]

ben ... i m cut la

isnt it the driver, not the car ? ;)

Anyway , as i said "..there is nothing you can do to your engine to spice up the performance significantly."..... that is without spending LOTS.

Try makign your car quicker poitn to point and around the corners with a decent suspension package (lighter wheels , better rubber , rear swaybar , lowered springs and or better shocks , and a good alignment are the basics for a nice handlign "nippy" car)

[vanzo]

thanks guys - i think that's a fairly decent summary. I' d say that the setup I have makes it just too tough to modify to the level I was looking for.

I would have to agree now (after even further reading and your advice) that it WOULD DEFINITELY be cheaper to look around for a different car with the right setup.

Out of curiosity though, provided I did look at the 'basic' upgrades without drastic engine modification/removal how much 'nippier' could the car get. Any estimations on what sort of extra horses would jump out the bonnet?

[|N|]

dun expect to gain much power at all ... i think u should focus on teh handling of the car ... if u lookin at havin a car to do awsoem 1/4mile or something alont that line... my honest opinion is to get a more powerful car to start with ie. a non honda... honda were neva made/designed for the straight... they r very balanced car ... good base to start with if u after handling .. well unless u willin to spend big $$.. thats my 2cents
thanks guys - i think that's a fairly decent summary. I' d say that the setup I have makes it just too tough to modify to the level I was looking for.

I would have to agree now (after even further reading and your advice) that it WOULD DEFINITELY be cheaper to look around for a different car with the right setup.

Out of curiosity though, provided I did look at the 'basic' upgrades without drastic engine modification/removal how much 'nippier' could the car get. Any estimations on what sort of extra horses would jump out the bonnet?