Civic newbie needs some suggetions??
 

Well I will be picking up my 02 Civic SiR later today. Bone stock, owned by older couple since new and has 140K on it. I am commuting about 130k a day with it for school. I am older so I don't want to slam the car on the ground or put a fart pipe on it. I would like to make the car handle really well since that is what sold me on the car in the first place. I have owned nitrous assisted and big motored Mustangs in the past so this car will always feel relatively slow but if it corners good, stops well and gets great gas mileage I will be happy. Tires are still stock 195/60/15 on the OEM Honda alloys, should that be the first area of improvement? Any easy and cheap brake upgrades for this model Civic? Also are suspension upgrades affordable and worth the effort? Please reply in full english since I know none of the acronyms thrown around this site. I know Mustangs, not Hondas.

Thanks, Pat.

Front and rear Strut bars. about 130$ 10min install.. make ur car take corners better
brake upgrade.
sway bar.
intake and headers.

Welcome.

Brakes can be upgraded with better pads from Hawk and better rotors like Brembo blanks. Better fluid and stainless steel lines.

Better tires will also help with braking and help the car handle much better. Wheels can be upgraded with a wheel from Rota if you dont want to spend a ton of cash on wheels.

For suspension, you could get a full coilover from Tein, Sknuk2, KW, etc or simple upgrade the struts with Koni Yellows and a decent spring from H&R, Neuspeed, Tein, Eibach.

One word of caution though, the 02 Civcs and RSX use MacPherson strut suspension that doesnt like to be lowered too excessively. The steering rack is mounted very high in the suspension and lowering too much will casue excessive bump steer.

A cold air intake and a quiet catback exhaust from Apexi will squeak out a few extra ponies.

There are a few owners of those cars, so Im sure they will chime in.

Here is your first acronyms... EP3 That is the code for your car, the 02-05 SIR.

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OK so when I see intake they are discussing just the actual tube feeding air to the throttle body? When I see intake I think large aluminum piece that the T/B bolts onto. Air inlet tube would be a better description I think. Where can I price most of these parts around the Niagara Region? Is it better to go stateside like I had to for most of my Mustang stuff? Jegs? Summit?

Pat.

Strutbars don't make that much of a difference on EP3 unless you go balls out with everything.
And a race header not header's with a intake and exhaust with k-pro and a tune you could see 180whp+ with lots of TQ.

Ok, since you're looking for mostly handling improvements, start with suspension, brakes and tires.

Swapping out all the suspension bushings with energysuspension urethane bushings will make a world of difference. After doing this, strut bars can be usefull to increase the ridgidity of the chassis.

Urethane motor mounts will help the engine put the power to the wheels and give a better more firm feel when shifting.

You can go with a pre-packaged, ride height adjustable spring/damper (shock) package. OR you calculate for a specific spring rate for that car's weight and weight distribution, then you can buy the springs and adjusters seperately and some adjustable koni yellow dampers to match.

Properly rated springs and matched dampers are the best/safest way to improve a vehicles handling. Properly sized sway bars can also complement a specific setup for street applications. I could explain further here, but it gets very complicated, so I'll just leave it at that. lol

Stainless steel brake lines and higher grade brake fluid will help along with better pads, rotors. Don't be fooled by slotted and cross-drilled rotors, they aren't necessarily all that great.

When it comes to tires, you don't have to go with bigger rims and lower profile tires. That is a myth. What you want to do is stick with a smaller rim size (15"-16") and use a really good tire like falken azenis 615 or similar. Keeping a smaller rim will keep the weight down and tire cost down. A good street/track tire like the falken 615 will provide insane grip and side wall stiffness despite using a stock-like profile and size. (example: a falken 615 in 195/60R14 will give you WAY more grip and handling than a falken 512(all season) in 205/45R17). It's all in the tire itself, not the tire size.

All season tires are no-seaon tires (imo). I suggest using a wider full dry/wet street/track tire (falken 615) during the summer and skinnier pure snow tire (nexen winguard 231) in the winter for the best control in those seasons. Remember to keep the overall diameter of your tires as close to the same size as stock.

If you're interested in more power, but without being 'ricey', a nice short-ram intake (tube off the throttle body to a cone K&N type filter), ported stock, or aftermarket exhaust manifold, high flow cat, and nice quiet sounding cat-back is probably your best bet. You'll have to shop and ask around to find the right sounding exhaust for you. Everyone has their own opinions on what is loud and quiet.


Hope that helps.
:)

i put a front and rear strut on my prob and took lieka 60 degree turn at 120km made a hugs diff.

Can barely read that....lol

With stock suspension bushings, strut bars won't do much because most of the flex is taken up by the soft bushings and the chassis itself won't flex much. After installing stiff urethane suspension bushing, which do not have anywhere near the flexability and squishability of stock bushings, there's a lot less give in the suspenion. This applies more force to the chassis itself, inducing more chassis flex. This is when strut bars are needed and make more a difference.

However, some cars are made with less chassis ridgidity then others and even without installing stiffer bushing, need strut bars to prevent significant chassis flex.

On your Probe???
Well its not an Ep3 is it??
And on stock suspension and stock bushings your wasting your money.

Niagara region, no idea. There is that Automotive Warehouse place, but I havent shopped there in years. Im from Hamilton and I find all the shops here mostly full of overpriced junk, so when I do buy parts, its from shops in the GTA. For you, trips across the border might be worthwhile though. Where in Niagara do you live? My wife is from St Kitts and Ive never seen a decent shop there.

Another acronym for you... K20 is the engine in your car. The K-series responds very well to basic bolt-on mods, so adding power wont be as hard as some other engines.

MPR give great suspension and tire advice already.

Start shopping
OptionJDM: Performance Parts & Accessories - 02-05 Civic (EP3)

:welcome:

Thanks Sha

Pat.

visit ephatch.com, a forum just for your car, with actual useful information about your car, unlike this one which only offers a classified section (from my past experience)

When up grading suspension, go with something that will be comfortable... you're now driving a puddle jumper, not a stalion. I have a 96' Hatch back, with Skunk2 Pro S suspension (Full coilover system) and my ride is very uncomfortable, turns are a lot more fun, and the wifes fun bags bounce a lot more... but as for work and home, they suck. There are suspension out there (possibly tein) that actually have adjustable valves(I thin kit's the valves that are adjusted) so you can, in a sense, make the ride less like a wood roller coaster.

Obvious key with honda performance is power to weight ratios, unlike "No repalacement for displacement" theory. The lighter your car, that faster you'll be. Konig Heliums are a great start for rims, not evil looking either! Then maybe a nice set of Toyo Proxys or R888.

You shouldn't really have much of a problem stopping, the car only weighs a buck o' five compaired to a 'stang (old stang at that). So there is really no need for Caliper upgrades. A good set of brake pads, possibly slotted (not drilled) rotors. It all might be over kill. With new rims and tires, you'll get better grip anyway.

Your car is so ugly only a mother could love, if she bind in one eye... and had that blue film over the other one. I suggest an ounce of rice. Sex your car up with some nice HID kit lights. Most are plug and play. Get a fancy colour no one uses,, or sees on an everyday adventure. I seen a purple set, and they blow my mind. (Buying pink for the wife)

Fart cars are TERRIBLE. I have a skunk2 exhaust and it sounds like garbage! I've only been pulled over once because of it, but that's more than enough(It's resignated, Legal cat, 2 1/2", Canister Skunk2 muffler with silencer)! If you'd like a little better note, maybe add another resinator(sp?) and possibly a beau Vibrant Muffler. It is a little bit louder, but not overly ricey.

A Bumper lip. Bumper lips give your car a very unique look as well. People (kids) will always be wondering what type of Civic it is, they'll know it's a honda, but unless they know better, won't know which year/model. Mugen makes neat stuff($$$)!

Seats... I believe your car came with buckets, but you can always do better, I bought Sparce seats from someone off here, and they're 100x better than my stock seats, lighter too!

Spoiler, very easy to accedentially rice. The 'Whale tale' is a hidious, hind your face in shame look... drag on a front wheel drive car... idoits... But a nice Spoon, or Mugen Spoiler can be nice touch!

I guess these are my own AWESOME opinions... The thing about the civic world you've now entered... the possibilities are completely endless!

Good trusted names to look for/google:
skunk2(sorta)
Tein
Sybian
Hawk
Konig
Sparco
Jenna Haze
Rocera(sp?)
Brembo
AEM
TiAL
Garrett
Koyo
Mugen (Pronounced: Muh-you-guh-in, or like me, english, Mug'en)
Megan(sp?)(Me-gan, or english, megan)
JDM ;)
Hondata
Blox
Supertech

P'z
NOTE: (sp?) = Spelling error maybe
NOTE: P'z = Peace
-B
NOTE: -B = My name'ish
NOTE: 'ish = sorta/around there

^^ I would advise against toyot Proxy RA1's or R888's for a daily driven street car. They will ware out FAST.

We use RA1's on our autocross MR2 (see sig) and the amount of ware after just the 1st race this season is A LOT! They are basically a street legal R compound tire.

I suggest a more daily-driver friendly, longer-lasting, but still very sticky, tire like the falken Azenis 615 (or similar). The RA1's and R888's are in a different legue than the 615's and I don't recommend them at all for daily driving.

Wow F8i thanks for the long writeup. I am not sure about body kit at this point although I have seen some sharp ones out there in my travels. Maybe I will look into rims/tires when funds permit and perhaps just keep the stockers to mount winters on. I do like the seats and can't see changing except for the weight factor.

Thanks for all the suggestions and great info for a new Civic owner. And yes the car does feel fast but not Mustang fast.

Pat.

great reply F8i. you are f*king hilarious.
thanx dude, you just made my day.
sybian and jenna haze?
if you can have those in your car while your driving then you dont need anything else.

Welcome Pat. Enjoy your ride and see you at a meet sometime.

the biggest wide body kit ever made for ur gen civic. u wont be disappointed!

First, Welcome to TCC and good choice in choosing a Civic ;)

You mean quick as in nimble, and not fast, because of the lack of weight and power.

:haha: :richslap: