ECU, where, what and how?
 

Alright I got a question. SOHC VTEC SI coupe. Instead of spending $1200 or more to get a DOHC, what can I do to get a significant amount of hp. Can I get a ECU that will add some hp? My friend has a GTI and he started with 180 and after he put a $600 chip in it, he had a sh*tload more hp, something like 40hp more afterwards. So is there a ECU that I can buy that will give me that?, or is it a waste of money, or will it damage my engine? What do you think I should do? All I want is more horsepower!!!!!

seriously doubt ECU would add anymore then 10hp to sohc. better off to do common I/E/H mods but even that is $1000. 40hp more on a 127hp civic engine is huge...thats like a 30% improvement, so i wouldn't hold my breath unless you turbo it.

I/E/H may give you 20hp for $1000ish (cold air intake, 4-1 header and 2.25" cat-back). there just isn't the displacement to make the power NA on a SOHC unless you start opening it up and doing piston, CR, head work, etc. not work it. swap or turbo only real way to make power IMO

alright thanks man. How much does a good turbo cost? to buy and install, generally? prolly over a $1000 eh?

A greddy kit starts around $3000US. Then your only running about 6 to 8 psi on stock internals. That price isn't including install.

It would be cheaper to do B series swap to get another 30+hp

For the price of the Greddy kit your heading into K series swap price range. (Newer civic SiR or RSX S)

many people do a homemade turbo, where you source all the parts you need...even with this probably $2000cdn with tuning, maybe $2500cdn.

a kit like greddy would be nice, bolt it on and go, but they are on crack wanting $3000usd

buddy.... WITH tuning????? $2000???? tuning alone is $1100. my buddy had his WRX tuned, it was that much

$1100 for tuning...yikes, for that kind of tuning on a WRX hope he's making 400whp atleast. thats crazy, never knew it could be so much.

on a civic how much tuning is req, can't be near as much cause you'd want to see the boost much lower (7-8psi) and pay it safe unless the engine is built for alot of boost.

alright how much would I be spending to get an engine swap? Like an SIR engine, for install, mounts and all do you think?

OKAY tyo clear up ALOT of myths in this thread....

1) 1.8T engine responds really well to a chip because it's already a turbo VEHICLE, that is grreatly de-tuned from the factory because of emmisions, you must run HIGHER octane gas (read:$$$) and dont' even look at the HP numbers, check out the Torque numbers that chip makes APR chips and Revo chips make HUGE power out of the boosted 1.8L..... now this here is a perfect car to illustrate the importance of tuning.

2) i/h/e are all mods that are made for the sound only... the gains in HP even on a type r, gsr, etc motors even with a chip will gain MAYBE 10HP to the crank. and

3) what you do with the engine is your choice nitrous is the cheapest way to make the MOST power, and it's NOT dangerous as long as you stay within the manufacturers reccomended hp levels.
next way to make more power is turbo, kit, vs junkyard setup is up to you, but like the 1.8T TUNING IS KEY, running an afc hack, check valves, fprs etc is NOT TUNING A HONDA, you can buy the hardware to tune the car your self for CHEAP. honda chips can be installed for much less then 100$ something i can help you with for a fraction of that (PM me if you need)

4) decide what YOU want with your car,
- follow trends?
- be fast? but HOW FAST? THEN decide if oyu can afford it. search search search!!!!
- be cool? everyone and their dog has a b16 in their car, wanna really do somehting new? study whats been done, then do the opposite.
- showcar (mild/wild), race car (rally, road, street, sleeper, drag, oval track, off road buggy) , daily driver, ICE (show ice, spl, sq)pick ONE you cant combine more then one without comprimise.

worst thing you can do is not have any plan for the car, if you have no plan then dont mod it, that simple, i see it all the time someone who claims they waanna go turbo but what mods do they do? intake headers, exhaust, all three meant for NA and 'have to be thrown out if doiong turbo for example...

4) cost of tuning differs greatly from car to car, dont' say that 1100$ is what it will cost because what you dont' tell them that the price includes a piggy back controller and hours of dyno time..
na honda chip power gains are NEGLIGIBLE! i/h/e/minor port work/cams REALLY won't affect the motor enough to need tuning....
turbos, HIGH comp, WILD cams, ITB's, Superchargers, etc.. THOSE need tuning...
tuning means DYNO TIME at 70$ an hour (more for wb02) expect at LEAST 3 hours, thats if everythign goes well which it NEVER does... tuning means burning many many many chips till the car is perfect... imperfect tune means BLOWN motor, tuning must be done with a WB02 sensor a narrow band is garbage. i can go on and on and ON,, if you really need to know more PM me oyur number and we can talk on the phone it's easier.... tuning older cars is easier then newer,,, up to 95 is really cheap... then things start getting difficult.... amount of tuning isn't dependant of how much boost is run..... hell NA motors take forever to tune as well.... remember that wrx prolly paid over 700$ for the unit to tune with!!!!!