You're right about people flaming, but they're actually right. ZiviCase10287, oc_civic, 18secferio, and redcivic all offered valid points no matter how you think they're slamming you. It's all worth consideration.

Almost every bolt-on part for a civic offers such minimal gains that it's hard to justify any of the time it takes to install them. Most of the "mods" people buy are just fashion accessories. Just as with clothing and music, they go out of style, or the lustre wears off. It's perfectly fine to take pride in all things, just calculate why you're cutting a hole in your car first. The only way to make a stock civic fast is to put a different engine in it, a or to blow it up with n2o/turbo/supercharger. If you just want to make it louder or make it look cool, put ANY intake on it and it will be.

I don't know how many times it's been said, so I'll say it again... "It's your car, do what you want to with it". I put a DX 1.5L in a CX civic hatchback. It's even got a polished valve cover on it. Now, if that's not the definition of what useless mods are, I don't know what is. I made the slowest civic ever made slightly less slow by swapping an engine in that's usually thrown away for something bigger, and put a lot of work into something that doesn't do a damn thing but shine where nobody will see it because the hood's always closed. Well, nobody has ever done it. That's exactly why I did it.

I put a CAI on it only because the CX 1" intake didn't fit a 56mm throttle body. $30 on eBay fixed that. If I had to cut a hole in my car to install it, I'd have bought a short ram instead because your butt-dyno won't be able to feel the difference, and any future buyer would probably be pissed that I hacked the car up. I already consider it a nuissance to have to rip my wheel well apart to get to the filter so I can clean it. If you're certain that the CAI offers gains that a short ram can't on a 100hp motor, then please do it right when you cut up your car. Take time with and pride in your work. Get the right tools, and people will appreciate your efforts.

I gotta drive the point home, though... If I posted a pic of my girlfriend like a posession with my name and an arrow pointing to her, and she knew about it, I'd expect to catch all kinds of hell. It's disrespectful, and cheesy. You seriously should cut that out unless you only objectify women. If you do, then expect to catch hell for it because most (not all) girls I know don't appreciate it, and you're posting this in a public forum asking for what people think... Not slamming you, just offering advice. My polished valve cover looks fuggin' awesome, but I justly got slammed for wasting my effort on a 1.5L.

Don't cut up your car. Get a short ram or one that fits it w/o the hole.