I'm totally at what seems like a fork in the road on where I want to go with my Civic. The only thing i'm sure of is that want to do it right and not dick around with cheapy, half-ass installed parts. So far since I picked her up, which is only a few months, I've done:

-Generic SRI pipe
-Injen filter
-Bosch platinum sparks/Bosch spark cables (Lifetime warranty, sweet)
-2 1/4" CatBack with a Thrush glass pack and a Magnaflow muffler
-Enkei RS6 17"
-New Car scent pine tree (gets the chix)

I was practicly sold on swapping the D16 for a b16a2, just thinking that my little sohc 4 banger was a waste of time to FI. Then I stumbled across a Turbo'd D series site that talked about going w/o internals runing a measley 5 lbs are running 200 whp So now i'm sitting around with my thumb in my.... and a little over 300 bucks deciding what the hell i'm gunna do. I would drool over swapping a b16 since I really wanted a 99' Si, but I can't stand waiting that long to save 2k-2.5k and only put 160hp and the crank. I know it's "got so much more potential" so i keep hearing, but I get inpatient easily when it comes to mods. So now i'm thinking about keeping the D and tunning the hoss


I'm seeing myself wanting mid 14's, not that out of reach at all. I would like to stay N/A for now just to cut down on problems there COULD be. Ideas - Directions - horror stories, I need it all.

NEEDS A GUIDING LIGHT
sincerly, honda n0oB

 

Turbo will be much more of a challenge considering your goals. You need to take into account all the parts, installation, fuel management and tuning to get even close to what you want. I have invested over $3k into my turbo setup and I am not done yet. The last step is a standalone ECU. The whole road has been a bit of a hassle but definitely much more rewarding than if I had stuck with N/A.

If I were you, I would lean toward the swap. It would be the best option for reliability, least difficulty and least amount of down time. You won't get as much power out of it as a well tuned, well matched turbo for the D-series but it has much more potential down the road if you do decide to continue modding once you get to a particular point.

My point is: Stick with the D-series and turbo if you plan on being content once you have reached your goal and don't mind down time, intense frustration, subpar reliability, but a rather rewarding experience once it is done. Or swap if you plan on going further than mid 14's and 200 whp and would rather have reliability, less down time, but less power for more money.

 

NA on a D is VERY VERY expensive. id hate to see such a nicely built D not see any FI lol.

you are correct in your analysis of boosting a D vs. swapping. but 5psi hitting 200whp is ehh idk.. that must be a really huge turbo that starts spooling at like 5.5k

however on another note, im just about done collecting parts for my D and im shooting for just under 200whp spending just under 2grand when its all said and done.

mid 14's is very doable on a cheap budget D. but if you want lower like mid 13's your gonna have to start doing some decent engine work to prep it for those times... unless you have an insanely light chassis and slicks lol

idk, i would have to say keep the D. rock the underdog. i mean my buddy just spent 4grand to have a 2000 b16a2 installed in his civic.. 4grand!!! and in a few weeks i will DESTROY his car without mercy with a measly 2 grand.

check out www.turbod16.com www.homemadeturbo.com and www.d-series.org

goodluck

Luke

 

-Luke

you say your part hunt is over, I'm curious to what your doing. I keep thinking exactly what you said "tune the underdog". I would drool for days over building a
Boosted b16, but it's like this - I was patheticly doing 16's, and now I can run a 15.9 which is nothing to boast. A d series in the mid low 14's would keep me happy.

 

www.lukekailburn.com/my-bewst.html