How far can we upgrade before it's too much?

[Veldox]

So far I know for sure I'm upgrading the exhaust and I already upgraded the air intake while waiting for a better tune to release and I noticed that CariD has a few intake manifolds am I crazy to think it's a good idea to keep upgrading how far can we really push the K20C and the CVT?

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[1WickedCivic]

So far I know for sure I'm upgrading the exhaust and I already upgraded the air intake while waiting for a better tune to release and I noticed that CariD has a few intake manifolds am I crazy to think it's a good idea to keep upgrading how far can we really push the K20C and the CVT?

Your exhaust will be useless if not paired with a downpipe, as that is the major restriction on the K20C - check out this example for the 9th gen Civic:

https://rv6-p.com/civic-si12-downpipe-213.html

Downpipe w/ hi-flow cat, exhaust & a tune to take advantage of it. You're looking at about $1.5K for close to 20hp gain. NA power gains are expensive.

 

[Pearl]

When your return on investment no longer makes sense but you don't care because you're living life and having fun.

 

[ArnoldLayne]

There is little to no return on investment for all the upgrades people add and you will find out the hard way when you sell it.

If you really want to upgrade, get the top trim available with factory installed options (in this case it will be the Touring)

 

[Veldox]

There is little to no return on investment for all the upgrades people add and you will find out the hard way when you sell it.

If you really want to upgrade, get the top trim available with factory installed options (in this case it will be the Touring)

That makes no sense it's not an investment It's a car. You don't buy a car for the point of making more money off of it when it sells than when you bought it brand new...Also ECU tuning, exhaust, intake etc. are not all "on the top trim" you know what the difference between my car and the touring is? Heated back seats and navigation system (oh wow google maps is already on android play) really worth the like 2.5k difference or whatever it was. I plan on owning this car easily for 10 years so why would I want to worry about return investment. I'm worried about a reliable enjoyable ride.

 

[LX16]

I've always been of the mind that performance upgrades are a total waste unless it's a race car or something. Even then it's a waste to me. People spend thousands of dollars on mods like that, then trade the car in for something else in a couple of years, if they haven't wrecked or fubar'd it up. Like was already said, a load of money for a few HP. Just take that money and spend it towards a faster car if it's that big a deal. I mean, people can spend their money on whatever they want, doesn't bother me either way. That's just me though, personal choice. More noise or devaluing my car just isn't my bag.

 

[kshawn]

If it's not your bag, then why are you here... what your saying..we already know. Some people just like to do it as a Hobby. Heading back to the topic. There's a bolt on turbo upgrade being looked into, but that's basically the limit. For anyone with the CVT at least. Wouldn't push past 250-300hp or 300tq for that matter. Manual will probably be able to handle some extra and there's always nice transmission performance parts for them. But beyond that... get a higher displacement engine, if your looking for muscle car performance.

 

[LX16]

If it's not your bag, then why are you here... what your saying..we already know.

Not sure what you mean. This is a Civic forum, not performance only forum. I was just giving an opinion, and different opinions is what a forum is about right? People don't have to agree with me.

 

[kshawn]

True, but I'd say the topic of this one is performance. It seems like the ? Being ask here is how far can I go.

The CVT is the limming factor. If you're wondering how far you can go. Stick with bolt on performance upgrades, intake, exhuast, intercooler, and a good tune. You shouldn't overwhelm the CVT as thoes are more about freeing up power that's already there, mostly. And there minor modifications that if you keep your stock parts, you can go back. Are CVT is also from the accord so it should take some extra beatings.

If your just looking for a fast car and don't intended to monkey around the engine bay. Then what LX16 is correct, save your money and buy a fast car from the start.

 

[ArnoldLayne]

That makes no sense it's not an investment It's a car. You don't buy a car for the point of making more money off of it when it sells than when you bought it brand new...Also ECU tuning, exhaust, intake etc. are not all "on the top trim" you know what the difference between my car and the touring is? Heated back seats and navigation system (oh wow google maps is already on android play) really worth the like 2.5k difference or whatever it was. I plan on owning this car easily for 10 years so why would I want to worry about return investment. I'm worried about a reliable enjoyable ride.

Yeah I reckon it won't make any sense to you from your grasp of financial sense

But for most people, a car is a mode of conveyance especially this particular car. I don't see any point of upgrading all the components in it than what came from the factory since it is not a performance car and you are trying to dress up a donkey to look like a horse. Different strokes for different folks

Yes, the heated back seats and navigation system and all the other bells and whistles on the top trim add value addition and real time utility to the vehicle so I will take that any day over trying to fiddle with the mechanical components Honda engineers already installed on it.

And no, I don't plan on owning my Civic or any other car for 10 years. I go through new cars every 4-5 years where I can get my ROI and move on to the next gen cars which have more technological advancements than trying to sink thousands of dollars on a car for which I won't see any return when I sell it.

If I want all the performance car grade components on a car, I'd buy a performance car (have had a few of those) and not buy a Civic and try to make it perform like a BMW.

I also don't spend thousands of dollars to upgrade my 10 year old laptop by modding it when I can buy a new one with all the latest tech for a few hundred more. Sure my laptop won't have the shark fin lookalike heatsink and the bling bling lights but I will be running a processor that is 10 years advanced in technology

 

[LX16]

But for most people, a car is a mode of conveyance especially this particular car. I don't see any point of upgrading all the components in it than what came from the factory since it is not a performance car and you are trying to dress up a donkey to look like a horse. Different strokes for different folks

I mostly agree with you, but I didn't know I bought a donkey.

"The green donkey"?

That's funny.

 

[kshawn]

Some people like to tinker. Also intel 3rd gen processor were a beast. They'd handle all the voltage. And had the VRMs to back it up.

 

[ArnoldLayne]

I mostly agree with you, but I didn't know I bought a donkey.

"The green donkey"?

That's funny.

Well you didn't buy that Civic to turn the sharp corners on Nurburgring and neither did I Nothing wrong with a donkey and it is a worthy contender in its own right.

Some of people's ideas about a Civic really crack me up here. Not sure if people are buying their first car or obsessed with cars but somehow the rubber doesn't meet the road on some of the expectations of some people here about a Honda Civic, a typical boring (ok maybe not so boring as a Corolla) Japanese compact fuel efficient sedan.

You don't buy a Civic and Corolla to run wild with mods ( well if that is your thing nothing wrong with that). You buy them because they are reliable cars that won't let you down and will sell quick when you want to move on to the next car.

 

[ArnoldLayne]

Some people like to tinker. Also intel 3rd gen processor were a beast. They'd handle all the voltage. And had the VRMs to back it up.

Which one would that be? The Pentium Pro? The recent 3rd gen Core architecture Ivy Bridge?

Whatever beast it might be, Microsoft puts out beastier operating systems every time. So unless you want to run Windows 95 for ever on your Pentium Pro, you might want to get with the new technology

 

[Veldox]

Yeah I reckon it won't make any sense to you from your grasp of financial sense

But for most people, a car is a mode of conveyance especially this particular car. I don't see any point of upgrading all the components in it than what came from the factory since it is not a performance car and you are trying to dress up a donkey to look like a horse. Different strokes for different folks

Yes, the heated back seats and navigation system and all the other bells and whistles on the top trim add value addition and real time utility to the vehicle so I will take that any day over trying to fiddle with the mechanical components Honda engineers already installed on it.

And no, I don't plan on owning my Civic or any other car for 10 years. I go through new cars every 4-5 years where I can get my ROI and move on to the next gen cars which have more technological advancements than trying to sink thousands of dollars on a car for which I won't see any return when I sell it.

If I want all the performance car grade components on a car, I'd buy a performance car (have had a few of those) and not buy a Civic and try to make it perform like a BMW.

I also don't spend thousands of dollars to upgrade my 10 year old laptop by modding it when I can buy a new one with all the latest tech for a few hundred more. Sure my laptop won't have the shark fin lookalike heatsink and the bling bling lights but I will be running a processor that is 10 years advanced in technology

Why are you posting on the performance tuning subforum of these forums if you don't care about that aspect of the car? Also you're off-topic to the purpose of the thread...That being said.


You have no idea of my financial sense in fact I would say yours is pretty bad if you're "And no, I don't plan on owning my Civic or any other car for 10 years. I go through new cars every 4-5 years" Great financial sense there. Also you're missing the point of upgrading a car (and hilariously poorly trying to compare it to a computer) to go along with "laptop upgrade" point of view, no one goes out and buys a "performance computer" they build them themselves because it's cheaper and more enjoyable for them (keyword enjoyable) that's right people like to do things that are fun to them and enjoy themselves things you may not find fun. On to the next point, you don't "mod" laptops at most you can add RAM or put another hard drive in them in fact a lot of the newer models (ultrabooks etc.) can no longer even allow that and tons of people spend the money to upgrade their GPU in their PC before building an entire new system also for the most part CPU's haven't advanced that much in the past 10 years you could probably still do most things people do these days with an old Q6600.

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