basic performance upgrades for dohc zc

[jardine90si]

hey guys, just got some questions for my DOHC ZC. it's stock now, just wanted to do some basic stuff to it. i've been doing research, and all i want to do to it is intake, header, exhaust, and throttle body. this will be fine until i figure out my future plans in a year or two. I just put in the PG7 Integra ECU. So now I'm looking to get the mods listed above. here are my questions:

Intake - is it better to just stick with a short ram or should is it really worth it for the full cold air intake? i'm just nervous about getting water sucked up in winter or during heavy rain. Will i be alright running a cold air all year around or will i see pretty much the same gains with the short ram?

Header - I was told you have to 'port match' the header to fit a DOHC ZC. what exact work is required to do this?

Exhaust - I'm getting my magnaflow cat back exhaust and hi-flow cat next week. just wondering, what piping is best to use? 2 1/4" or 2.5"? Also, I won't have a resonator on it either...I won't be turboing my car, so I don't have to compensate for that. i think if i do anything other than these upgrades listed, it will be a b-series swap in a year or two.

throttle body - Is this even worth it? I was thinking about getting a throttle body off a b series engine like a LS integra. It's about 3mm bigger, and i was just wondering if it'd be a good thing to do. also, what work is required to put this throttle body in?

thanks guys....

 

[mymmeryloss]

all i can say is magnaflow on a honda is a no no..
just get a short ram..

 

[Steven.]

my HKS

 

[TiiM iiS l3eAsT]

so your not buying my ecu anymore ??

go with a short ram intake.... i have ran both the full cold air... and a short ram and i felt no difference in power..... i would go with a short ram so you dont suck up water....get a ebay intake with a aem filter..... the filter is the only part that matters on the intake system.... the piping is just pipe lol

get a d16 exhaust mani / header.... get a d16 gasket....then line up the gasket and the holes in the head...you should notice the ports on the head are bigger than on the gasket....so you have to cut the gasket to make it the right size.....and on the mani you might have to use a grinder and grind some of the metal down to match the ports on the head..... ofcourse you really dont have to do this.... but if you want more power then you should

go with 2.5" exhaust piping

not sure on the the throttle body... i just left mine stock

you might gain some hp with switching the throttle body to a LS in a turbo situation.... but stock i doubt you'll gain anything...

 

[jardine90si]

so your not buying my ecu anymore ??

go with a short ram intake.... i have ran both the full cold air... and a short ram and i felt no difference in power..... i would go with a short ram so you dont suck up water....get a ebay intake with a aem filter..... the filter is the only part that matters on the intake system.... the piping is just pipe lol

get a d16 exhaust mani / header.... get a d16 gasket....then line up the gasket and the holes in the head...you should notice the ports on the head are bigger than on the gasket....so you have to cut the gasket to make it the right size.....and on the mani you might have to use a grinder and grind some of the metal down to match the ports on the head..... ofcourse you really dont have to do this.... but if you want more power then you should

go with 2.5" exhaust piping

not sure on the the throttle body... i just left mine stock

you might gain some hp with switching the throttle body to a LS in a turbo situation.... but stock i doubt you'll gain anything...

ok thanks a lot. yea, i was actually going to send the money yesterday night. but during the day i was on kijiji and i noticed someone selling one literally 10 minutes from my house, so i just got that. Saved shipping troubles and waiting and stuff, sorry man. Blame the guy sold it to me, lol.

Also, is magnaflow really that bad on Honda's?? I just bought these really nice MOMO dual tips that I wanted to put on a nice muffler. I want to buy a muffler that i can mount sideways so i can use these tips.

 

[jardine90si]

my HKS

I honestly would put a HKS on my car, but I live in Canada so it would rust out in no time.

 

[bizoneoeh]

yeah, on the port match, that really doesn't matter like Boosted said but it doesn't hurt to match it either. You won't feel any gain if you match the ports.

 

[jardine90si]

yeah, on the port match, that really doesn't matter like Boosted said but it doesn't hurt to match it either. You won't feel any gain if you match the ports.

ok, thanks for the help. also, do you have any opinions on a muffler? I wanted something I could mount across, from wheel to wheel (like stock style) then I was going to get the piping done at a shop.

 

[TiiM iiS l3eAsT]

anything but magnaflow.... magnaflow sounds like a crap on a honda.....

 

[Tom]

I had a magnaflow on my last hatch, and it sounded great.

 

[jardine90si]

I had a magnaflow on my last hatch, and it sounded great.

I dont know what to believe now, some people say they're great and others say they suck. What is a universal muffler i can get without tips? something that can be mounted across the car like stock style. the only one i saw was some Thermal R&D universal muffler.

 

[jardine90si]

would these mufflers sound better than magnaflow? http://www.thermalrd.com/mufflers.htm
they're thermal r&d oval style mufflers, would they sound better for honda engines?

 

[bizoneoeh]

would these mufflers sound better than magnaflow? http://www.thermalrd.com/mufflers.htm
they're thermal r&d oval style mufflers, would they sound better for honda engines?

sound has nothing to do with performance. If you're looking to buy something depending on the sound then check out youtube for sound clips, there's TONS of sound clips on there. There's also a few threads on cc with sound clips, I'll try to find the threads for you.

 

[19ef90]

go with the 2.5 inch piping.
and as stated above, a short ram will work just fine. i have one with a good filter, and i couldent be happier with it. even autozone(i know i know...) has a universal short ram thats for tegs and civics.
GL!

 

[TiiM iiS l3eAsT]

thermal is nice

 

[jardine90si]

sound has nothing to do with performance. If you're looking to buy something depending on the sound then check out youtube for sound clips, there's TONS of sound clips on there. There's also a few threads on cc with sound clips, I'll try to find the threads for you.

alright thanks man...well I know magnaflow and thermal would both give better performance...just wondering, what would sound better on a civic?

 

[jardine90si]

go with the 2.5 inch piping.
and as stated above, a short ram will work just fine. i have one with a good filter, and i couldent be happier with it. even autozone(i know i know...) has a universal short ram thats for tegs and civics.
GL!

Ok, cool. that should save me money then lol

thermal is nice

yea, I've heard a lot about thermal. I wonder what one of those would sound like on a honda...

 

[bizoneoeh]

alright thanks man...well I know magnaflow and thermal would both give better performance...just wondering, what would sound better on a civic?

almost anything will sound good if you have bigger piping. I had 2.75 myself with a cheap ricer shop straight through muffler. It sounded nice and deep but I had a turbo to muffle the sound, I had no cat or resonator.

 

[jardine90si]

almost anything will sound good if you have bigger piping. I had 2.75 myself with a cheap ricer shop straight through muffler. It sounded nice and deep but I had a turbo to muffle the sound, I had no cat or resonator.

nice...2.75" seems a little big. Maybe I'll go with 2.5" for a deeper tone.

 

[TiiM iiS l3eAsT]

go with 3" for a real deep tone