Ok so i was just reading on another civic forum about how this guy claimed putting a cold air intake on his D16y7 killed his engine bay? whatever that means. I know its said that CAI 's maybe up 1hp. Which is believable
but compared to the stock airbox which the inlet is about 2 inches from the passenger side fender, i dont really see much air getting to your motor. Do you think honda did that for fuel efficiency? My question is does anyone have problems with their CAI's? Do you think your CAI helped at all? I have a full exhaust kit on my 98 dx. More air+ More Fuel= Bigger Combustion (More hp)? Whats your input? I can hear my intake, i only did it so my motor can breathe
What do you guys think?
You're not getting more fuel unless you modify the injectors or ECU.
Let me tell you this right now, and if you doubt it, you'll end up going back to what I will say.
Intake, Headers, Exhaust do next to nothing to D-series engines, but add SOUND and AESTHETICS.
Also note, there are certain sensors that need to be in check, so again unless you modify the ECU or sensors, you won't be doing much to your engine
When using a Cold Air Intake, if driving in heavy rain or puddles, you risk the chance of hydrolocking (hydro=water, so waterlocking) your engine by flooding it with water instead of air because the Cold Air Intake hangs so low to the ground unless with a bypass valve.
When using headers or aftermarket exhaust manifolds, you'll need to make sure that if you have a primary O2 Sensor, that you get a bung welded into that header if not already. Again, unless you modify the ECU or sensors, you won't be having any gains but the car may run poorly.
When using catback exhausts, again, like the exhaust manifold/header there's a secondary O2 Sensor and is usually the most problematic one. If you don't modify the ECU or get a bung welded into the catback system you'll need to do so.
D-series engines are such small 4-cylinders. All these modifications do very little especially with a stock ECU, it's just the way Honda developed them. If you want power, rebuild and/or turbocharge it, or do a motor swap.