Looking for best performance upgrade ideas...
 

Hey guys! I have a 03 Honda Accord LX Sedan 4-cyl Automatic. I bought it about a month ago with 160K on it. I really love the car and frankly I never thought I would love it that much. Now, I'm thinking about turning it into a project. Now the thing is, I don't really know where to start and I'm looking for ways to upgrade my engine performance. So here I am trying to get some tips from you guys and hopefully, get a definite idea where to start or what I should be doing.
I would really appreciate any advice you guys might have for me....

I'm in the same boat i guess. I would say if you aren't going to charge the car way down the line, then go with the norm to start off with. The 3 big "simple" bolt ons i might be doin is a short ram intake, new headers, and maybe a lower exhaust mod. honestly though my budget is tight and im not mechanically inclinded. lets hope the experts chime in!

Your two most basic performance upgrades are going to be an air intake(either a cold air or a short ram) or a cat-back exhaust system... Your budget will really be the deciding factor on how you go about your upgrades... If you are on a tight budget, you can buy any cheap ebay intake and just put a good filter on it(this will give you the same results as buying a expensive name brand intake but without the cost)... For your exhaust, you can either purchase a complete cat-back setup, or if you are trying to save money, buy a decent muffler and take your car to a muffler shop and have them either weld it on, or replace your pipes from the catalytic converter back with bigger diameter tubing...

To further your performace, you can also add a header, better spark plug wires, ignition upgrade, camshafts, aftermarket throttle body, throttle body spacers, fuel system upgrades(such as fuel injectors, adj fuel pressure regulator, fuel pump, fuel rail), nitrous oxide systems... These are all basic add ons, you have the head "worked"(3 or 5 angle valve job, better valves, springs), or do engine internal upgrades. Or you could look into forced induction, such as a turbo set up, or supercharger...

Thanks for the advice. I really appreciate it. Correct me if I am wrong since I am not that mechanically inclined...everything mentioned above are pretty much basic,right? Though, I am not going to turn the car into a complete race car but I would really like to make it perform as one.
One other thing I forgot to mention in the beginning...Would the high mileage on the car pose a problem since it already has 163K on it after I drove it from Kentucky to Orlando? I ask because a friend of mine told me if I really want to turn it into a project I should do something about the mileage as in...buy a newer engine with lower mileage or something.
Once again, I would really appreciate any advice!!!!

Almost everything I mentioned is pretty much basic... The head work and engine internals are the only things that would be a bit more difficult... The high milage of the car would not pose a problem as long as it has been taken care of(with the exception of the nitrous)... You can always just get your motor rebuilt... If you are going to put a newer engine in it, you might as well do a motor swap...But that is only if you want to change the motor... I dont see why you should though, as long as it has had regular maintainance done and been taken care of, 163k is not alot of miles... If it is in good mechanical condition than there is no need to swap out motors or have it rebuilt...

Well if you put it that way then I guess I can be at ease a little and then go ahead and start looking at the modifications that I can do. I had the car in the shop at a honda dealership the other day, it was because I had a problem with my vtec system...after they had it fixed (replace the whole thing) they told me that the engine is in really good condition and that I shouldn't have any problems with it.
Well, thanks a lot for the advice corvetteking. However, I'd like to ask if you were me or if you were in my shoes, where exactly would you start???:)

That really depends on how much money you have to spend. I would start with the air-intake/full-exhaust. And then msd/mallory plug wires, and msd cap and rotor... Put in some ngk spark plugs as well... You could do an underdrive kit, or lightweight pulley kit... Then you could upgrade your ignition system... And then maybe do some stage 2 cams, and maybe a walbro fuel pump...

Just depends on how crazy you wanna go with it...

though I am on a tight budget, I do want to go crazy with it. Like I said before, I don't want to build...no let me put it that way, I don't have enough money to build a race car and I'm not really looking to build one either but I'd like to have enough power under my hood to at least feel like one. My Accord right now, has only 160hp and I'd like to really had more to it just so when I push down that accelerator I can feel like I'm driving something cause right now, even though I really love the car it really doesn't have enough power for me especially when I compare it to the 210hp 02 MilleniaS I had previously....

Well your best bet if on a tight budget is to save, save, save your money... Make yourself a parts wish list for everything you want to do...Then start purchasing parts... You should buy parts in accordance with each other... Have you looked into maybe turbocharging it???

Not yet...that's why I came to the forum mainly because I'm not sure how and where to start. I was hoping that someone could give me some advice or tips about where I should start, what I should be considering, if not... at least just point me in the right direction.
About the turbocharging though...now that you mention it, if it is possible, I might actually consider putting one in...

Thinking about your overall budget will help you decide the direction. Otherwise you might (for example) buy a header only to throw it out when you decide to get a turbo.

I guess you are probably right about the budget thing. However, I'd like to ask...which is more expensive the turbo or the header? Also, which one will give me more power?
By the way, I'm sorry if I come out a little slow it's just that I'm not really mechanically inclined...the thing is I'm really passionate about cars but my personal life situation never really gave me the time to really learn about them!!!!

First of all, there's NOT ONE OF US who was born knowing all this stuff. We all were clueless at one point or another.

Turbo is more expensive but makes more power. Header is safer as far as your engine's lifespan. You (actually the shop that does the tuning) can dial up as many horsepower from a turbo as you want. Tons of boost = lots of power = blow up your engine.

There's a saying...
Cheap or Reliable or Powerful. You ONLY get to pick TWO.

Ok...I have another question...is it possible to boost my Accord (03 LX 4Cyl 5speed A/T with 163K) to 250hp or 300hp without putting in a turbo?
For now, I'm thinking about a budget around $3000-$4000. I'm not sure if it is going to be enough to do everything I'd like to do with the car. Also, I'm not going to do the work all at once so I'm thinking I might spend a lil bit more which I don't really mind plus I'm still in the saving process :)

It is possible... But would require alot more work... It is 160 hp stock... It would be very easy to just spend that 3k on a great turbo setup, You can produce 250 to 300 hp easily with 8psi boost... And if you had it done right and tuned good... For 3to4k you could easily have an extremly reliable, extremely fast 03 accord and may have money left over...To get that kinda power n/a your motor would lose alot of its drivability and it would be much more radical radical and would require much much more work... Alot of engine break down, forged internals, cams, porting and polishing, gasket matching everything, big cams, ect...

Well then, I think I got the idea...Nevermind the turbo, I'm just gonna go with reliability. With that said, I think I might have an idea where to start.
Thanks a lot for the advices guys, I really appreciate it.

Ok I am back with a new question. I went to a shop this morning in order to start looking for prices on the parts I am going to need for my project. One guy there told me that if I put in a Nitrous kit it will give me 100hp more plus the hp i would get after putting in a new header, new exhaust system and new air intake. What are you all views on that?
By the way, I decided not to go with the turbo anymore (maybe for next project) because it's going to be way out of my budget....

well for reliability nitrous is not the thing you want, sure you can hit it only when you want to but you gotta have it set up right. for instance always gotta get premium fuel in case you wanna hit it one day... nitrous is tricky and can be very dangerous. rule of thumb, only ad enough nitrous to make half the horsepower you already have so 80 max. wouldnt even shoot that high imo. you need to have a nitrous system, not just a "Kit" which involves many parts and a good one will cost you near 1000 to make it safe.

IMHO, start with an intake, then an exhaust, then get a header and see what you think. heck, did you venture into the suspension area yet? a really nice suspension setup can make a car way more fun to drive and actually let it get more of its power to the ground.

Well just my opinion, but that shop is crazy...You will need to do some researching before deciding that you want to spray your car... You could spray any shot you would like(25to1000), but i wouldnt recomend it for you... Nitrous is not something you can just hook up on your honda and spray away. Like turboing your car, there are gonna be steps you need to take to make it safe, and to not tear your car up... Not to mention you have an auto tranny, and ask anyone here who has sprayed their 4cylinder autos what has happened to tha tranny...

Here is a joke i once heard at the local dyno, when a buddy was asking the owners opinion on nitrous...
"Nitrous is like a super hot chick with an std, you wanna hit it, but your afraid of the consequences"

I agree with clutch here... You will have to look into switcing to a colder plug, a timing retarder, an ingnition system w a 2 step box... There is much more this is just a couple things...But like he said, get an intake and exhaust and start from there... You should def be weary of spraying a stock honda accord with 163k and an auto tranny....

I'm really glad you guys are here, cause frankly, I was not thinking about putting in nitrous, I was going to let that for later...for some other project just like the turbo but when the guy at the shop told me that, I was like really!!! I told him that my car is an auto and he said there is nothing to worry about because even the stock header in the car can handle it. Without being sure of anything I already thought that the information that guy was giving me was a bit shaky.
For the suspension, I was thinking about lowering the car maybe 1.5" or 2". I'm not sure how low that is but I would hate for it to rub against the tire when I'm cornering or driving on a bump. By the way, what exactly does a strut bar change in a car? does it make it drive better or does it make it a bit more stable "anti-swaying"?

not to sound mean but the guy at the shop doesn't sound like he knows much about your car or what it can handle. they are probably just trying to make a sale. Many honda automatics are great but they arent built to handle lots of extra power. most automatic cars cant handle too much more power unless they are already built for it. even tranny coolers only go so far. you could always have the trans built but thats tons of money.

honestly its not necessarily all about how low you go. if you want performance you want a stiffer spring in general with a shock that is designed to handle the spring load. researching these combos is a good idea. ideally though 1.5 inches is plenty. im putting h&r coilovers on my car ill let you know how they feel. ive done my share of research and experienced many setups and designs so feel free to ask me or PM me
about it.

as for strut bars. im assuming ones conecting the strut towers. these tie the towers together as to prevent them from bending away from each other in a heavy turn. essentially reinforcing the body and frame a bit. they dont do much though unless your on stock suspension. you wont notice much from what ive experienced. they can help though, good ones do. Ive noticed they help a little bit on heavy acceleration with powerful cars. also good for looks :cool:

1.)These stock automatic transmissions are not built to handle the stress that nitrous, or even a turbocharger inflicts on them... You keep saying you are wanting to save the ideas for another "project", but where does that end...Any way you go at it, to get the power you want is going to require alooooooooooooot of work...The header has nothing to do with spraying nitrous, if he did say that, than he has no idea what he is talking about, or you misinterpreted him... Nitrous is injected into the intake or throttle body or directly into the ports...
2.)A 1.5 to 2 inch drop is not too drastic, but to do this correctly its gonna require at least 400 dollars, and thats if your going to install yourself... You will need new springs, shocks, and struts, and they should be mated for each other, and what drop you end up doing...You should not have any problems with rubbing or anything like that with just that drop... The springs will be much stiffer, and there will be very little body roll...
The purpose of a sway bar is to reduce the amount of body roll that a car experiences during cornering. As the car rolls, the suspension on the inboard side is forced down towards the ground because it is connected with a solid piece of metal (the sway bar) to the side of the suspension towards the outside of the turn.
A sway bar increases a vehicle's grip by forcing the inside tires to stay on the ground. Sway bars can also make a vehicle more nimble by reducing the excess body roll that occurs during cornering and can help balance out handling.


The purpose of a strut brace is to reduce the amount of flex that the chassis experiences during cornering by bracing the tops of the struts and the strut towers against each other.
Benefits
A strut brace results in a more rigid chassis with less flexing and twisting, which translates to a more confidence-inspiring driving experience. A rigid chassis is more responsive, whereas excess movement and flexing can make a vehicle feel loose.

I feel like I am learning a lot by coming here. I'm really thankful for that :). I'm going to finish planning everything and do some more research then I'll get back to you guys. Of course, you can expect me to come with many more questions....Hopefully you won't get tired of me :D.

@CorvetteKing
I know from the beginning that my project is going to require a lot of work and that's why I'm not planning to take it too far and I'm shying away from thing like turbo and nitrous since they will need a lot more work. In addition, I was thinking about doing most of the work myself....let's just say those that I think I can do myself. Also, when I say next "project" I'm thinking more like "when I finally decided to build a race car with a bigger budget and a lot more free time"

By the way, I was thinking about buying a repair manual (haynes) for my Accord just so I could do some of the work myself and learn more about my car. I don't know if any of you guys use them. What I'd like to know...would it help when it comes to modifications or do I have to get some other repair manuals???

Dont buy a haynes repair manual, or any of that style manual... They are great, dont get me wrong, but for what your going to be doing, you should get a shop manual for your car... They are a little more expensive, but idk how many times a shop manual has saved my lifell...

Where exactly can I get it? I dont really mind spending the money.

Helm publishes the absolutely best shop manual for Hondas.
www dot helminc dot com

And now for the shameless plug... I got just the right one for you for sale... (link in my signature)

Maybe I am wrong but isn't that the manual that the car comes with. Cause I think I have one that look just like that in my glove box...Like I said, I might be wrong.
Thanks a lot by the way. I might just get it from you :)

Sorry, I went and check it...it was the owners manual. I was on the helm website just now checking out the manual...
here is a link to what I found
http://www.helminc.com/helm/product2...A06&itemtype=N

If someone could check it out and confirm that it is the right one. I would really appreciate that. I don't mind spending the money. However, I would mind spending it on the wrong stuff!

Yes, this is the right one... It will do you wonderss...

Helm also sells owner's manuals. The one I'm selling probably won't even fit into the glovebox. Probably about 1500 pages (8.5x11).

ps... Wow, they really dropped their prices; I think I paid about $80 for it. I'll have to check to make sure that's really what I have & go from there. I know for sure that mine covers your car and includes all kinds of electrical troubleshooting & diagnostic stuff.

Hey Jim...thanks for the help. I just I bought it yesterday and I found it at my front door this morning. CorvetteKing is right...that encyclopedia will do me wonders. I was told that I will need $180 to change my driving belt, I just went through the book just now and I already know what I am suppose to do in order to do it myself

Yeah, the belt itself is a bit pricey, but it's pretty easy to replace yourself. They make it sound easy in the book, but it really helps to have 2 people. Not much room for your hands so one guy laying on the ground reaching up from below & one guy reaching down from above.