blank slate Civic

Hi all,

I just picked up a '92 Civic EX sedan as a work car. High mileage,
loaded, excellent shape. New plugs, oil, filters, blah blah, runs
great, but a bit slow. That's fine as long as I get the high mpg.
What're some basic cheap performance mods that you folks have
experienced? I'm not after a "F&F" wannabe look, just looking to
upgrade a bit. Advice? Links?

 

If you do upgrade it , you will short the engine life.

 

there are tons of message boards/forums about your inquiry. do a search
on 92-95 honda civic, honda civic eg or other civic related sites. or
you can directly go to aftermarket parts distributors and do your own
research on shopping for parts.

 

I'd keep it stock and save up for some low profile tires (but not fat) with
light weight rims.

Pars

 

I've been looking at Tirerack for a set and they do post the weight of
their wheels. Going light makes sense. Too bad the car came with darn
near new tires on it (too bad?) I'll probably replace those steel
wheels when these tires wear out.

I was thinking about a K&N or AEM cold air pipe. MMDir2, think that
would really shorten engine life?

 

Those performance air intake will let more dirt into your engine. However,
if you increase the frequency of your oil change (every 3000 miles), it
should compensate

I've put on about 80,000km on my K&N filters before retiring it. I'm now
using Honda's stock filters because I've extended my oil change interval to
every 15,000km (or more). The fact that the oil is synthetic (Mobel-1) also
helps.

I'd try and save on the maintenance (but don't take any shortcuts with
cooling system or it's components) and simply enjoy the good mileage return.
It's going be costly to maintain a 14 years old car, I wouldn't waste $$$ on
add-on that will increase the maintenance overhead.

However, if you're really desperate to get more power (and swapping engine
is not an option), I'd trash the Air Condition Unit and all it's components.

Pars

 

Sounds reasonable. Not looking to sacrifice the AC (I have 2 toddlers
in car seats in the back). I put in Mobil 1 synth the other day, so
maybe just a K&N replacement filter and not the pipe thing. Yeah, it's
old already. Sigh...

Thanks