My 94...
 

I recently bought a 94 Lx 4 door. It's a real nice car, but it's an automatic and I'm really starting to miss driving stick. But, if I could get some real power into this thing, I think I'd have alot more fun driving it. For those of you with some experience, what would be the first thing to modify in order to increase some horsepower? keep in mind that I have a limited budget... Should I start with and intake, 4 to 1 headers and hi-flow exhaust? or start with an ECU or something else?? any help would be much appreciated!

well the accords are not known for mad power, and the intake, header and exhaust won't doo too much for power. if you want you could save up for a prelude engine swap. that's 60 extra hp to start with.

The I/H/E mods will add maximum 10hp, and the computer is not necessary with those mods.

Okay. Well, if horsepower is out, then what about just boosting speed? Anyone know of anything in that year car that's just dead weight? Also, what type of engine is in the prelude, as in size, ect..?? Anyone out there that has made mods to their accord?

well the prelude engine is a 2.2l dohc vtec. i drove quite a few preludes and they by far beat the hell out of the old f22's(accord engines). i had the intake/exhaust and ignition on my accord. also you might wanna look into a www.levelten.com torque converter, they are supposed to be good, and minimize drivetrain losses. theother route, besides the h22 engine would be turbo the accord engine ( they are monsters for boost)

Yeah, I wish I had the money to throw a turbo into my car. That'd sure leave some people in disbelief that they had just gotten beaten by a 4 door lx... it seems wierd for me to sink more money into the car in terms of a turbo kit than what I actually payed for the car... what does the torque converter do exactly. I've heard about them, but I don't know what they do. I know cars and I can fix damn near anything, but all this performance stuff is new to me.

well to make it simple the torque converter is the clutch of an automatic. read this http://auto.howstuffworks.com/torque-converter.htm

Okay....well, I know how a torque converter works... what I meant to ask is how does a new one give me more horsepower?

now that I've spent about 3 years with my car I really wish I would've started with he suspension. honestly the accord won't be fast unless you spend a good load of money. like stefan said this can be done by either engine swapping or building the internals and boostin her.
but make sure when you upgrade the suspension to do it right the first time

Thanks for the tip. The first thing I ever did to the car was install a front strut tower bar, and that alone made a big difference in handling. Where I live, there's nothing but winding roads, and I love taking them as fast as I can, and suspension deffinately plays a big part in the drifting world... but now that I have a front-wheel, I'm finding myself doing drag more often...not to say that I don't still school some people on the back roads around town....

what did you own before the accord?

hey the accord is a fun car to take on winding roads, just make sure your shit sticks to the ground and your good to go

Before the Accord I owned a '90 Nissan pickup...doesn't sound like much, but the thing could deffinately leave people in the dust... But it was stick, and rear wheel, and a ton of fun to drive. between that and my uncle's Chevelle that I borrowed from time to time, I learned how to drive real well on back roads... I will say though, that the Accord sticks to the pavement like duct tape compared to the truck.

It'll reduce parasitic power loss in the transmission and make better use of your engine's powerband. I don't own a Honda...but I do know that when I stuck a new converter/tranny combo into my Mustang I dropped my e.t. over .5 seconds in the 1/4. Plus most aftermarket converters have better torque multiplication versus stock shit. That stock converter is tighter than a clam's ass so a slight increase in stall speed will do wonders in a seat-of-your-pants kind of way. Level Ten has always made some pretty good stuff. I'd rather go with Precision Industries, but I'm not sure they're in the Honda market.

The most bang for the buck would be a nitrous kit. If installed and used properly, nitrous is an extremely reliable source of cheap horsepower.

Hmm...well a friend of mine has been telling me that a great way to get 35+ hp is to get something called "the turbonator". It's supposed to be an electronic supercharger. Anyone have any reviews on the product?

Well...I don't have one personally and don't know anyone dumb enough to buy one, but I can tell you that those things are a joke. Essentially the things are just electric fans, and there's only so much air flow you can gain from a small electric fan. I also can't imagine any sort of pressurization that would be necessary for forced induction to work. You're probably just as well off buying one of those stupid metal things you stick in your inlet tubing that spins the air.

My vote is for a nice set of light weight wheels. Not only will they improve the overall look of your car, but dropping weight on the wheels will definitely make the car more responsive. You should be able to find some really nice lightweight wheels and tires for under $1000. Combine those with some quality springs and shocks, and you'll have a nice looking car that's still fun to drive

Well, I appreciate all the input I've gotten from everyone. Alot of these ideas sound great... just to bad I didn't have more money... Oh well, time to put in some more hours... I'm sure I'll come up with some more questions for everyone, but thanks again...

and while you get the money you are more than welcome to post in the offtopic section too. we always could use more members