I have a 96 GSR 4 door that is my daily driver and I'm looking for some ideas on giving it some more pep. The handling is under control (ITR springs/shocks/rear sway) but it just needs a little more oomph. It's my daily driver, will see very few track events, and needs to remain reliable.
The car has 150K + on the original engine, it doesn't burn oil, and has all of the maintenance up to date. I know adding boost is probably the best bang for the buck but what are my options going NA? I'm only after a little more power, like mid to low 14's in a quarter (if we have to put a number on it). My budget is south of $2K.
I know hondatech has a plethora of info but most of the posts make my head hurt. What do the hondaphiles on here suggest?
cxhb
Reader
9/24/09 11:57 p.m.
cams + springs/retainers?
Look into some B16B Civic type R cams (the 98+ models). Or possibly even Buddy Club Spec 3.
The BC Spec 3 has always been known as the "all around cam" . But of course, i cannot vouch for either of these as i have no personal experience with either but seeing dyno graphs has got me thinking those two are pretty good all around (flatter TQ curve). Just remember to get a tune as soon as possible by a reputable person, because tuning is where ALL the power is. Better the tuner, better the outcome.
A decent clutch and a real light flywheel makes a good difference in a honda, they love to rev, so why not make it easier for them to do so? I have an 8lb flywheel in my B16 and it feels pretty good.
Mid 14's you can hit without adding any more power 
My suggestion, is be patient, look for some used good quality parts in the form of an intake/header/exhaust. That should run you 1k at the most. Then the cams and tuning with approx 800$?! That should net you some very obvious gains. A lighter flywheel or shorter final drive (ITR) are also both very good options if you know what you are doing!
Stay away from boost, you dont need the headaches on your dd.
intake/header/exhaust is a good place to start, and probably a new cat wouldn't hurt with 150k on the old one. IIRC, there is good power to be made with an aftermarket intake manifold to eliminate the stock variable runner gizmo. The last time I paid attention to B-series the hp/$ winner was the AEBS Typhoon intake manifold.
Cams are also a good idea, and if you did the above at the same time, you could probably unleash a few extra by port matching the head to the intake and exhaust.
You should sell the GSR swap, and buy 10 D16's and a turbo kit. Just swap engines when you blow them up 
cxhb
Reader
9/25/09 12:14 a.m.
apex'i World Sport 2 exhaust is awesome. Very very subtle but still makes a good sound, even without a cat.
oh, BTW. Stay away from piggyback fuel management systems, i have yet to really hear one good story from someone using them.
In reply to cxhb:
No need for piggyback on an older honda. They have been tweaked and tuned in every which way you can tune one for nearly free and probably using only a screwdriver ;)
Base and WOT maps! heh
cxhb wrote:
apex'i World Sport 2 exhaust is awesome. Very very subtle but still makes a good sound, even without a cat.
oh, BTW. Stay away from piggyback fuel management systems, i have yet to really hear one good story from someone using them.
I liked my V-AFC, but I know there were much better options out there. I was using it in a plug-tuned AFC hack with DSM 450cc/min injectors on a D15.
A friend of mine in Pittsburgh had intake/header/exhaust and a chip, and his car was right in the neighborhood of my Type R in a straight line, I think he ran a 14.6 to my 14.5 at a strip one evening. Can't remember what the chip was, AEM intake and I think a DC Sports header. No idea on the exhaust, it was very shiny.
rwdsport wrote:
Stay away from boost, you dont need the headaches on your dd.
Yeah, that's what I was thinking. I want to keep things as simple as possible and prevent this from snowballing into a "project". One bolt-on at a time is good for me.
Right now the car is about the perfect fwd car I've ever driven....I never thought I'd say that.
Personally, the idea of spending 2 large in parts (not including the price of the car, obviously) to run mid-14's hurts my heart. Leave the DD the hell alone. Build a 12-13 - sec. turbo beater with your $2k.
Just my humble $.02.
Get a short ram intake and a vtec controller and turn the vtec activition point way up (like 7k rpm) so that by the time the vtec hits the engine will be straining on the low RPM lobes and sounds like a deep throaty gasping sound. When vtec engages, your new short ram intake will make it sound like howling banshess and it feels like you've hit a 2fast 2furious nos button.
This actually makes the car slower, but it will make it feel much faster.
Scott Lear wrote:
A friend of mine in Pittsburgh had intake/header/exhaust and a chip, and his car was right in the neighborhood of my Type R in a straight line, I think he ran a 14.6 to my 14.5 at a strip one evening. Can't remember what the chip was, AEM intake and I think a DC Sports header. No idea on the exhaust, it was very shiny.
I'd hope a GSR with that stuff done would, theres only a 20hp difference between the two!
poopshovel wrote:
Personally, the idea of spending 2 large in parts (not including the price of the car, obviously) to run mid-14's hurts my heart. Leave the DD the hell alone. Build a 12-13 - sec. turbo beater with your $2k.
Just my humble $.02.
Yeah, I probably won't spend all 2K but the car was bought for cheap and I don't mind putting in a little money to make it better. It's not my intent to make it a quartermile monster either...I just threw out that number as a gauge.
Unfortunately I don't have anywhere to park a project at the moment. Where I live, I can barely find a place to park this car!
HiTempguy wrote:
I'd hope a GSR with that stuff done would, theres only a 20hp difference between the two!
25, thank you very much, and they're all very special horses. (Type R owners are sensitive to this stuff.)
CLNSC3
New Reader
9/26/09 2:42 a.m.
I drove a supercharged GSR not too long ago and I was thinking that it would be a perfect DD. I don't think you would run into too many headaches with a low boost supercharger!
andrave
HalfDork
9/28/09 11:06 a.m.
actually a roots supercharger on a honda motor is a reliability match made in heaven. The roots charger adds proportionally "more" boost at lower rpms, enhancing the torque, while tapering off at high rpms when cylinder pressure and piston speed and etc (engine stress in general) is at its highest.
They don't make much peak power but they enhance driveability and make cool noises. Biggest drawbacks are cost and weight.
