Can anyone tell me what kind of engine my 2008 Civic LX 4door would be? I've been reading the forums about swapping engines and truthfully I'm interested in the possibility in gaining more HP when it comes to replacing it. Would an Acura engine swap do it?

 

you have the r18a1. Swap may cost alot, not sure. No offense, but if you don't know what engine you have, don't bother swapping it with another engine. You'll end up paying some ridiculous amount to a shop as they will scam you one way or another. First, research what you have right now, and what you want to do. Then, proceed with the doing part.

If you don't care about what i wrote above, if you do decide to "gain more hp", swap with an si or rsx-s motor. its the k20z1 i believe. you will have to get the mounts from a si from your generation. You'll also have to get a new ecu, and a bunch of other parts.

Hope this helps.

 

Also have to swap the tranny. And if your car is auto, you'll have to convert to manual...

 

^ true. i forgot to add that part.

 

Don't swap, turbo yo!

But to be honest, the car is heavy, slow and good on gas, don't bother.

If you really want to do something to make it faster, why not tell us your budget, and please please tell me its manual.

 

Hey Thanks for the info guys!

So here is the deal.... It's an automatic 4 dr sedan. I bought cause my turbo cuv is hella expensive on gas. I drive about 94km each way to work so I needed something better on gas. Since I drive a lot, when I use up this engine I thought maybe a better/ faster replacement might be an option. Im not interested in switching to manual anymore coz Im lazy.

I want to give it some pep without having to hear it from the wife that Im not Vin Diesel and/or Fast and the Furious was just a movie. So it needs to be subtle. Im not sure what budget subtle changes will cost me yet.

I looked into getting a short ram at Pac Mall and was told only KN & N makes it and it's around $290. I thought it was kinda expensive for minimal gain. Besides, I heard Injen makes better intakes. I dont know if that is a fact.

Any suggestions on little tricks available for my car without breaking the bank?

 

Mike (MPR)....

Bro, tell me about budget mods available for my car.

 

Ok. You can do all the little stuff (intake exhaust etc...) and it will still add up to cost quite a bit, but because the car is auto and has the stock 1.8, the gains will be minimal and barely noticeable at best. It'll sounds nice, but that's about it.

Honestly if you really want noticeable power gains, you'll have to turbo what you have (expensive) and the auto trans will hate you and not hold the power. That is not a joke, it's a fact.

If you want to swap to something with more power (k20) you have no choice but to swap and convert to a manual trans as well. This will also be very expansive. The only other option is the lower powered k20 (with 160hp) from the base RSX which was available with an automatic trans. I don't know how swappable this trans is with the 8th gen civic so you'd have to research if it's even possible. I doubt anyone has even tried.

Significant and noticeable power gains do not come cheap. It just doesn't work that way.

In my honest opinion, if this is your daily driver, keep it bone stock and maintain it properly and it will give you many many years of trouble-free operation and not suck gas like a chevy big block.

If you want a fun car, keep a project car (sounds like you already have one) for messing around with and going fast.

I don't know if all this is what you wanted to hear but it's the best advise I can give you.

 

That's cool. I appreciate the advice.

So I cant get much performance, I'll just dress it up better!!! LOL

I guess a remote starter would be first on the list. Hey, there are no engine complication with that right?

 

Hmm was gonna be sarcastic but...ill be honest. Don't buy k&n or injet intakes. You buy a pipe and a 30$ filter for crazy money. Make your own...buy a filter and call it a day. For exhaust, get axle back if you want noise, but tbh, auto and exhaust sound terrible.