i just bought a '98 accord Ex (4cyl. 5spd) and i dont know where to start. the apperance is all hooked up. Full lip kit, euro's, turbo gauges, lowered 2", the works! I'm all stock under the hood (cept for aerospeed strut bar) so it sucks wen i look a cheetah but run like a rock. People have suggested performance chips and AEM CAIs for more power. wat should i do?

 

A good place to start in any car whether it is SOHC or DOHC is in weight reduction especially in a SOHC car. Other good ideas are with the AEM CAI. If your mechanical skill is at a more advanced level you can move on to timing pullys, ignition timing, header, upper intake manifiold, new plug wires, new plugs, internal engine components such as valves, valve springs, forged pistons, port and polish the head, Skunk 2 camshafts,and up to turbo or supercharger. I dont recommend a turbo for a daily driven car. The cost on a turbo upgrade is insane. It can run you upwards of $4000 even if you purchase everything off of Ebay. The turbo itself is only around $1000 but by the time you upgrade your ECU with a piggy back system new fuel pump, new fuel rail, new injectors, turbo timers, and put in a block guard along with all these other upgrades to get maximum performance you wont have very good gas mileage and it may not be reliable from day to day. You can take the cheap route and just drop in the turbo and start racing but I can assure you the motor itself will not hold up long. Honda blocks and ECU's are not made for turbo. Without proper attention you will run extremely lean and burm a hole in a piston or overboost and blow a hole in your block. It has been said that the honda block can handle 7lbs. of constant boost well but we are all power freaks and we will keep adjusting the boost up until we are satisfied and without proper tuning and build up it wont last.