Newbie looking for info/opinions!

Gotta love the ricers vs the world debate. this shit is gettin old. as for the original question... ill agree with some of the reply posts in that this is prob not the best place to ask for advice on an import, esp if your not planning on layin it out. check out tamparacing.net. back when i was in the racing scene, there were a lot of guys on there from the tampa FL area that knew their shit. there is also a GSR webpage somewhere on the net too, so look for that too.

and yea... tuners are not ricers. tuners are innovators... ricers are bandwagon jumpers

First of all I would like to say that I am a FEMALE.
Secondly, I want to thank the posts that gave me some info on websites to check out...Thanks so much! I didn't realize how much of a hassle this was going to be when I joined this site.
To all the "mini truckers" that had something bad to say........My comment "Grow up and stop judging people for what they drive!"
I've owned a '70 Nova, '82 Z28 (which I put a small block 350 into), '71 Valient, '79 5.0 Capri, '85 Olds Cutlass, Beat up '70 Full size pick up, and the list goes on, and on. This is my first import purchase and I'm happy with the car!

Edited: 6/1/2006 7:39:04 PM by madmax95

Edited: 6/1/2006 7:38:12 PM by madmax95

Edited: 6/1/2006 7:37:39 PM by madmax95

i really cant help ya on sites, but yea, this seems to be more of a minitrucker site, thats why i just read and laugh and get info. but one day i will be "on da ground" so keep an eye out. good luck with the integra, its a nice 'car'dont get me wrong, i love all 'customs' and this site rulls. later

Originally posted by GSR Vixen



Originally posted by civichic



thats because 95 % of ricers hate on newbies they forget that they were once newbs. sell the car buy a truck join the brotherhood...do a search teamintegra.nethttp://www.honda-tech.com

I tried Honda-Tech and they didn't seem to give any insight...I'm looking for opinions and explanations on why certain people think that certain things work better than others...etc.

I will definitely check out revscene. I forgot about that website! Thanks for replying to my post!

I sell a ton of import performance parts,Not all are on my site,but check out the site(click the banner) and hit me up with your needs and I'll help you out...

Edited: 6/12/2006 9:00:52 PM by Mires

First off find out what suspension is on the car. If they are cut springs get them off quickly. There are 2 ways to lowering a Honda. One is to replace the springs and shocks and two is to do coilovers. Basically a coilover is a shock that is threaded at the bottom with an adjustable collar that adjust up and down the threads. The spring sits on top of the collar. Adjusting the collar adjust your ride height. If you are fine with one height I would suggest just doing springs and shocks separately. Trust me coilovers are a pain in the ass. Great makers of springs include Eibach and Tein. Those are probably the 2 best ones. Both companies specialize in lowering springs but also do other suspension components such as sway bars.

If you do get coilovers make sure you don't get coilover sleeves. Instead of the shock being threaded they supply you with a spring and a threaded cylinder which slides over your existing shocks. These will lower your car fine but it will ride like ass cause a real coilover is designed and engineered to work as one unit where a coilover sleeve is not. Great coilover companies include Tein, Tanabe, or Ground Control. There are many good coilover manufacturers. Too many to list but those will get you started. A true coilover will cost a pretty penny. The decent ones start out at about $700. Usually anything cheaper is going to be a coilover sleeve which like I have said ride like ass and usually the construction isn't very good. As far as pulling to one side that usually means you need to get an alignment. Its best to get it lowered at your ride height. With springs and shocks its easy cause they aren't adjustable. If you opt for coilovers find your right height before getting it aligned.

Now for brakes. The Integra brakes are actually quite good since there are disk brakes on all 4 corners. There are several companies that make brake upgrade kits. Stoptech and AEM are probably the 2 biggest brands of big brake kits. I have a Type R which has bigger brakes the GSR so I cant complain about brakes. All I need is some good track pads and I will do perfectly fine using the brakes hard all day long. If you opt to not do a complete big brake kit I suggest just getting some good aftermarket pads like EBC and some stainless steel brake lines. That would help alot.

As far as the engine goes you started out great by having the GSR which has the 1.8l DOHC Vtec motor. Very high reving motor. You could hang out above 6000rpm all day and the motor wont break a sweat. There are a couple of ways to make more power. First is build all motor, go turbo, supercharger or opt to go nitrous. I for one hate nitrous. Its just hard on your motor especially when you get trigger happy and use it all the time. Going turbo is going to net you much larger power gains than if you were to go all motor. Getting a good turbo kit is probably the best way to start. The main thing to keep in mind is that the kit is only a start. The next thing that needs to be done in order to get the most out of the kit and to help reduce the chance of you blowing your motor up is to get a engine management system. Hondata is probably the best. It is a piggyback system. It basically plugs into your stock ecu and makes it adjustable. That's another thing. After you install the turbo and before you really drive it hard take it to a tuner who has experience with Hondata and tuning Hondas in general. Getting it on the dyno and tuned is the only way to make sure everything is working correctly and also make sure you get the most power. Just having your car tuned properly can gain up to 50hp. On average you will get 250-350hp total doing this setup at mild boost.

As far as all motor goes. Usually the list goes intake, header, high flow cat, exhaust. Then the next is usually cams and valve train. In all honesty tuning greatly helps you with all motor as well. Now the motor now puts out 170 at the crank which translates to about 140-150 at the wheels. Now Ive seen properly tuned GSR motors put down on average 200-215 at the wheels with just these few bolt-ons.

A supercharger is another way to get some pretty decent power. The two main supercharger companies are Jackson Racing and Vortec. Vortec makes a little more power but is a little more expensive. Again, engine management is needed here also. You will usually get power right in between all motor and turbo but with a supercharger you get instant power from 0 to full throttle. A turbo needs time to spool up so you usually dont get the power until about 3500 rpm.

I know it was mentioned before but Honda-Tech.com is probably the best place to get info on Hondas. They have many forums dedicated to different stuff. They have an all-motor forum, wheel, tire, and brake forum as well as a turbo forum. At first visit the guys can seem like dicks but its just because everything possible about Integras has been covered 1000 times already. The best way to get info is to search for each thing one by one looking at hundreds of past threads. There are thousands of dyno plots on Honda-Tech about every engine component imaginable which will show you which gains the most power. When you decide which route you want to take I can help you with what brands are usually better than others. Email is ITR862@msn.com. If there is anything else you can post it up here also.

I also want to add that it is true that a tuner is different than a ricer. A ricer likes body kits while a tuner prefers a lip kit. Tuners prefer small light wheels over big heavy wheels. Tuners prefer handling over being slammed on cheap bouncy coil overs. Honda's are just the new generation of cheap cars with unlimited possibilities. Every car community has a few bad seeds. Its just too bad import drivers have a few million.

NOW there is a true MiniTrucker! Someone helping someone else!! HELL YEAH!!!Great job Mires.NOTE: he prolly don't own a truck but he should.

Edited: 6/12/2006 8:59:53 PM by idragbodyS10

i got a civic..no nothing about import motors tho...its as far from rice as they get..

..had a prelude to..sold it..was quick..

would help ya if i could..

Edited: 6/12/2006 9:04:53 PM by Mires

Originally posted by Todsmack



NOW there is a true MiniTrucker! Someone helping someone else!! HELL YEAH!!!Great job Mires.NOTE: he prolly don't own a truck but he should.

I had a fullsize once for a while but it was already done up a little. I had a stock Ranger years ago but thats about it. However I do have many minitruck friends. One day I will own one of everything. Untill then all I got is my Integra.

Thanks for the kind words.