I have a 2003 Acura Rsx and I really can't decide what to do with it! I'm looking around for a rear wing and a carbon fiber hood, and that's about all I'm willing to do to the exterior.. my question is what can I do to get that extra umph without burning a hole in my wallet. It's the base model, not the S model and the only thing it has done under the hood is a K&N CAI. Anyone know anything I could to to make my baby just a bit more flashy and fun?
I'm just going to assume the RSX is FWD, WHY WOULD YOU PUT A FRICKING SPOILER ON THE BACK OF A FRONT WHEEL DRIVE CAR?! Seems kind of pointless to push down on the back of a car, which would raise the front.... As for the hood, don't do it, at a distance it will look like unpainted plastic and make your car look like shit. Keep it looking stock, aka sleeper.
well I'm not really going to race or anything, so I don't mind the added weight in the rear. I tend to have unmentionables in the vehicle a lot so I would never risk it in a silly street race. also it's lowered I think a half inch or so lower in the front than the back to begin with from the previous owner. and I really wanna do the hood because there's a paint chip on the front with a little rust filling it, as well as a small dent. so I figured I'd get a new hood altogether
I agree on the spoiler. If your daring you could take out your spare tire and some non essential mismash to shed weight.
ohhh, good suggestion! that hadn't even crossed my mind. I'm about to buy some new tires (probably along with some new black rims) so I'd be comfortable leaving the spare
Coilovers, headers, test pipe, exhaust. That's pretty much it. Supercharger, turbocharger et. al. notwithstanding of course
Alright... I thought you were one of the ricers who didn't understand what a spoiler is meant to do. If you get one, get a smaller one, not one that's sittong half a foot off the hood... But i wouldn't do carbon fiber, that'll attract cops also. Get a nice paint job instead, in your favorite color, and get it done right..
Replaces the catalytic converters with a straight piece of pipe. Not cool on some Japanese OBDII cars. I know Toyota's will throw a trouble code if you cut out the cats.
I toyed with the idea of splurging on a paint job, but to get a half decent one it would cost more than I'm willing to spend to be honest. I have about 1000 to spend at the moment so it's a bit of a tight budget. I was thinking of seeing if the custom shop I use would be interested in sponsoring the car and maybe running a decal or something and bringing the car to local auto shows in exchange for discount or free services. Has anyone heard of a shop doing something like that? I know skateshops sponsor skaters, so would an auto shop sponsor a driver? I would do this, but I don't think it will pass inspection without the cat? I know it wouldn't back in VA, but I just moved to Florida. Probably have to have antique tags, which my RSX isn't old enough for.
Any car will throw a trouble code for no cats. You can have them disabled on most cars though. Mine has something like 20 lights disabled ahahaha.
use a spark plug non-fouler for the o2 sensor. With $1000 I'd spend about $500 on an exhaust, cut the springs for free, $200 for k20a2 head and then spend the last 300 on a ounce.
well due to mandatory monthly drug tests until november, that $300 would (unfortunately) be better invested somewhere else. does anybody have any experience with those kinda cheapy/knockoff ebay exhaust systems?
You can have hedders and dual pipes installed for $500 around here. Cut the springs free? HA. With the other half of your budget find a good tuner shop and have them look at your fuel delivery. Look for a better rail, higher flow injectors.. a performance ignition coil is crucial as well. After you work on coil and fuel delivery... if you even decide to at all, this is what you must do if you want more performance, you need a custom mapped fuel delivery chart and it takes an automotive genius and some serious $$ to tune your engine but almost every single production car has been de-tuned and a simple manipulation of the built in fuel, air, spark ratio spread sheets will yield impressive results. Not to mention it must be done to account for modifications. There are 3 things an engine needs, and 3 ways to improve its performance. -More and colder air -Increased intensity of spark -Increased fuel delivery
^ no, I'm not a huge gearhead, I just dig nice cars. I will be able to do the more simple DIY things, but i have no idea how these systems attach and I do not have access to a welder besides my shop.
besides your shop? Can you weld? U have a shop? Haha, you need to find a buddy than can help you out and plan a saturday night. entice someone with a case of beer and install hedders yourself. You can order custom stainless steel hedders tubes and exhaust pipe and do the welding yourself even if you've got the write equipment its not that hard. Really save a ton of money. You can install new injectors and higher psi fuel rails yourself possibly but regardless you will need to pay someone to hook their computer up and really bring out the best of your engine. Whens the last time you checked the spark plugs? You can install all the hardware and if you serious I can help you through some of it just get me at PM.