Most effective and most cheapest engine mod

[Peter]

Hey guys, what is the most effective engine mod that’s free or cheap?

Topic

[Jonathan Stiver]

For those Hondas, an engine swap is prolly the most cost effective, substantial, reliable increase in power per dollar. You can get a jdm h23a for under $1000, bolts right up and is almost 100% plug and play. That’s 200hp vs the 120hp stock for maybe $800, $10/hp for reliable power. If it’s an automatic transmission, though, it’s not worth putting anything into it – they have a hard enough time holding together in regular daily driving on a Honda.

[Fernando cunha]

That’s the cool.
Maybe in USA you have no problems registering the car with different engine.
In Australia there are regulations in some cases a engineers certificate will need to go on car
and there not cheap but if you just want to race it no rego, that will be the way to go

[Fernando cunha]

i think the cheapest way stick a turbo on it

[Jonathan Stiver]

Many states don’t care what engine is in a vehicle as long as it passes the emissions test, if applicable. Even in states that strictly adhere to federal guidelines, you are allowed to swap in any engine from the same manufacturer as the vehicle (Honda, Chrysler, VW, etc) that is the same model year or newer as long as it is obd-II compliant. I had a JDM Honda engine swap that would pass emissions inspection on my stock ECM, although I ran an aftermarket tuned ECM the rest of the time.

[Fernando cunha]

Well in Sydney if I have 1.8L turbo
and put a 2L engine turbo same manufacture.
RTA (Roads and Traffic Authority) will question the size and send you packing
For engineers certificate.
With Eric car he had to weld rods under car im sure to
Make car safe in order to take v8
im sure is same thing in his state.
As for emissions I think law started 1985 if a car comes with a catalytic converter you can only
Register car with catalytic converter.
If a car 1984 didn’t come out from factory with catalytic converter
Them your allowed to register without catalytic converter.
Every state in Australia have different law im sure USA has similar

[Markus]

Cost effective and tuning… do they really belong together in one sentence? Let us call it ‘optimizing’.
Like the others have stated: Maintenance is the key… if you install any power adders, that will usually require more maintenance, just for up-keep
Power adders, if done wrong/misconfigured, will cause stress to other parts of the vehicle, if they have not also been ‘brought up to par’.
Power is good, power is, well, power, but does the vehicle have the power to brake that power too?? I would not want a 300 hp monster with drum brakes
Never-the-less, it’s your car/time/money. No matter what anyone writes here, it’s your call…
Tuning is such a muli-facetted hobby. There is not one single person out there that can ‘do-it-all’ to perfection. Mechanics, upholstery, electricians/hifi pros, bodywork, painters… choose your poison, bro…

Markus

[Author]

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