Life is hard. The boss yells at you, homework is neverending, and parents just don't understand. Plus, your girlfriend is tired of riding in your played-out hoopty. Well, here at Super Street, we can help. Want to pimp-out your G35? We're on it. Trying to run 12's in your '87 Accord? Help is on the way. Got a weird rash on your butt? For God's sake, see a doctor! (even we have our limits). So, pick up a wrench and get to work. When that seemingly unsolvable problem rears its ugly head, pick up a crayon, scribble it down, and snail mail it to: Super Street magazine, c/o Technical Support, 6420 Wilshire Blvd. Los Angeles, CA 90048. Or step into the 21st century and send us one of those emails at tech@superstreetonline.com. Include your name and location (it really is important), preferably in English as our bootleg Klingon translator program crashed on us. As always, fabulous prizes go to the Technical Support Inquiry of the Month. This time, Ed from the mysterious realm known as the Internet is our lucky winner. He receives a wonderful set of hood dampers from PasswordJDM (www.passwordjdm.com).
QUESTION OF THE MONTH
Q
I have a '99 Civic EX that's a great car, but needs more. More displacement, that is. I am looking at an engine swap, but I want it to fit under the hood with a turbo kit, as well as be somewhat cost effective. I am considering an H22, and I have looked into the B18C5 route, but so far I can't find one for less than $5,000.
Ed
Via the Internet
A
"There is no replacement for displacement." How many times have you seen some domestic dude wearing a t-shirt with that slogan on it? Well as weak as those guys are, they got that one right. The higher end, B-series engines are becoming rarer everyday, and more expensive, as you have found. The H22, on the other hand, is more available at the junkyard, and features an extra half-liter of displacement. It's a really strong engine that, with only rods and pistons, is ready to make enough HP to fry the tires off your Civic. It'll fit under the hood, even with a turbo, and will perform reliably for a long time. Hasport (www.hasport.com) can hook you up with everything you need to make this install go smoothly. As long as you are thinking about it, you might think about going straight to the K-swap, as this engine is still in production and guys are getting a ton of power out of them.
Q
Hi, fellas. I just bought an '05 Dodge Neon SRT-4 that, so far, is completely stock. It's fast as hell, but I would like to get more horsepower out of it. This is the first turbo car I've ever owned, so I'm looking for some cheap and effective ways to do this. I hear that using an intake, exhaust and boost controller are the cheapest ways to go, but nobody can tell me how much power I'll be looking at or if they'll make any difference. It's my daily, so I can't shut it down for weeks at a time, either; maybe modifications that I can do over a weekend. I am pretty good with cars, but like I said, this is my first turbo car, so I like to know a little bit more about how they work.
Jake Jacob
New Orleans, LA
P.S. I've always noticed that the people who bash your awesome magazine always win the prize of the month. YOUR MAG SUCKS! Just kidding; thanks for the help!
A
Jake, it is good to see that some things are getting back to normal in your neck of the woods. For a first try, you picked a pretty good turbo car to fix up. While the SRT-4's don't get the press that more traditional imports get, they are well- supported by the aftermarket, if you know where to look. An intake and exhaust are pretty low cost parts that can be installed by a regular dude in an afternoon and are worth about 8-12 HP each. AEM and DC sports have you covered on this, as well as a plug-and-play engine management setup when things start to get serious. They also have a bunch of turbo-related gear like gauges and boost controllers that you can use. Check them out at www.aempower.com. Another great option is the Mopar catalog (http://mopar.com) where they have just what you are looking for. Their kits are factory-engineered, and have power levels that range from damn fast to downright ridiculous.