MP3 vs 03 Civic Ex

905MP3

Member
I normally do not race unless I have to. But, last night my brother inlaw and I went to Norport to test out my cars. BTW, I have two cars, 2003 Civic EX and my MP3. I was driving in my car (my car is stock except CAI and B&M shifter) and my brother inlaw was in the civic (the civic is STOCK!). We stopped at the lights and when it turned green we went for it, I launched at approx. 2,500 rpm. I was ahead by one and a half car lengths, then when I shifted to 2 at approx. 6300 rpm, he started gaining on me like I was sleeping. I was like "what the ^%&$!" We raced again, this time I was ahead on gears 1 and 2 but when my RPM reached 4500rpm on 3rd gear, he again was zooming by like I was swimming in mud.

So, What did I do???
We switched cars and lined up. Now I'm in the Civic and launched at approx. 2800 rpm. When the light turned green, I can see my brother inlaw jumping ahead of me about 1 car length. As soon as I felt the VTEC kick in I was gaining on him and beat him on 3rd. We race again, and the same thing happened. My MP3 lost 4 times to a stock- fricken -civic.

My MP3 runs fine daily but I think there may be somthing wrong with the car..?. I have to get my car checked. Seems like the car does not pull like how it should. Does anyone have this problem in their MP3?---> Have any MP3/ P5 raced the 03 Civic EX.
 
i used to own an 01 ex, and it is slow as hell. mp3 should take it all day long. Something must be wrong here
 
Agree.......

I've raced Civics when I had my ES. It was pretty even. Driver's race.

KpaBap, I agree with you.


i used to own an 01 ex, and it is slow as hell. mp3 should take it all day long. Something must be wrong here

I know there is diffen. somthing wrong with my MP3. I've beaten civics before. When I ran my car this morning on the Gtech, the info. I got back was very poor. Humm.... well I guess back to the dealer ship, I am still cover by warrenty. The problem might be the fuel system..?..I'm not sure, the car still runs fine, just when the car gets to the mid rpms it lags and/or stalls.
 
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Shift out of 1st at 5,500 RPM's.

My neighbor runs Planet Tuner, a shop around town.
He had a Dyno Day at his shop last month, and the guy that runs the dyno said that everyone thinks the longer you make your gears last the better. He said that most imports start losing their power right up around redline.

I noticed since I've had my P5 everyonce and awhile I could Bark my tires in second gear but not always. Well when My neighbor was with me he told me to Shift 5500 Rpm, and my front wheels Barked! So after that I believe that the Dyno guy is right!
 
You have to take into consideration what RPMs are best for making the most power out of the current gear, and then consider the entry RPMs for the next gear. If you're entering the next gear around 3900-4000 rpms, that's probably the best way to shift, since on our cars that's where most of the torque lies. Torque moves s***.
 
Thanks guys,

there is somthing that is not right about my car. After when I check it out I'll let you guys know. The car lags between 4500 to 5000. I can feel the car stalling between those rpm.

I normally shift on 5000 at 1st gear, shift at 5500 on 2nd, shift at between 5500 - 6000, and etc... I never red-line my car. I understand that after 5500 or so, I will not be picking up much speed.
 
Thanks guys,

there is somthing that is not right about my car. After when I check it out I'll let you guys know. The car lags between 4500 to 5000. I can feel the car stalling between those rpm.

I normally shift at 5000 on 1st gear, shift at 5500 on 2nd, shift at between 5500 - 6000, and etc... I never red-line my car. I understand that after 5500 or so, I will not be picking up much speed.
 
how many miles on the car? change the plugs and wires if its got 40 or 50k on it, and you might actually gain back about 5 hp...as for me, i whoop on civics all the time, even with the VTEC...remember though, that the VTEC has a better power curve than the proteges...

I normally do not race unless I have to
<-- LMFAO
 
905MP3 said:
I normally do not race unless I have to. But, last night my brother inlaw and I went to Norport to test out my cars. BTW, I have two cars, 2003 Civic EX and my MP3. I was driving in my car (my car is stock except CAI and B&M shifter) and my brother inlaw was in the civic (the civic is STOCK!). We stopped at the lights and when it turned green we went for it, I launched at approx. 2,500 rpm. I was ahead by one and a half car lengths, then when I shifted to 2 at approx. 6300 rpm, he started gaining on me like I was sleeping. I was like "what the ^%&$!" We raced again, this time I was ahead on gears 1 and 2 but when my RPM reached 4500rpm on 3rd gear, he again was zooming by like I was swimming in mud.

So, What did I do???
We switched cars and lined up. Now I'm in the Civic and launched at approx. 2800 rpm. When the light turned green, I can see my brother inlaw jumping ahead of me about 1 car length. As soon as I felt the VTEC kick in I was gaining on him and beat him on 3rd. We race again, and the same thing happened. My MP3 lost 4 times to a stock- fricken -civic.

My MP3 runs fine daily but I think there may be somthing wrong with the car..?. I have to get my car checked. Seems like the car does not pull like how it should. Does anyone have this problem in their MP3?---> Have any MP3/ P5 raced the 03 Civic EX.
[/QUOTE/]

Man i whooped on a 2000Civic EX 5-spd with I/H/E by 1 1/2car's in my MP3 and all i had then was just the Injen CAI. Now I have the:

Injen CAI
ACT street Clutch
Indigo #9 Aluminum flywheel
Tornado (gas saver)lol

Also i can keep up with my buddy's 00Si with I/E. If i get good traction I win and if i get bad traction or if he get's good traction he win's only by half to 1car lengh.
 
I'm not too surprised because the vtec in honda's is what helps them gain speed in the upper rpm's. Whereas in our proteges we have more torque through out the power band so that would explain why you always have the lead through the first two gears.
 
proman said:
I'm not too surprised because the vtec in honda's is what helps them gain speed in the upper rpm's. Whereas in our proteges we have more torque through out the power band so that would explain why you always have the lead through the first two gears.

yeah but still the 00-03 Civic EX's are weak compared to the MP3/ Even the P5. Those were nothing like the 92-98 EX's those yrs of civic's run pretty quick for 1.6liter 125hp.
 
Honda Civic EX does not really have "VTEC." The version of VTEC on the Civics are known as SOHC VTEC, which in terms, saves gas rather than give it extra power..
 
The 2001+ civic is a 1.7L with more torque than the 2000 EX.

I owned a 2001 Civic LX(non-vtec) and I schooled I/H/E 6thgen civics all the time. That was before the P5.

Now, taking a look at my setup, you can see I'm not stock and I have a heavy P5. I have raced several 7thgen civics from a rolling start and I can tell you that torque owns in the protege's! There is no way you should be losing to a stock civic as long as you're a competent driver.
 
a Small Piece of advice...Any civic w/ a V-tec..will beat a protege stock for stock..those v-tecs kick in in those high rpms..

I have raced many civic's including those that are v-tecs and yes they will win...

But w/ my small shot of nitrous..They never get a chance....LOL

Chas
 
he's right...my wifes stock 2k1 civic ex auto sedan (2600lbs) would pull on my stock p5...after intake and exhaust on the p5 i could keep up with her but at higher rpms she'd leave me behind as the fs-de is a weak engine trying to pull 2800-2900lbs...now its not even close with my latest mod

i've been building na hondas for years and despite the ricers a honda can be made fast as any vehicle and a brand that is so focused on engineering (honda reinvests more money on r&d than any other car company)

and to clear things up the 2k1 civic ex's come with a version called VTEC-E (for economy and emissions tuning to make it a high 30s mpg ulev vehicle)...it still makes ~130hp out of 1.7 liters but a lot more low end torque than the previous 1.6...this type of variable valve timing was based off the old civic HX which was 115 hp engine but could get you mid-high 40's mpg with the cvt transmission

the older non HX civics with vtec had the true sohc vtec and just with I/H/E, plugs, wires, fuel rail you could be running 160 crank hp, a significant gain in hp though most of it at the top end (not good for those drag racers...but fine and dandy for road racers)
 
I almost peed my pants when i read he lost to the 03 civic stock. You car is ****** up man get that s*** checked out.. Where i race civics wont race me unless they are modified pretty good or runnin an si or above. When i had my mp3 i could take about 1-2 cars on lightly modified 7th gen civics from lights all day.
 
nocar said:
I almost peed my pants when i read he lost to the 03 civic stock. You car is ****** up man get that s*** checked out.. Where i race civics wont race me unless they are modified pretty good or runnin an si or above. When i had my mp3 i could take about 1-2 cars on lightly modified 7th gen civics from lights all day.
:rolleyes: :rolleyes:

LOL.. slow vs slowER.
 
Um... The 1.7L VTEC isn't the VTEC-E that the HX civic has. It has 127HP and 110ft-lbs of torque.

And, like I said before, my P5 with I/E/groundwires beat a lighter civic LX with an intake and also another civic EX with I/E... And, both runs were done at a 10km/h rolling start. From the line, it's no contest. The extra torque in the P5 owns.
 

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