MP3 vs. Honda Civic 89 Si ?

905MP3

Member
Can the MP3 take on the 89 Civic si?

I just raced my friends civic last night and it was not fun. There were 3 race against him and I lost 2, won 1 race. He probably felt sorry for me and let me win the last race.

Here are the details: My car is stock except for MHP intake, and B&M short shifter. I'm not exactly sure what he has in his car but I know he has DC Header, Greddy exhaust, CIA, and maybe a performance chip and I'm sure he doesn't have a clucth or flywheel. He is running the stock engine, and I'm sure that he does not have NOS or Turbo.
I was almost a car length away from him on 1st gear at 5500 and shifted to 2nd. This is when he started gaining on me. I was still ahead on 2nd but when I shifted 3rd he was almost ahead of me, I could see him next to me and pulling away. I was saying to myself, "**&$#, how could he pull like that?" Yeap, I lost the race and all my buddies made fun of me. :(

Could I put anything esle to make the car a little faster. I'm pretty sure that his civic runs between 15.5 to 16.0 1/4 mile time.
Will these assist with the cars power, exhaust and intake cams, HP header, a new clutch, flywheel and the brosal exhaust? I can not afford to go turbo or NOS so will this list help?

I hate HONDA but I sorta miss my old 92 civic si because that thing was fast, I ran constant 13s 1/4 mile back in 1999.


:( :confused: :eek:
 
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Did they even MAKE an 89 Civic SI?

If you have the $, go turbo.


If you're staying NA, get headers, UDP, poly motor mounts, maybe some CAM gears.
 
What you need is top end power.... as you seen you ***** him off the line so anything that will help your launch well you will still get pulled on by the end.

UDP, motor mounts, flywheel.. all those are bigger gains at the bottom of your power band....

First off I think the MHP is hurting your performance as it it's too big, that's just my opinion though....

You need headers and exhaust to compliment your intake. run high octane gas... which I hope you are already doing. Port and polish your head( intake and exhaust ports) and your intake manifold, put or bore out your throttle body.. that will let your engien breath much better...

those few things is pretty much all you need...

Jc
 
Damm bro at least keep the Rpm's up above 6000grand or shift 1st at 6600rpms 2nd 6300rpms and third power shift if you can and you'll be able to sun side by side or beat him seeing as you said you shifted at 5500rpm's only. hope that helps.
 
I've seen a lot of those tin cans completely gutted (seats, carpet, insulation etc)...does he have a full interior?

What are the stock specs of an 89 Civic si?

I agree JcsMP3...more top end....but try no to loose to much bottom end...it can be a fine balance.
 
Well seing that my friend owns a 1990 Civic Hatchback Si he supposely said it run's 16's -16.3's stock in the 1/4mile but if he's got header's, exhaust and intake i'm sure it probably dropt the time down to 15.6-15.9's. Seing that Honda produces more power and HP with aftermarket products more than Mazda, Nissan Etc....... But if the MP3 is properly driven and at stable rpm's i'm sure you would give him a good run. IMO
 
If you want a quick inexpensive boost in HP, I recommend a bottle (nitrous for those less informed). Without a doubt cheapest and most gratifying mod I did. It made my v6 friends shut up REAL fast as I blew by them. :D

But of course there will be a bunch of posts after this one hating N20, but don't listen to them... spraying is goooooood. lol



...damn, I feel like some sort of crack dealer now pushing this stuff, cause DAMN.. it's addicting. ;)
 
How'd you loose? I killed my friends '94 accord and he had DC headers exhaust and an intake. I smoked his ass he started to catch up at the end but it was too late. I had to double clutch 2nd that might help. I dunno.... Well you could always go NOS or Turbo. That'd be cool
 
tritonheat1 said:
Damm bro at least keep the Rpm's up above 6000grand or shift 1st at 6600rpms 2nd 6300rpms and third power shift if you can and you'll be able to sun side by side or beat him seeing as you said you shifted at 5500rpm's only. hope that helps.

Uhh...d00d, have you seen a dyno on our cars past 6K? We get NO power. If you shift at 6300 and 6600 like you suggest, you're just gonna lose MAD power.
 
Inimical_01ES said:
If you want a quick inexpensive boost in HP, I recommend a bottle (nitrous for those less informed). Without a doubt cheapest and most gratifying mod I did. It made my v6 friends shut up REAL fast as I blew by them. :D

But of course there will be a bunch of posts after this one hating N20, but don't listen to them... spraying is goooooood. lol



...damn, I feel like some sort of crack dealer now pushing this stuff, cause DAMN.. it's addicting. ;)

N20 will give you power, no doubt, but you'll KILL your engine life.
 
well.....

Well guys,

The point is that lost against a car that is faster than mine, even though it has less horse and torque.
The reason why I shifted at 5500 is because I know the car will 'even' slow down more. Like what Kooldino said, and what the dyno tells us we don't gain much speed after 6500 (stock).
I'm not a perfessional dragster but I was once one of the fastest guys among my friends so I do know how to play with gears.

Thanks a lot guys for cheering me up. :)

Now I'm thinking about going turbo. I'm just not sure how reliable it is. And how the transmission going to handle all the power. I guess I'm concern with how long the car will last?

later...
 
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Kooldino said:


Uhh...d00d, have you seen a dyno on our cars past 6K? We get NO power. If you shift at 6300 and 6600 like you suggest, you're just gonna lose MAD power.


Ok good point, but there not racing the 1/4mile in third gear like you said, when the car get's dynoe'd. Well when a car get's dynoe'd it get's dynoe'd in third gear on up till the end of redline or whatever. Yeah i know the car loses power after 6k or 65k in 3rd 4th or 5th gear but like i said, shift 1st gear at 6500rpms 2nd 6300rpms and third power shift, b/c by then the 1/4mile in the MP3 is around the end of third gear i think. 1st gear goes by really fast, so by revving the crap out of it rpms are up when 2nd comes and it should help power in 2nd as your gaining speed at higher rpms. See IMO, i think that switching 1st to 2nd from 5500rpms speed is at 28mph then when going to 2nd your rpms will be at like 3300rpms when at 2nd gear then your at 32mph. having second gear floored trying to reach 4500rpms where the lb-fts is at. Know here is my theory, switching 1st gear at 6600rpms speed is already at 35-36mph then when switching to 2nd gear your already close to lb-fts at 4100rpms or more then when third comes power shift so rpms are up in third. That's just my opinion of course you could try going out shifting 1st ,2nd, and 3rd at 5500rpms and then try what i suggested and see how it turns out.;)
 
Man, all you guys trying to race your freinds civics and s*** like that are going about it all wrong. The mazda MP3 was never ment to be a drag car, its all about handling thats why they put springs shocks a strut brace and grabby ass tires on it, not a bunch of power. Road and Track said the mp3 TIED the 996 turbo in the slalom. Sadly there is a little diffrence in the HP department. Know your strengths, If you want to beat your freind, go out to your local autocross and race in the beginers class, belive me, you will smoke him like a philly blunt
 
like i said i was making a comment and it wasnt to u mayb u should just chill, and yes losing to a civic non-tubo is bad (poke)
 
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