i lost to a 2004 civic ex today so i decided i needed to make the plunge and starting the modding. i see everyone here beating quick cars and me losing to a civic made me pissed and i have to keep the 3.2TL a respected car. One question i have is there any tips i can use for installing the headers. i ordered the xs ones i believe from ssautochrome.

 

Search for all the diy and faq's related to it. Essentially, just grab a coupla extensions, a good breaker bar, penetrating fluid, and a couple of beers in addition to the shop equipment needed to lift your car. Grab a friend or two to help you out as well, makes life a LOT easier.

 

what sort of benefits do you foresee from swapping out the headers?

Also by removing the carbon from your current ones, could the same benefit in performance be had?

Have you considered that any mod you make really cant let you beat a boosted civic due to the power-to-weight ratio?

food for thought

 

the civic was all stock. thats why it is embarrasing.

 

civic is a beater car, it is not worth to use your tl for the race. The weight ratio, like he said above, you can't take the civic. but header mod is a good mod.

If I raced with those beaters, I use my modded beater to race, because in the end I can drive the car to the junkyard and find another beater; and I don't think you can do that with the TL.

 

Something sounds really wrong if you are losing to a "stock" civic.

225hp VS 128 ???? I know they are lighter but our power makes up for it. There may be something really wrong with your car.

 

did you make sure you were in the right gear? slammin your foot down while cruisin is gonna make you take off in 4th. which is way below the powerband. anyway, headers are a good mod, 18 HP gain on our 99's
just pray yours doesnt drive you deaf as it does with a lot of the XS headers

 

its an 04 civic. 1.7L vtec. idk but for some reason all ur guys car seem faster then mine. i dont even feel that i have a semi quick car. im not sure if i just need some cleaning in the engine or its the tranny. my egr valve is clogged i think cause i got it scanned for an egr code but would it make me that much slower? we started from a stop too. he said its just cause he is manual and im auto so he had a better start. we only went to like 60mph too and ussually i dont pull on cars til 3rd gear so i didnt even get the chance to go into 3rd before we stopped.

 

sounds like your egr is clogged up. There is a DUI on this forum to clean it. Also run some seafoam through your fuel enjection system and your gas tank.

 

ditto. there is something definetely wrong with your car if you lost to a civic. halfway believable if it was a si... but an ex, your car is busted.

 

i completely agree with the above. how in the world did you lose to a civic ex??? they so slow and even if they are completely modded out they're still not pushing close to a stock tl. like stRodda said, the only civic that might have a chance is the new si b/c they have an lsd, which i still thnk our cars have a chance.

 

 

Damn man, losing to a civic ex has got to be embarrassing. I raced a girl on the turnpike with an 06-07 civic ex, whichever one has that new body style, and pulled many bus lengths on it.

 

Get your tranny checked and run some seafoam as others have said. If you lost to a stock civic ex then something has got to be wrong with your car. The weight ratio is a factor, but I still think you should have been able to beat that ex with no problems, unless modded.

 

even modded, a stock tl should have no problem taking out a civic. unless he's boosting, there's no way a civic can beat a tl. it just sounds like there's something wrong with his car and needs it checked out.

 

You need to get some maintaince done and then put on the headers. I'd go all out with a full bottle of seafoam through your vac line, then change your plugs, then change your oil and run some really good fuel system cleaner and I bet your car will be running much better. Then when you put your headers on you'll feel like your driving a new car again.

 

 

Headers will make your car faster. Period. Cleaning out the stock headers won't make a diff-- If you have enough carbon buildup in your headers to noticeably affect your car's performance, then something is seriously wrong.

 

What are you talking about??? Cleaning out headers? Seafoam cleans out the valves/piston tops/combustion chamber. Headers don't need to be cleaned out.

 

Look at the post he quoted and you'll see where the guy was talking about removing carbon from your current headers.

 

Reading is essential...

 

I quoted the wrong guy, sorry.

 

99 tl are they 198 or 225 hp

 

225