I see all these ‘turbo’ cars, and it seems like all of them are honda civics (or just about). Why do people use honda civics to make them turbo (also, sorry for the sentences, i am not sure how to use turbo in a sentence properly)?
How does turbo work (i do not know much about cars)?
How much would it cost to make a Honda Civic (1995-2000) ‘turbo’?
I see nothing but jargon here in these answers…
Honda civics are one of the most sought after vehicle for tuning for the following reasons:
1. Honda motors out of the box are most known for their high revving capabilities which appeals to tuners because of the top end potential that can be obtained.
2. Hondas are cheap and easy to maintain.
3. Hondas are very popular in the aftermarket and just every company out there has a product of some sort for Honda modifications.
4. Cost to modify appeals to the average tuner.
A turbocharger is an exhaust gas powered turbine that takes spent exhaust gasses, compresses it, and recirculates it back in the intake system giving an increased air charge into the combustion chamber which will tell the ECU to add more fuel. More air + more fuel = More power.
By turbocharging a Honda, not only are you adding more horsepower and torque, you are also increasing your top end potential power significantly. By having a high revving engine such as the Honda B16A or B18C, you have a longer and harder hitting powerband. A proper tuned Honda motor with a turbocharger will see gains as low as 3800rpm and continue until 7800 rpms. Even though these engine will not redline ( rev limiter) until 8200-8300rpms, after 7800 the power curve drops off. This can be changed by beefing up your internals, valvetrain, and giving the ECU a good tune or by going with an aftermarket engine management system such as Hondata. The K-Pro system is very popular as the systems allows the user to completely tune every aspect for just about every application out there.
As far as cost in concerned, you expect to pay in the neighborhood of about $2700 – $4500 for a complete turbo kit. Be advised that the variance in these numbers is dictated by the manufacturer of the kit, the size of the turbo in the kit, whether the kit has internal wastegate turbo or requires an external wastergate, if the kit comes with an intercooler and/or blow off valve, and whether or not the kit has included fuel/ engine management system with it.
What I would do if I were you is join a local Honda forum, and do some research and figure out which car you are looking at or interested in, and find some people who have a similar vehicle with a turbo kit installed. From there, you can figure out what will work best for you and why.
the phrase is “That civic is turbocharged,” or “That civic has turbo.”
To make understanding turbo easier, it allows more air flow into the engine, giving it a boost in engine movement and thus increasing the speed of the whole car itself.
A lot of civics are turbo-ed because they’re really slow without turbochargers, superchargers, or heavy modifications on straights. Being that quarter mile straight aways are the most popular style of racing in the United States, in order to somewhat compete against other cars, Most drivers will have to heavily mod their civics (and that’s including a turbo charger) to stand a chance against other cars in the straight away.
An average good aftermarket brand of turbochargers will go anywhere from $3,000 and above. You have to keep in mind how much it will cost for labor (since you probably don’t know how to install a turbo charger yourself, and learning it will be a hassle) it will turn out to be pretty pricey. Simply turbocharging your honda civic will not make it THE fastest car, you will also have to increase the PSI pressure on it to get more horsepower out of it. It’s said that to run around 6-8 PSI of turbo you’ll only receive 50 horsepower. To run more PSI you’ll probably damage your engine, so you may need to forge the internals and do more modifications to the car.
If this sounds too confusing and headache-y, that’s ok because in reality it is. You want a fast car? Save up and just buy a fast car. A fast car without having to mod it. Seriously, that’s the best advice anyone can give you. Tuning cars like honda civics or “commuter cars” is work for advocates, enthusiasts, and hardcore tuners who like this kind of stuff. But, it doesn’t hurt to just buy a LS2 Camaro SS and pull on tuned civics with half of the agony of working on the car. In fact most civics tuned that are “considered really good” is what some Camaro’s are naturally from the factory.
Good luck
Turbo is the answer if you want to make your car quick especially if it has a small engine. The reason you see it mostly on civics is because they are slow from factory and a lot of the time people can scrape up a used turbo kit for about $1500 for a honda and make their car somewhat quick. Also civics are cheap and affortable so a lot of high school and college kids pick them up and the first thing that pops up into their head is i want more speed. The answer to their question is turbo. I provided you a link to a page that is about turboing Integra’s but its the same thing as a civic. Also check out honda-tech.com