Where to start? RSX-S Horsepower Envy

Hi all,

Where do I start?

I'm new to this whole Tuning thing.
I'm the proud owner of a 2002 RSX-Type S.
It's all stock, and I'm wondering what I can do with it to improve it?
Budget, High end, mix & match??? Possiblities?..

I want to go faster. I want top end speed, and I don't care so much about acceleration. (although the racer [my father used to race long ago] in me wants to be able to walk away from the dodges, toyotas and, fords.

I'd like to even be able to surpass a V-6 of any stock make/model.

The thing is, do I need a totally new engine?
How can I do this without replacing it? How can I accomplish this on a budget?
Turbo? Y/N?,
Intakes/Exhausts... what kind? how much are they?
Aerodynamics, Breaks, suspension etc...
I was reading earlier about the 612HP RSX that had a higher end 6th gear for, lets face it, Hauling @ss. I'd LOVE to have that 6th gear be way longer so I can get the speed up and not use so man RPMs. - Suggestions?

I don't have a problem with puting $3k into the car, maybe more, but what all am I really going to NEED if I upgrade the engine to go significantly faster?
Please explain as I've been doing searches on the subject and I have been unable to satsify all of my questions as far as what parts, and what parts I need.

I would love feedback and helpful info. Links, etc.
I want to go fast, but I don't want to break the car doing it. I'll eventually be driving back to Las Vegas (home), and there are a few places I can go to open it up and stretch it's legs. Investing a few thousand bucks is totally worth that feeling to me.


I understand a little tech talk, so fire away.

Thanks!
Additional info below.


The Engine and suspension are emaculate. The transmission is solid and feels true. The steering and overall accuracy of the car is nearly perfect.
I drove it 2250 miles from Las Vegas to Southern Alabama. It was a flawless ride. Nearly every time I stopped for gas I checked the Oil & fluids, looking for discoloration or any kind of burnt or smoke smells. Even going so far as to feel the oil between my fingers. Everything was fine and the car ran great.
I grew up fixing VW's and changing the breaks on a GTI before I could drive. I've worked on Ford's, VW's - rebuilt the engine for a '62 in my garage alone and with my hands -I didn't have the tools to compress the rings around the pistons so I used my fingers.- I only had to do little maintainence on my '95 Civic DX before it gave up the ghost at 175,000 mi.
But, things are different for me these days as I'm affraid to take apart a fairly new engine (55k mi.) and I'm also one of those guys who's scared of the VTEC on the engine cover. I don't want to mess up a good thing, I just want to make it better.

If anyone has any questions, I'd be happy to answer them as long as they pertain to suping up my car.

Thanks again.  

*** you want speed, yet you choose the most difficult platform to work with, a FWD NA platform.

There are many drawbacks for racing a FWD platform, part of the reason why RSX S's only run 15's in the quarter though, there really isnt a whole lotta hidden hp potential in K20A's, without an entire rebuild.

First your going to want to pull the motor. You will probably want to sleeve the block, since the block is made out of weak aluminum, sleeves can help you get around that flaw.

Then you will want to rebuild it for forced induction with stronger rods and pistons, and lower the compression while your at it. You will probably want to send it off to a block builder for this if you dont know how to.

Then you will want to port the head, put in titanium valve springs, oversized valves etc, so it can have an easier time breathing when your making 2x/3x more power than stock.

After putting about 10-15k into the engine, then your Acura will only begin to become "fast", you will still need to work out some massive traction problems due to FWD, as well as several thousand in supporting mods.

You chose the most expensive route to being fast, a car that has to have almost every part on it replaced or upgraded before you can make some real power with it, but Ive also noticed most Honda/Acura owners to not mind vastly overpaying for performance, so to each their own.

Topspeed and hp are in direct correlation, but acceleration you can forget about without some slicks, a tranny rebuilt with LSD and several other traction mods. But if putting 10-15k into a car to run 12's is what it takes to make you happy, than so be it. I chose a car that only needed $500 in mods to its stock engine to run 12's cuz I didnt have deep pockets.  

Wow. Ouch!

I wasn't expecting that.

I simply wanted to go faster on the freeway, I wasn't thinking about drag racing it.

So now my question is, how much more power can I get out of my stock engine without hurting it?

What things can I add to help it right now, like off the shelf stuff?

I'm going to avoid actually cracking the block open. So right now I'm going to concentrate on Intake/Exhaust until I decide to spend THAT much money.
Any suggestions here?
I'm also starting to understand the "If you do this to it, you'll also have to do this too, and if you do this, you'll also need to do this and this and this..."

From what I'm understanding now, is that helping the engine breathe more efficiently is a good place to start.

Thanks!  

the most whp your block can make is about 250whp b4 most rsx-s tuners needs an engine rebuild. This is in part due to your high compression pistons that require premium in naturally aspirated form, the weak aluminum block that Acura has cursed you with, so there isnt a whole lot of room for a turbo to compress the air before the engine without running race gas all the time, or possibly a good methanol injection setup.

If you buy a $3500 turbokit, you will probably only be able to run 8psi or so as a result of boosting a motor that wasnt engineered to be boosted.

For now, if your looking for marginal gains in power without having to blow the motor up, exhaust, intake header, and perhaps a Hondata S300, but if you want to run more than 8psi of boost or more than 250whp, youll probably need a rebuild.  

a buddy of mine in the office ran the GReddy turbo kit on his 02 RSX S at 13 psi - 300WHP, hondata ecu, stock clutch for over 60k miles with no problems, so take that for whatever its worth.  I thought I'd offer up the other side to the arguement.  hope that helps.

if all you want is rolling speed, you'll be fine.  anything below 40mph and you'll be spinning the front tires.  Honda guys favor "roll racing" because thats where their cars do well.  
Reader's Rides - rides.importtuner.com

Thanks, to both of you.
I appreciate the info of the weak block.  I would like to put a Turbo in it, but like I said, I don't want to blow it up.
I've been doing some more reading on the boost and how not to go over 8 or 9 psi until I've done a rebuild with a sleeved block.
Aside from tearing it apart, I'll just put a Tubro kit on it now, and do some exterior effects to make it look *** then do the rebuild when I get back to Vegas.
Rolling speed: Good point. Because I don't plan on racing, or at least not from a dead stop.
My tires are in great shape, and I'd like to keep them that way.
I want to eventually be able to put all 13-16 psi into the block, and I think Greddy is the way to go from what I've read.
I'm also considering doing an ebay search for parts (kits).

Any suggestions on what the BEST (and safest) kit is?
I read the article on the Skunk 2 RSX, I used to live about 60 miles from their shop.
In the future when I want to do a rebuild (and spend more money), I might just drive down and have those guys do it for me. That way, I'll know the engine is in race condition and won't poop out on me.

I want to gain 100-150Hp. Any ideas on what I can expect with a a Turbo vs. other parts? ( non turbo)

Thanks again!  

skunk2 is one of the best honda tuners, they actually make pretty solid race cars.

if this is just your daily driver though, i would just slap on the greddy kit, get a good tune (very important) stay at about 8 or 9 lbs and call it a day. (along with basic bolt ons) but thats just my own personal recommendation as a daily driven street car.  

Thanks King.
Scary avatar you have there, but your words are appreciated.