I had my 2001 honda civic (1.7L 5-speed) for about two years and I wondering where should I start tuning and at? I wanna start with the engine and wonder what should I do first on the engine  

Well unless your trying to outrun your friends Toyota Matrix and other econoboxxes, there is no way to make your car fast short of dumping atleast $15000 or so into it, because it was designed for fuel economy and not racing.

I would suggest a for sale sign as your first mod, and to choose a better platform if you want to get into tuning.  

if i have to i will then I love my honda so wat should I do first>?  

First off Scrotum yer a douchewaffle... how long did it take you to throw the word econobox together? ALL THE IMPORT CARS ARE ECONOMIC ON FUEL RETARD!!! just because it has 1.7L under the hood doesn't mean it can't be fast Honda has squeezed an assload of power out of that motor and it's 2.0L brethren.
Enough flaming the mentally inept. To respond to yer question rationally Polk. The first place you should ever start on a Motor is Intake/Exhaust make that thing breathe AEM makes great intakes for the Civic and any exhaust can that doesn't limit your flow out the tail pipe is a great way to start. If yer lookin for NoS/Turbo/SPEEEEEED start small add hp's a lil at a time get used to the motor as it's power grows and then once yer comfy drop a Turbo on it or let it breathe on a bottle also swapping out the stock computer or chipping it is never a bad idea. If you haven't already take the Governor out as well  

You want some credibility on this forum, why dont you post up a dynograph atleast or something. Heres wut my car put down in 99 degree weather, at a bare minimum it puts down 300+ to the wheels, with a bolt on turbokit as its only REAL modification.



Wow, your suggestions are some of the worst advice Ive seen on this forum. WHo gives a *** about NA Hp per liter, hp sells cars, torque wins races, what is Honda lacking? Torque.  
Actually Ive built two cars for racing, and my current setup is good for low 12's/high 11's, and all I have is a simple bolt on turbokit to a stock motor, and the only thing keeping it out of the 10's is financial, not knowledge.

My stock 540cc injectors> 180cc injectors in the civic. Another advantage of my car over the civic, is that it comes stock with an ECU to manage the 540cc injectors, a Honda tuner has to buy an entire new ECU or piggyback + tuning, just for his car to even handle my stock injectors.

Ok, so you think this guy should put a Intake header and exhaust on his econobox. Well since hes on a naturally aspirated 4cylinder from the factory, he might see as much as 10% more power, or about 10whp, and spend $700 for all that.

My car on the other hand, is turbocharged from the factory. I can make a manual boost controller out of $10 in brassparts at the hardware store and turn the boost up 7psi or so overstock and gain 40-50whp. Doesnt take a genius to figure out that $50 for 40-50whp+ is A LOT more bang for the buck than $700 for 10whp, but according to you I am wrong. I guess I truly am a dumbass for picking a car that weighs 2700lbs with a motor that puts down 320-330whp with only a 50trim turbo as its only real mod on an otherwise stock longblock, stock ecu, stock injectors, etc, numbers that a civic could only hope to make after dumping close to $10000-$15000.

Another flaw with the car is that it is FWD. If you have ever been to a quartermile track b4, and by the looks from your advice, you never have, you will find that the fastest cars are generally RWD or AWD. THis is because when the FWD civic tuner launches, his weight shifts off his drivewheels and allows for spin.

Its also safe to say that since this car was designed for commuting and not racing, it probably doesnt come with a LSD in the transmission, which will exacerbate his traction problems even more, short of a $2000 tranny rebuild with LSD.

You seem to recommend he swap out the motor with a $5000 2.0l b20/k20 motor swap, add a $3500 turbo kit , do a $5000 longblock rebuild for forced induction since stock civic motors tend to only be able to handle 8-12psi safely, and $1500 or so in fuel system ecu upgrades and tuning. Thats a lot of money to be spending, especially when my car needs none of that and comes with huge performance upgrades over his civic, in stock form. And your mod list would cost close to $10000-$15000 dollars after labor, when its all said and done, for him to have a "fast" civic. Basically, your telling him to put so much money in mods, he could almost own a 2jz Supra, because the civic garners VASTS amounts more respect than a MKIV Supra ever could *sarcasm*

Then the civic's come with WEAK aluminum blocks that do not allow for much more power than 250-300whp b4 needing an entire motor rebuild. Compare that to my iron blocked 2.0 turbo motor that has made as much as 540whp on a stock bottom end, and 440whp on a stock long block, there is a lot more room for making power on an iron block b4 needing a $5000 rebuild, than their is an all aluminum block honda engine.

Dollar for dollar, mod for mod, if your trying to be fast, dont pick FWD, Naturally aspirated, non-LSD four cylinders, and buy a stock turbo 4/6cylinder car or a V8, since your obviously recommending he add a turbo to the civic, why not get a car that was built and designed for a turbocharger from the factory, than having to replace every part on a civic for it to handle a turbo.  

wow need helpful advice  

see, i disagree, depends on what u want, if u just want a faster tuner maybe in the 12s to 14s, then out in a cool air intake, h22 turbo, and direct port nitrous no more than 50 shot and hide it under the back seats, and it'll workjust fine. My 96 accord runs 13's, 2.2 and thats all i did, and still doing more... do not sell, civic are legendary, tune dont scrap!  

Sirs makes very valid points.  A 1.7L civic base model cant be fast for cheap.  I'll be the first to tell you as a honda owner that they lack torque.  However, Sirs, as the proud owner of a 2007 Honda Civic Si i can also tell you that because of my driving capabilies I am able to keep up with cars that are much faster.  However, i would dare not enter an event with the "bad boys" in my car, because I acknowledge that when you are competing against otehr skilled drivers the set up of your car is more important.  I would instead enter an event at a sanctioned autoX or an event designated for cars in my ball park, like the NASA Honda Challenge.  I dont claim to have a fast race car.  I claim to have a quick 2.0L imort that I can drive the *** out of.  However most ricers out there that give honda drivers a bad name think theyre glue on hood scoops give them 100hp.  

To Polk:  Always mod your suspension before your engine.  Cant perform without good footing.  Just like a boxer can have the hardest hit out there, but if he has piss poor foot work he'll lose his balance and *** himself over.  Start out with a good shock/spring combo or if you have deep pockets adjustable coilovers, camber kit, and good sticky tires.  Then once you can grip to the road go for some other mods like intake, exhaust, headers, cams, some weight reduction, and then you'll have a car that is a lot quicker than stock, and will handle beautifully on the twisties.  

cant you just start with small upgrades  

the mods i listed are small.  They are all bolt ons that you do not have to be mechanically inclined to install (minus cam work).  All you need is tools, instructions from an online resource, and in most cases strong arms.  

whats a good shock combo  

For your civic I would go with either Koni Yellow shocks or Tokico Dspec shocks.  As for springs go with Skunk2, Progress, or Eiback Prokit springs.  The shocks will all be firmer, and the springs will give you a lower center of gravity and have substantially stiffer rates.

http://robearracing.com/cat_suspension7.cfm

Most of what I suggested, and other parts you need to handle well are right there.  Go for strut bar, sway bars, and tie bars.  

what do strut bar do?  

Strut bars connect reinforce your struts.  Doesnt do much, but its good fine tuning for your suspension.  With FWD cars fine tuning the suspension is crucial to eliminate understeer.  Strut bar is also probably the easiest intall you will ever do.  Go with the DC bar.  

mnnn