if i spend $10000 on a 99 civic SI, and spend $10000 on LT1, which one is faster?? it's not that i doubt LT1, but i'm just curious...please give me some info, thanks guys

 

are you kidding me? well after you spend the first 5 grand just to get the civic as fast as an lt, you better save the other 5 to rebuild it after the nos and blower melt the motor. thats just my opinion

 

I would say the LT1,but thats my opinion. Think about take a low 14/high 13 sec car and compare to a 16 sec car.
Then,with strictly performance mods,i feel the LT1 car would ultimately be faster and more durable. The honda would require engine swap,boost and or nitrous,high dollar axles,and limited traction.

 

4 cyl... or 8... hrmmm... must we really ask?

 

There comes a point when that FWD, Tin Can (Civic) with enough mods will actually be faster.

I don't know what point that is...but it's just common sense that the MUCH lighter car will eventually have a advantage... with enough money put into it.

I personally don't believe that $10,000 will get you to that point.

So with that SPECIFIC dollar amount in mind, I would have to say LT1

 

dude not to knock the LT1 but i've seen sub 10 sec. civics before. so ANYTHING is possible, but hey they probably dropped an LT1 in the civic =) i'd say dollar for dollar, there is no replacement for displacement, when it gets down to it any car can be fast, why not start with one that IS fast already (AND looks good). other thing is that civics get about 10hp per sticker, which is HIGHLY cost effective...

 

Well... Let me tell you.

The 99 civic Si you are looking at is powered by a B16a2 DOHC VTEC honda engine. It produces 160hp and and while I dont remember the exact torque rating, it isnt much more than 120lb/ft. Granted the Honda motor has a redline of 8k you pretty much have to keep it in VTEC to make any power. I have seen stock 99 Si's running high 15's at around 89mph at the track.

An LT1 engine on the other hand makes anywhere from 260hp in B-body form on upwards to 315 in F-body form depending on application. Torque is equally impressive with 325+ availible on all applications. Redline is a lot lower and well, theres no VTEC, but who the hell needs VTEC on an american v8 anyways.

Basically, the V8 F-body is much much much much quicker/faster. you will eat Civic Si's for lunch and their cousin Integra GSR for dinner.

FYI: A good friend of mine has a 2nd generation Integra with a B16a VTEC engine. He has run a best of 15.6 at the track. I ran my Z againt him once just to see how things would go and I beat him very badly. Nothing againt him, he is a great friend, but he even admits that the Z's are just faster.

Good luck and please stick with the LT1

Dustin

 

Dude, I'm not tryin to be an a$$ or anything but when I first read the post I thought it was a joke!! Stock for stock the LT1 would beyond obliterate the civic Si. It would make it look like it was in reverse. I've seen some STOCK LT1s break 13.9Xs and most can easily pull 14.1 - 14.2 around 97-100 mph. I have never seen a stock civic come even close to hittin in the 14s. Most are mid 15 (I've even seen 16) second cars. Buck for buck the LT1 gets my vote in a big way.

 

Taking weight out of the car can be free Get yourself a sawsall and some tools and you got yourself a lightweight (gutted) f-body.

But i would defiantly say a f-body. You could have a built 383 stroker with a 250 direct port shot for $10,000 and be in the 9's easy. Where as a civic you got alot of wasted money.

 

RICE!!!! I would prefer not to see posts about rice here. Besides that $10,000 could do a **** load to any street car, but my bet is on the LT1 simply because it's true .. it's damn true!

Mescaline

 

Dude, I thought this was going to be a joke as well at first, but I suppose someone without the knowledge would have to ask this question just to be sure. After having proved my gullible rice-wanting friends (not all of them are, but enough are) wrong, I can actually see why someone would ask this today. Listen to some ricers sometime, you'll figure out they think VTEC is the great god of power.

Anyways, it'll take you $10,000 just to get a civic into the high/mid 13s, if you only count doing the engine. If you add nitrous or a turbo, it is conceivable to get one there for around $5000. However, the engineers at Honda never intended their motors to run anything but N/A (I love hearing ricers say honda engines are built for nitrous or turbo, its so funny when I tell them why they aren't and their reactions). Honda has very good setup for economy and longevity, very well designed for these 2 applications. However, as soon as you start changing this design, the engine doesn't hold up well at all. Now, I'm not saying adding a CAI or new header will do it, but a turbo or nitrous will leave a civic motor destroyed in about half a year. If you want to see the truth to this, take a look at any junkyard in your area that accepts new cars. Civics and other ricers galore. Of course, if you take an engine swap (the most popular is the H22 swap) and build it, then you can use some forced induction. Of course, this is where that $10,000 costs you, which is everything you need to do a H22 swap with internals designed to withstand turbo or nitrous. Same principle as building a 355 or 383 in order to have an engine that will stand a supercharger. After all, we all know what happens when you put a super on an LT1. 30K down the road, you got an engine rebuild on your hands. Of course, we don't try to hide that fact like ricers do. According to them, honda engines are bulletproof regardless of what you do to them.

However, that $10,000 doesn't cover the cost of doing forced induction, which means another $3000 to $5000 for your turbo, or a $1000 for your nitrous. Now, this is the other problem that ricers don't understand. You can't take a car and do all this to it without upgrading your suspension to handle it! So, your talking a few grand more in just suspension to be able to put this to ground and use it. So, if you do the math, you've got to spend about twice as much to make a civic do what a stock Z can already do (LT1 Z being about $5000, not including the cost of the civic itself). I can give you an entire listing of the parts and equipment you need if you want to buy a civic and go high 13s. Or you could spend the $10,000 on a 383 or 396 stroker and have a 9 second car. Just don't listen to ricers unless you want to have a good laugh.

 

Man, you guys dont know all that much about Civics huh?


With 10K, I would buy a $500 theft recovery buble Civic hatch (tons to choose from) and do the H22 swap out of a Prelude and add a turbo. At the same place you got the Civic you can get a steering colum, motor, computer, tranny for a grand five. All on the lovley north side of Houston off Airline drive. So far you spent about $2K, Ok, its a theft recovery so its going to be stripped, so you just add a single used race seat, Honda dash, nice tach and some gauges, all for maybe 500, then you start rebuilding the H22 for a turbo, maybe $7K with Turbo and stage 3 ACT clutch, All in all $9500, spend 500 on some stock wheels with slicks.

 

thanks for all the replies guys, i never ever doubt the LT1 even though i'm an asian guy, i love american muscle....i just heard some facts that civic can become a beast, i just dont know how much money do they spend on the civic, but truly guys, now i believe that ricers always a ricers, slow as hell and required a large amount of money just to become as fast as us the V8 lovers....i will stick with my 94 Z, and had no paln to change it to a ricer car....(maybe if i buy a civic, just to save money on gas)

 

Yeah,

That's why this is a interesting question... it's a known fact that lightweight cars (CRX, NEON) respond well to mods simply because they are lightweight (each HP gain will be more cost effective)...

We have more displacement and a better base price and our LT1's also respond well to mods... if our cars were lighter, we would gain ALOT more MPH and ET per $$$$. So that is why it IS a valid question.

 

I fell very insulted by the question. A 2.0 4cyl vs. a 5.7 8cyl. I'm not fast and furious are you?