My 01 prelude had an H22 engine and the engine never really responded well with basic bolt ons. I know the k20 engine in the RSX works very well with basic bolt ons. How is the engine in Z compare in that respect? I would only be putting an intake in it. Im guessing the gains would be marginal right?

 

Correct. You will find the sound nice though.

 

what about a combination of intake + headers? Still marginal? Im actually more into appearence modding..rims, suspension. But I do want some performance gains...I was just curius

 

You'd probably be better off doing a plenum spacer, intake, and exhaust. Maybe some high flow cats or test pipes. Headers are expensive and are a pain to install (expensive to install) and give minimal gains for the cost.

 

this may seem like a stupid question...I always wanted to do exhaust, but I was afraid the unique tone of the Z exhaust would go away...I thought that tone was within the OEM exhaust system. is that true?

 

Yes, the OEM exhaust sounds really good. I just bought a Borla, which sounds similar in volume but with a deeper tone. The NISMO also sounds good, but it more of a higher tone.

Some exhausts out there get to raspy for my taste, so listen to what you are interested in before you buy.

 

so in other words, the OEM sound will go away?

 

Well it will definately be louder and depending on which exhaust you choose, yes it can change the tone. Check out the Nismo exhaust.

 

truu..im getting nismo exhaust with a race pipe, and JWT pop charger and a motordyne plenum spacer. by the way, will the race pipe void the nissan warranty? just wondering..not that i need a race pipe..i guess im ok without a race pipe.

 

I'm sure if they see them installed and you had a problem that they could say was related they wouldn't cover it. If you have a problem take them off and put the stock cats back on.

 

oh really? hmm..i guess i dont need race pipe anyway, just intake/exhaust and plenum spacer and pop charger is nuff

 

The Nismo exhaust sounds just like the stock exhaust, only it's a bit louder and more agressive sounding. It's superb. If you want to keep the OEM sound but add more meat to it, go with the Nismo. I don't know a single person who has heard the Nismo and not liked it.

As for bolt-ons, I'm stopping at exhaust/intake because (1) I don't have a lot of money and (2) although you can get a few HP here and there, you kinda have to do a lot to see decent gains IMO. Which brings me back to point #1.

 

nismo is the closest you can get to stock

 

yea... i pretty much love the stock exhaust note.. i recently installed testpipes, and its prety much stock note's until you WOT! sounds mean... i also have the jwt popcharger installed...

 

We have a self-adjusting ECU. This can kill any gains you get from N/A mods (you may experience some small gains though). If you want to make serious gains you need to tune the ECU / get a piggyback / get a reflash after doing the boltons.