Header? catback exhaust? where to start

So I recently bought a 98 GS roughly 3 weeks ago and Have fallen in love with it.
as far as I know its a stock engine with a cheap aftermarket cold air intake which is fine with me

it's non vtec so i was looking into getting a 4-2-1 header along with the Yonaka Cat back

I don't plan on doing any upgrades to the engine since it already has 170k Miles on it
it's my daily driver, and would like to make it sound nice before i build it or do anything like that.

I'm really new to having a car with a aftermarket like honda's have (geo metro, geo storm)
so having these many options are kinda like a kid in a candy store for the first time, don't really know
where to start.

Since its a daily driver and I don't plan on doing a build/swap until I pay it off in a year and a half
I figure i don't need performance parts for it. so does anyone have any suggestions on what would be a decent affordable upgrade? or where to start looking into things?

I have been looking at Eibach lowering springs, cat back, and a header just to start out. I know that it wont make much difference on the stock engine but I'm more looking for nice tone then performance at the moment.

I like my stock rims so buying rims isn't really something i'm interested in right now.

If you wanted the cat..do it soon, yonaka stock is almost out and won't be back for a few weeks.

thenoxus1 said:

If you wanted the cat..do it soon, yonaka stock is almost out and won't be back for a few weeks.

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I wouldn't be purchasing it for probably another month so that is ok
I am finishing my quarter sleeve tomorrow then it will take a few weeks to pay off my credit card
after that.

Is catback, header, and some springs a decent start? I like the sound of it right now but I would love something to make it not so stock xD the wheel gap is driving me nuts so I'm hoping some lowering springs will even it out.

Since my low beams are projectors would upgrading to HID's be a decent upgrade?
my brights are fine but the yellowish color in my low beams aren't doing much good in this Oregon rain.

Anyone have suggestions on what HID kits are worth buying?

Blakexvx said:

Anyone have suggestions on what HID kits are worth buying?

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check out this site they have quality and affordable hid full kits.. www.ddmtuning.com
and if you want it to look non-stock asap.. pick the lowering springs first then on to your motor?
as for the yellowish headlights.. maybe you could pick up the lense cleaning kit and use that see how it works theres a few dyi on how to open up your headlamp unit on CI if you look for them! good luck on your upgrades and your car man!

joshjohnson_79 said:

check out this site they have quality and affordable hid full kits.. www.ddmtuning.com
and if you want it to look non-stock asap.. pick the lowering springs first then on to your motor?
as for the yellowish headlights.. maybe you could pick up the lense cleaning kit and use that see how it works theres a few dyi on how to open up your headlamp unit on CI if you look for them! good luck on your upgrades and your car man!

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stay away from ddm there qualtiy is ok at best meng is alot better for just a little more money and could always go new oem replacement 100 for the pair and theyd look clean plus the hid's would look cleaner with new heads

and why is it taking you a year and a half to pay off a 3300 dollar car? if you paid more than that you got ripped off bad

as i look back over this thread im really not sure where i got this information lol my bad

Blakexvx said:

I wouldn't be purchasing it for probably another month so that is ok
I am finishing my quarter sleeve tomorrow then it will take a few weeks to pay off my credit card
after that.

Is catback, header, and some springs a decent start? I like the sound of it right now but I would love something to make it not so stock xD the wheel gap is driving me nuts so I'm hoping some lowering springs will even it out.

Since my low beams are projectors would upgrading to HID's be a decent upgrade?
my brights are fine but the yellowish color in my low beams aren't doing much good in this Oregon rain.

Anyone have suggestions on what HID kits are worth buying?

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Header-cat-catback is always a good place to start
If you're looking for a real aggressive tone, try something like apexi WS2, personally I have 4-2-1 headers, hi-flow cat, and apexi NIOR cat back. I'm in love with it, it's nice and quiet down low, and once you get into the higher RPM ranges, it starts to sound very sexy

I have the Slim DDM. For the price I think it's worth it, but I'm having problems with the on board computer for reading the output of the HID bulbs and the rear plate LED bulbs but other then that I have no issue. It's a Euro thing and I will get somebody to change the setting on my ECU it's allot more complicated then you think.

As for Exhaust stay with full Stainless Steel. It will last longer. I had my share with Skunk2 and Greddy and now I went all custom minus the header because I got fed up with the issues I have with aftermarket exhaust system. The greddy rust in 4 years the Skunk2 had issue with the resonator and noise level (neighbors filed a noise restriction ageist me) never took the silencer off.

Here's a good place to start: http://www.clubintegra.com/board/showthread.php?t=22112&highlight=exhaust+review
Iv'e had my slim HIDs from DDM for over a year without any issues. VERY easy install and lifetime replacement on lamps

99tegjawn said:

and why is it taking you a year and a half to pay off a 3300 dollar car? if you paid more than that you got ripped off bad

as i look back over this thread im really not sure where i got this information lol my bad

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lol not really sure where you got that figure from :twisted:

I payed $1,800 for the car. Plus $970 in parts and labor + like $200 in dmv fees etc.

I took out a loan for 18 months. originally the dealer told the credit union 3,700 including fees.
then when I went to give them the check they dropped the price $400 and ended up puttting more into it
in the shop since they found more wrong with it then they thought.

So in reality, I saved nearly $800 so it isn't going to take me the whole 18 months to pay it off
I just like my $200 a month car payments also the full coverage isn't cheap for me since I just started having my own insurance.

Parkourdemon said:

Header-cat-catback is always a good place to start
If you're looking for a real aggressive tone, try something like apexi WS2, personally I have 4-2-1 headers, hi-flow cat, and apexi NIOR cat back. I'm in love with it, it's nice and quiet down low, and once you get into the higher RPM ranges, it starts to sound very sexy

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Thanks for the advice, I was looking into getting a cat back, header, and either a high flow cat or even deleting the cat with a test pipe or something. since there aren't inspections where I live I could get away with it 8)

There is a nice teg around here that drives by my work all the time and it sounds decent until he hits
that 4-5k power range it rattles and is raspy as hell. sounds awful, I want to avoid that

phatintegra said:

I have the Slim DDM. For the price I think it's worth it, but I'm having problems with the on board computer for reading the output of the HID bulbs and the rear plate LED bulbs but other then that I have no issue. It's a Euro thing and I will get somebody to change the setting on my ECU it's allot more complicated then you think.

As for Exhaust stay with full Stainless Steel. It will last longer. I had my share with Skunk2 and Greddy and now I went all custom minus the header because I got fed up with the issues I have with aftermarket exhaust system. The greddy rust in 4 years the Skunk2 had issue with the resonator and noise level (neighbors filed a noise restriction ageist me) never took the silencer off.

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Alright thanks man, I've always been curious about the difference between stainless steel and ceramic headers. I don't have a huge budget but this car I actually want to put some decent parts in. I've never put genuine performance parts in any of my cars yet so this will be a first.

Where do you live? could the rust have been from your environment? or it just sucks? haha
I know some people deal with rust because of salt on the roads during winter.