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Top 5 Recommended Bolt-On Performance Mods

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SleeperOdy

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
In my 2nd 2002 Ody in 6 months:( First on bought in May totaled out in Aug. It was a good van with great performance off the showroom floor. This 2nd one is a dog .:mad: I have taken it back to the dealer but they say" it is within Honda specs".

This is mom's kiddy carrier, however I know it has a lot of potential to be a nice "sleeper" that can rock the world of other unsuspecting drivers with big egos. I have read some of the messages and have picked up a couple of things.

What I want to find out is, what are the top 5 bolt-on performance enhancements that I can put on to keep the wife happy about her van, but give dad a little fun when he drive the Ody? Love to invest the time and $$$ as TO has done, but need to keep within budget.

Thanks for your help.
 
#2 ·
For the easiest, I would suggest a K&N air filter and an aftermarket exhaust from the cat back. As for being in CA, these are about the only things you can do and still be smog legal.
 
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#3 · (Edited)
1. Lose some weight either with a new lightweight wheel/tire combo, I/H/E, or even the interior (but I don't recommend clearing the interior).
2. Add the usual bolt ons. Intake,Header, Exhaust.
3. Supercharger = $$$$$$
4. Turbo = :mad: daily drivability & $$$$$
5. Replace engine parts with performance (if available) parts. Cams, pulleys, radiator, caps, plugs, ignition, etc. But now we're getting extreme plus it will be $$$$$$$$. You can tune the Ody. to perform like a sports car but that may cause too many problems.

With the basic I/H/E, I'm not sure it will give you a huge boost. The 2002 Ody. has been tuned for optimum performance. I don't think it will add any more than 10 hp. Maybe the savings in weight will help the Ody. though. An aftermarket intake, exhaust, and header (if one can be found) will save you a lot of weight. A lighter Ody. will perform better.

If there is a supercharger for the Ody. out there, that would be a great mod. May be expensive but the easiest way to gain hp and still keep it drivable on a daily basis. Turbo is too extreme for a daily driven van, NOS is out of the question because it may cause problems down the road.
 
#4 ·
SleeperOdy said:
In my 2nd 2002 Ody in 6 months:( First on bought in May totaled out in Aug. It was a good van with great performance off the showroom floor. This 2nd one is a dog .:mad:
Click to expand...
You've had two 2002 Odysseys and the second one is noticebaly slower/more sluggish than first? That's got to be frustrating.:confused:
 
Discussion starter · #5 ·
Extremely fustrating :mad: Guy pulled out in front of me from a cross-street and I was on a hwy. Totaled out my 4 month old 2002 and his 91 Ford Mustang with 2 tone primer paint job. I was fit to be tied :ahh:

The Ody performed as expected. Crumple zone did that right to the ground, bent the frame 8 - 10 inches. Not a piece of glass broke! And all walked away! That is one of the reasons that I bought a 2nd one. The only concern I have is that the none of the air bags deployed.:confused: Even the cop made note of that.

According to Honda (local) the angle of incident needs to be considered. I hit right on the passenger front corner. The Ford's front tire profile was imbedded in my bumper. Took digital video and working on following up w/Honda regional and/or national on why airbags didn't go off yet car was totaled.

This is why I am looking to get some performance hints. I know that they make them (off the production line) with a lot better hole shot.
 
#6 ·
Glad to hear that the Ody did it's job in protecting you and your family, but I'm a little concerend about the airbags not deploying, too. What is the biggest difference in performance? Off the line or passing-lane performance?
 
#9 ·
Weight reduction may be the most cost-effective "bolt-off" performance mod. It's free, and there's plenty room for improvement. But weight reduction can interfere with the purpose of the van, after all, which is to carry loads of stuff or people in relative comfort.

If you're looking for max. performance, though, an LX is probably marginally faster. It weighs 4,310 lb (vs 4,365 for the base EX and even more for leather/DVD versions). 55 pounds is nothing to sneeze at -- about the weight of a decent-sized kid and .23 less pounds for each hp to carry around.

Has anyone ever weighed the captain's chairs? I bet they weigh a good bit. If I'm racing for pink slips, I'd be in an LX with all the seats removed, including the "magic seat." Perhaps a before and after comparison at a raceway is in order.
 
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Discussion starter · #10 ·
I agree with you that weight reduction is the best option. If it were my van, not a problem. However, I have kids that need to be restrained (as if there are kids that don't need to be restrained).

I am not looking for a racer, just get to improve the performance that had with the 1st 2002 Ody. Intakes and exhausts are doable and fall within the budget. Heads, haven't seen much news about these. Would be interested in hearing where I can get more info but I see this as something to be planned for. Tires/rims are on my list to improve. It still needs to be mom's kid carrier.

I guess a big question is, is there any way to tweek the engine/computer and still stay "within Honda specs"? The 1st Ody had GREAT performance off the showroom floor and I am sure that one was "within Honda specs". Or is this one of those things where you need to have the special code reader, software, interface card, etc...... and you would be better off taking to a speciality Honda shop (not dealer) to have this done? Any advise or feedback on that would be helpful.
 
#12 ·
Having spent quite a bit of $$$ on my '98 Accord, I can offer up a couple of opinions/advice on performance mods. I have also done a few things to our '02 Ody as you can see in my sig.
~The H&R springs are great! Well worth the money/ride/handling trade-off IMO. Makes a BIG difference in cornering stability with still acceptable ride comfort.
~As far as more HP, not as easy as you would think. Not much out there in the aftermarket for Ody unfortunately :( I/H/E is normally the first things to look at; some have fabricated custom exhausts etc. No header available as of yet, no off the shelf intake either as far as I know (could be wrong on this?).
~Tweaking the engine management computer is not always cost effective on a normally aspirated engine like Odys. Often very minimal gains for the $$$.
~Custom turbos and superchargers are, of course, very costly and present a number of problems you may not want to deal with on your "kiddie-mobile"! NOS is always an option for "cheap" HP-you might be able to figure out a way to make that work. Also, as mentioned the cheapest way to improve performance is to reduce weight. Obviously, that is not always practical, but if I were going to make a 1/4 mile pass, I would remove the spare tire, middle row seats and run on a near empty (yellow light on) gas tank. That would probably be more effective than all the normal bolt-ons combined.
~Keeping the van reliable and smog legal is a major concern (at least here in So. Cal) so, for me, I will be satisfied with 240 HP and enjoy doing other mods.
~Sounds like the main concern for you is the difference in performance between your two Odys. I have no idea why that would be the case, unless of course there were a problem with your new one. That should be easy to diagnose I would think (assuming a competent technician!).
~Glad to hear the Ody is "crash-worthy" but I agree that the lack of airbag deployment is a concern. Although in your case, I guess it wasn't necessary since you were all able to walk away from it. Anyway, welcome to odyclub-good luck with your mods :cool:
 
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#14 ·
Some says that K&N's high flow filter allows more dust to enter the engine thus harming the engine, some says they have used it for years and it's fine.
 
#16 ·
I've used them for years in my other vehicles and I would swear by them. They have a better air flow and have finer filter elements than the basic brand what you would get at the dealer/auto store. Although they may cost more initially, but you only pay for it once and just clean it when it's dirty as opposed to buying a new filter over and over again. There is also a slightly quicker pedal response and also the car "breathes" better which translates to better gas mileage. :D
 
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#19 ·
#20 ·
I've been using K & N filters for years in Accords and have never had any problems. If you keep it clean and properly oiled, I think it traps much smaller particles than an OEM filter. I just bought a used 2002 Ody EX ( the Accord is just too small now that we have 3 kids) and plan to buy one for it too. In the Accords, I found they offered slightly better throttle response and low end torque. Better breathing and less weasing in the higher RPM's too. The Ody seems to have loads of low end grunt and doesn't need to rev nearly as much as the Accords, but I'll let you know what sort of differences I find.
 
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Wayne Lim
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