Honda D Series Engine Best Mods & Upgrades 🔧[Tuning]

The D Series block of this reliably, supremely sturdy engine has powered numerous iterations of the Civic and many other Honda through the generations; it can safely handle power of roughly 200 horsepower, or more with reinforcement, but this increases the cost significantly.

Much depends on the base engine with the D17 and D16 being better suited to power upgrades than the D12 and D13 would be.

We outline the optimal strategy for D series tuning and describe the finest upgrade options for your Honda. Working on a Honda D17 is a blast, and upgrading it with a few select motorsport components will undoubtedly increase your time spent behind the wheel as you fully utilize the extra power it offers..

So a D series engine can you tune it? What about a D series Turbo upgrade?

The correct response is that just about anything is amenable to tuning; the actual concern is value, and that, like beauty, is subjective.

While I think that spending $1,000 to $2,000 is excessive for an engine power improvement of only about 20 horsepower, many people really enjoy working on cars, and with the addition of forced induction and other choices, you can make much more power.

You can see from below there were quite a few versions of the D series engines, the most common D series engine codes are .... (let me know if I've missed any out.)
D12A
D12B1
D13B1
D13B2
D13B4
D13B7
D13C
D14 Series Engines (1.4 Liter)
D14A1
D14A2
D14A3
D14A4
D14A5
D14A7
D14A8
D14Z1
D14Z2
D14Z3
D14Z4
D14Z5
D14Z6
D16A
D16B
D16Y
D16Z
D17A1
D17A2
D17A3
D17A5
D17A6
D17A7
D17A8
D17A9
D17Z2
D17Z3

Legal Notice: Unless we have inspected your car we can only provide generic theory. All information is provided without warranty, please check any recommendations made with a mechanic locally to verify it would be legal in your area or region and that it would be suitable for your car and your needs.

[lostkauz]

Who knew 47 had extensive Honda knowledge.

[smileod]

Out of all pages that I've came across, your video has been the most helpful. I made a list of things that you mentioned and will start my build in the near future since I've yet to restore my EP2. Plan is to get my Civic to 150 horses NA. Considering that my car has 110HP from Factory, I'm sure that it's not going to be too difficult. Thanks again!

[dumitrescugeorgedaniel]

I was looking a few weeks ago about D-series engine because I want to buy a Honda . This is a useful video, thank you mate :)

[asianboi]

I just got myself a 1999 civic DX. Plan on making the most power out of the D16y7! This video helped a bunch. Thanks a lot mate !

[adhdrockets]

I love the D-Series!
This is my 2nd honda.
The first one was a honda logo, if i still had the car i would upgrade the cylinder head to get more power.
Now i'm working on turboing a Civic aerodeck.

[Mruiz]

I’ve had a 7th gen civic for about a month now so I’m totally green but everything you stated here is absolutely clear and makes perfect sense especially the part about “down grading” a D to a B to tune for better performance thank you much.

[bladpalace]

Finally got my hands on a project car! It’s a 1990 Honda Civic EX Sedan with a D15Y7 w/ a 5 Speed! She runs and drives well, slowly going to restore it back to glory. Any tips on what to upgrade first would be much appreciated, this video alone helped me gain so much knowledge on what I have and could do but I’ll still very happy and open to learning more from the community.

[victorlewis]

Me and my dad used my Y8 head and mated it on a D17A1 block, its a nice little frankenstein. Wish I had the A2 block though

[Michael-ybu]

Currently have an ej2 coupe 95 Stage 1 cam D16Z6. Just purchased a Hondata.
Wiith the old auto non vtec D15B7 gone, now its time to tune it up!
Owned an eg3, 4 and 5 and an eu8/ep2.
Driven just about every Honda there is and i can say these machines have untapped potential!
Driven alot of cars and nothing makes me feel the way a Honda does.

[malcolmmay]

I really like the way you explain everything in detail...and the links you add in your discription is very informative I hope your channel grows to it's full potential 🤲

[Grayman_WWJD]

🔥❤️‍🔥 I have a 2003 d17a1 with 330, 000 miles and it still runs great.❤️‍🔥🔥

[Shreddylife]

The best mods are Vitara pistons, I beam rods, a turbo kit and a tune 😄

[nathanaw]

I've driven a Mk7 civic with the D16V1 and now own and daily a Concerto with a D15B2. The plan for my Concerto is to get the car to 200-250 wheel hp. I could go B series but instead I'm going to swap to a D16A9 (the twin cam D series) and build that up instead to handle a supercharger!

[Grâce-ndx]

I own a 2000 Honda Hr-V abused for years and still drive better than most cars, only problem I have now is oil leak and horrible rust.

[PrestigiousBurrito]

Finding a cam for a d16y7 is gonna be tough and expensive. Best bet it to ship your stock cam to get a re grind. Much cheaper, but not all companies to mess with cams are willing. A full legit branded exhaust kit will make the car sound spicier in a good tone but the hp gains would be no more than 10hp tbh. A short ram isn’t a great idea because the filter and the intake hose will just absorb heat from the engine. Get a cold air if you dont boost the build. Turbos are fun as well as some of the superchargers. Just keep in mind that the supercharger will create way more heat. Like he mentioned, hondata is pretty much the best. You can use a Y8 intake manifold with some modifications. Not too hard but not lego either. You can “lock” vtec(look for a tutorial) but its not very healthy and its not worth it if you arent gonna boost the build. Pistons and such are pretty easy to find or have custom cuz honda. You can find a bigger throttle body by skunk or similar. I believe you can reuse a Y8 throttle body due to the cable/ throttle tensioner positioning. For cooling, theres tons of cheap and mid range to legit racing parts. 99 honda lx had a d16y8 with a manual pushing 102 from the factory to the crank. So you would in theory get about 50-75hp out ofall those mods without boosting. Keep in mind youd probably hit 75 hp with a flex fuel kit and if you change to a higher compression. But overall, a lil light civic pushing 150-175hp is really good. Youd be able to give a stock s2000 a run for its money along with those annoying v6 mustangs and maybe even stock 3v mustangs.

[playboiidylan]

i used to daily my 1998 civic dx coupe with a d series. sadly the ac compressor is shot so it sounds really bad but runs great 😂 currently daily driving my 2008 civic si til i get a new ac compressor

[dogforce]

My z6 blew up so i swapped a y8 block used my z6 head and put a z6 crank in the block pulls very good and it has a lower c/r so itll be fun to boost these single cams are hella funny 😂

[XN]

I miss my ep2, it was the best car i ever had..but it also broke down the most cause my mechanic fucked up..now i drive a ford ka. Wishing it had a d16v1

[antonmealy]

More than a few mis-leading comments & implications regarding ZC, DOHC & Vtec D-series also seen elsewhere.
So to clarify, ZC being the Japanese engine code used on both premium engines, 1.6DOHC used in early Integra, CR-X & Civic Si from 1985 (similar to d16a1-d16a9), which was replaced by slightly more economical 1.5 & 1.6 SOHC VTEC 'ZC' for 1992 on (d16y1, d16z6) {no Dseries DOHC VTEC ~ That was B16A}.
Also these premium higher power engines usually had improved 4-2-1 exhaust manifolds not consolidated into 1 until past the sump.

[bloodwintertales]

Love the D16Z6 motor in my Honda need to trans swap from auto to manual then we gonna be golden