Just bought my first 2015 Civic, need advice on performance enhancement

He’s right, these motors are made to sip gas and no matter what bolt on mods you buy you’ll gain almost nothing in performance even with a tune
So what could I do to actually get something out of the performance mods? So is there no reason to install an intake or an exhaust?
 
Fellow R18 owner here, like everyone has been saying you won't get much out of putting performance mods on your car if anything it'll make it run worse without a tune. BUT with that said I have a aFe Takeda axle back, Takeda intake and a RV6 high flow cat. Those are all the engine mods i will ever put on the car but i am also tuned with VitViper who no longer does etunes though. I can personally tell you that without a tune those mods make your car run pretty bad. Rough idle, hesitation with accelerating, etc etc but to each their own if you wana throw some intake or exhaust stuff on there its great for making noises and going vroom vroom but besides that its kind of a waste without a proper tune. I'm not saying that with a tune those performance mods will make you go faster but it does make the car more enjoyable to drive.
 
So what could I do to actually get something out of the performance mods? So is there no reason to install an intake or an exhaust?
Give bisimoto a call/email and see what he charges for ktuner and a custom tune on your car. It's going to be the cheapest option for custom tuning, or you can go with hondata, and you'll be closer to $700 for the unit plus around ~$200 for an etune. He looks to be the closest authorized shop offering ktuner.

http://bisimoto.com/
2060 S Lynx Pl
Ontario, CA 91761 USA
(888) 922-6686
 
For what you pay for the mods all you get out is noise. I tried everything, spent more time and got more headaches from bolt ons than I did with a turbo build. If you want to get the cheapest/best performance, buy a tuning solution and have a tuner tune your car while it’s stock and it will surprisingly give you better performance with minor adjustments to the cars computer
 
For what you pay for the mods all you get out is noise. I tried everything, spent more time and got more headaches from bolt ons than I did with a turbo build. If you want to get the cheapest/best performance, buy a tuning solution and have a tuner tune your car while it’s stock and it will surprisingly give you better performance with minor adjustments to the cars computer
Do you have a rough idea what you had in expenses to do your entire setup? Tune/parts/etc. Did you do a clutch swap when you had yours installed?
 
Excluding wrong parts/parts i thought would work - I would say about $2,000 on a rough eBay setup with vibrant oil feed and return lines. Now that I’m more in depth with genuine parts I’d say $3,500 for a worry free (custom of course) build. Didn’t do a clutch job on first go around and it would slip slightly but since then I upgraded.
 
eBay turbo = $250
Universal inter cooler kit (x2) = $375
oil feed/drain = $200
BOV = $150
Vacuum block = $50
Boost gauge = $50
Tune = $100 (retune cost from VitViper)
EGR delete = $50
8th gen turbo manifold = $200
Catch can = $75
Miscellaneous (vacuum lines, PCV lines etc) = $50
Labor = $0.00
 
RDX injectors = $150??

Edit - do you have a CVT?
For what you pay for the mods all you get out is noise. I tried everything, spent more time and got more headaches from bolt ons than I did with a turbo build. If you want to get the cheapest/best performance, buy a tuning solution and have a tuner tune your car while it’s stock and it will surprisingly give you better performance with minor adjustments to the cars computer
so basically my only option to make modifications to my car that will actually inscrease speed is to get a tune? Sorry, like I said this is all kinda new to me
 
That’s surprisingly cheaper than I thought you’d have in parts, but I guess a big savings would be on the ebay turbo. How many miles would you say you’ve put on it? Any issues at all?
 
The tune is everything, and a good tune at that. Getting someone that tunes Honda specific is a must in my opinion..and yea Webby I just went budget on everything just to get started. I put about 2 oil changes worth of miles on the eBay setup and this weekend will be my second oil change on the legitimate setup so probably close to 10,000 miles and not one hiccup yet, this engine loves boost
 
The tune is everything, and a good tune at that. Getting someone that tunes Honda specific is a must in my opinion..and yea Webby I just went budget on everything just to get started. I put about 2 oil changes worth of miles on the eBay setup and this weekend will be my second oil change on the legitimate setup so probably close to 10,000 miles and not one hiccup yet, this engine loves boost
So a good tune before I can add an intake and an exhaust?
 
So every mod I make I have to get tuned? Should I just talk to a tuning specialist? Can I install the intake and exhaust THEN get it tuned?
Add the intake and exhaust and have something lined up to get it tuned after. There really aren’t other power mods for the r18 engine besides a downpipe, but yes. You need a tune after doing any power mods.
 
Honda generally builds their engines pretty well, and doesn’t leave a whole lot on the table in naturally aspirated applications. True, you can free up a little bit through simple things like intake and exhaust and a tune, but without going to forced induction, the only way to make power naturally aspirated is through displacement and revs. You might be able to pick up 10 hp or so, but without getting serious, that’s about all you’ll see. Don’t expect anything earth shattering, and you probably won’t be able to feel it seat of the pants.
Sorry to be a downer, but take this as fair warning before you put yourself into debt.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
@ekissinger1 you pmed me about the flashpro -

the person who started this thread may have an interest in a flashpro for their r18 civic. You will need to start a proper sales thread in the forum to sell it.

you can start a sales thread for the hondata here -
http://9thcivic.com/forum/forums/forced-induction-nitrous-fs.187/

You will need to follow these rules here for selling. I'd also suggest taking a photo showing the unit is unlocked from your vehicle with your listing.
http://9thcivic.com/forum/threads/9thcivic-for-sale-area-rules-must-read.1711/
 
@ekissinger1 you pmed me about the flashpro -

the person who started this thread may have an interest in a flashpro for their r18 civic. You will need to start a proper sales thread in the forum to sell it.

you can start a sales thread for the hondata here -
http://9thcivic.com/forum/forums/forced-induction-nitrous-fs.187/

You will need to follow these rules here for selling. I'd also suggest taking a photo showing the unit is unlocked from your vehicle with your listing.
http://9thcivic.com/forum/threads/9thcivic-for-sale-area-rules-must-read.1711/
So a co worker of mine recommended a flashpro, how well would that work?
 
So a co worker of mine recommended a flashpro, how well would that work?

Hondata posted 142hp/113tq with intake/exhaust to 155hp/124tq with intake/exhaust and hondata at church's dyno. So roughly a 10% improvement, but almost all of the torque improvement is above 4000rpm, and the hp gains are way up at like 5500 to redline.

"Vitviper" had this to say (if you don't know vitviper, he's custom tuned more 8th/9th gens than probably anyone in the industry and holds records for fastest 1/4 mile car tunes) -

This was on church's dynapack that reads 15-20% high, sure. Every R18 owner is going to be quite heart broken when they run it on some other dyno and don't make 155. What do you expect on that eco motor, 20hp with a tune? I've said this countless times over the years (starting with the 8th gen version), and every time I do, someone gets their feelings hurt: modifying an R18 is a waste of money. Unless you turbo or supercharge it, then it's OK-ish as you'll actually see notable improvement.


These gains with hondata below, you'd be at roughly ~$1500 parts to achieve (plus installation unless you're doing it)

gRq8sBW.jpg
 
Back
Top