Questions about automatics, please point me in the right direction

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Samuel Owens

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Hello.
I have a 2012 civic lx coupe. 1.8L SOHC vtec. automatic transmission.
I have recently started working on it more and have done little things like suspension and minor engine fixes and maintenance but I would like to learn more about mods and how they work and how to install them.
I have heard from some people that most any mod you can do on a manual you can do on an automatic also but I have also heard that most mods you cannot do on automatics so I would like some clarity.

I realize that the easiest route would probably be to just buy a manual but I am still paying off this one and that isnt an option but modding it to learn until I can buy a manual is an option.

what is possible for me to do to my a/t 1.8L civic to make it more powerful / fun to drive?
is it possible to tune the stock ECU in this car?
do I need anything more than an OBD2 scanner?
does a usb or bluetooth OBD2 scanner that works for diagnostics also work for tuning?
do I need to buy one of those standalone ecu things?
is it possible to put on a turbo charger or super charger (whats the difference)?
is it possible to put on air intakes and exhaust systems / will it do anything?
is it possible to swap in a 2.4 L 4 cylinder?
is it possible to swap in a 6 cylinder ?
is it possible to swap in a proper dohc vtec ?
which of those would be better?
what is actually involved in swapping to a manual transmission, dont tell me it isn't worth it i've heard that, I want to actually know what would be involved.
when im looking at parts online what year ranges are safe to look at? Ive been looking for specific 2012 only but the following few years are also compatible correct?

I know i've likely said something stupid, I'm trying to learn and I don't know anyone I can ask so I dont even know where to go to ask these questions.
If you could answer them or point to the correct message boards that would be helpful thank you.
 
Last edited:
Samuel Owens said:
Hello.
I have a 2012 civic lx coupe. 1.8L SOHC vtec. automatic transmission.
I have recently started working on it more and have done little things like suspension and minor engine fixes and maintenance but I would like to learn more about mods and how they work and how to install them.
I have heard from some people that most any mod you can do on a manual you can do on an automatic also but I have also heard that most mods you cannot do on automatics so I would like some clarity.

I realize that the easiest route would probably be to just buy a manual but I am still paying off this one and that isnt an option but modding it to learn until I can buy a manual is an option.

what is possible for me to do to my a/t 1.8L civic to make it more powerful / fun to drive?
is it possible to put on a turbo charger or super charger (whats the difference)?
is it possible to put on air intakes and exhaust systems / will it do anything?
is it possible to swap in a 2.4 L 4 cylinder?
is it possible to swap in a 6 cylinder ?
is it possible to swap in a proper dohc vtec ?
which of those would be better?
what is actually involved in swapping to a manual transmission, dont tell me it isn't worth it i've heard that, I want to actually know what would be involved.
when im looking at parts online what year ranges are safe to look at? Ive been looking for specific 2012 only but the following few years are also compatible correct?

I know i've likely said something stupid, I'm trying to learn and I don't know anyone I can ask so I dont even know where to go to ask these questions.
If you could answer them or point to the correct message boards that would be helpful thank you.
Click to expand...


Welcome to the forum. I am not sure there is much you can do to the R18(current motor in your civic) as mods go that will give you actually power gains but I believe a guy on this forum has a turbo R18.

The deference between a Supercharger and a Turbocharger is a Turbocharger works off of exhaust gas to spin the compressor wheel to force air into the motor and a supercharger works off of a pulley making it belt driven. Both have pros and cons supercharger are good for instant boost where on a turbo the gasses from the exhaust have to work to spin the compressor wheel.

They make intakes and exhaust and other bolt ons for the R18 but honestly I would start with a K series engine like the K24Z3 for a better performance platform. The K24Z3 is the TSX motor out of the 09-14 it is basically the K24Z7 out of the 9th gen SI with a different oil pan you will need to bolt up your rear motor mount. You have other options out there like the H22 or other k24A/K20 set up that are more involved and costly.

Swapping a car from automatic to Manual is not to bad but can get painful running new pedals and lines but would be a much enjoyable experience driving being manual. You are looking for 2012-15 not sure if the TSX had the same pedal fitment or any other manual honda had.
 
how do I determine which K series engine would be swappable into my car?
also if I swap in a k series engine will I then also need to swap in a new transmission or will the A/T from my r18 function on a k series?
 
mySIck said:
Welcome to the forum. I am not sure there is much you can do to the R18(current motor in your civic) as mods go that will give you actually power gains but I believe a guy on this forum has a turbo R18.

The deference between a Supercharger and a Turbocharger is a Turbocharger works off of exhaust gas to spin the compressor wheel to force air into the motor and a supercharger works off of a pulley making it belt driven. Both have pros and cons supercharger are good for instant boost where on a turbo the gasses from the exhaust have to work to spin the compressor wheel.

They make intakes and exhaust and other bolt ons for the R18 but honestly I would start with a K series engine like the K24Z3 for a better performance platform. The K24Z3 is the TSX motor out of the 09-14 it is basically the K24Z7 out of the 9th gen SI with a different oil pan you will need to bolt up your rear motor mount. You have other options out there like the H22 or other k24A/K20 set up that are more involved and costly.

Swapping a car from automatic to Manual is not to bad but can get painful running new pedals and lines but would be a much enjoyable experience driving being manual. You are looking for 2012-15 not sure if the TSX had the same pedal fitment or any other manual honda had.
Click to expand...


how do I determine which K series engine would be swappable into my car?
also if I swap in a k series engine will I then also need to swap in a new transmission or will the A/T from my r18 function on a k series?
in addition to those questions do you know if it is possible to tune the stock ecu on this car/ what equipment is required ?
 
Any K series will fit into your civic. You would be looking at doing what is called a complete swap that involves a complete long block motor, ECU, Transmission, axle motor mounts.

Some k series like the K24Z3 offer an automatic version you could swap in if you did not decide to go manual.
 
As far as tuning the R18 I don't have a clue @webby he should know I have not played with the R18. But I am sure someone has.
 
hondata and ktuner offer tuning options for the r18.

This topic has honestly been covered pretty extensively. You will spend so much more money trying to do an engine/trans swap....turbo or anything even remotely close to any of those things versus swapping vehicles. Yes you'd lose some money selling your vehicle and swapping over to the SI, but then you're already in a vehicle with the k series engine and manual trans. The SI has tuning options, & it has aftermarket parts galore which the car responds to. The r18 does not respond well to aftermarket parts. The engine was designed for fuel economy. There is no bolt on kit for the r18 turbo/supercharger wise. It'd have to be completely custom. Even then, users who have done custom turbo builds spent like 3-5k on parts alone, and then they still didn't hit power numbers the K series engine gets out of the box. It's just not in the cards to do power mods for the r18, and that's just being brutally honest.

Most people have done mods like suspension changes, thicker rear sway bars, wheels, lighting and things like that for upgrades. It makes the car more fun to drive, but you're not throwing away money on power adders that won't actually make a difference. Tuning isn't cheap, and the tuning options are like 4-700 for the unit alone. Again, it's better to actually swap vehicles to the SI and take a small hit price wise if you want to get more power. The SI is supported by the aftermarket community. The r18 really isn't. People who have bought parts to gain power in the r18 really didn't see much at all.
 
webby said:
hondata and ktuner offer tuning options for the r18.

This topic has honestly been covered pretty extensively. You will spend so much more money trying to do an engine/trans swap....turbo or anything even remotely close to any of those things versus swapping vehicles. Yes you'd lose some money selling your vehicle and swapping over to the SI, but then you're already in a vehicle with the k series engine and manual trans. The SI has tuning options, & it has aftermarket parts galore which the car responds to. The r18 does not respond well to aftermarket parts. The engine was designed for fuel economy. There is no bolt on kit for the r18 turbo/supercharger wise. It'd have to be completely custom. Even then, users who have done custom turbo builds spent like 3-5k on parts alone, and then they still didn't hit power numbers the K series engine gets out of the box. It's just not in the cards to do power mods for the r18, and that's just being brutally honest.

Most people have done mods like suspension changes, thicker rear sway bars, wheels, lighting and things like that for upgrades. It makes the car more fun to drive, but you're not throwing away money on power adders that won't actually make a difference. Tuning isn't cheap, and the tuning options are like 4-700 for the unit alone. Again, it's better to actually swap vehicles to the SI and take a small hit price wise if you want to get more power. The SI is supported by the aftermarket community. The r18 really isn't. People who have bought parts to gain power in the r18 really didn't see much at all.
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I can vouch for this as I currently drive a 13 civic with the R18 motor and an automatic transmission. With it being my first car that was bought with the help of the parents I couldnt really be picky in what I got but, with that being said there are some modifications you can do to make it more fun. As webby has mentioned above a thicker sway bar, lighter wheels, better tires, and suspension components will help make the car more enjoyable to throw around the corners and just driving in general. I do have a custom e-tune done with Hondata and tuned by VitViper (who no longer tunes our cars) which helps make it way more enjoyable to drive but that itself is not a cheap option as well, it was one of the very last mods i did to my car as i had to save up for it. All in all you mainly can do exterior aesthetics modifications and perhaps an intake and exhaust along with the other things mentioned above. Try not to focus on how much horsepower you want but more of how enjoyable the vehicle is to drive with the certain modification added onto it.
 
mySIck said:
They make intakes and exhaust and other bolt ons for the R18 but honestly I would start with a K series engine like the K24Z3 for a better performance platform. The K24Z3 is the TSX motor out of the 09-14 it is basically the K24Z7 out of the 9th gen SI with a different oil pan you will need to bolt up your rear motor mount. You have other options out there like the H22 or other k24A/K20 set up that are more involved and costly.

Swapping a car from automatic to Manual is not to bad but can get painful running new pedals and lines but would be a much enjoyable experience driving being manual. You are looking for 2012-15 not sure if the TSX had the same pedal fitment or any other manual honda had.
Click to expand...

Hallo meine freunde. Danke für all die hilfe

It may just be the way I'm reading it but the wording to me seems to imply that swapping the z7 from the tsx would be somehow preferable to simply pulling a z3 from an Si. In my mind it would be more straightforward to pull the civic engine to put in the civic.
But as I said previously, I know nothing.
Please clarify this point for me if you have the time.
 
Samuel Owens said:
Hallo meine freunde. Danke für all die hilfe

It may just be the way I'm reading it but the wording to me seems to imply that swapping the z7 from the tsx would be somehow preferable to simply pulling a z3 from an Si. In my mind it would be more straightforward to pull the civic engine to put in the civic.
But as I said previously, I know nothing.
Please clarify this point for me if you have the time.
Click to expand...

The K24Z3 is the motor found in the 09-14 TSX it is the same motor Honda used in the 2012-2015 SI got except the oil pan is different and was called a K24Z7. You can normally find the K24Z3 motor for around $300-600 USD for a complete long block versus the K24Z7 that is going to be much more in price.

I believe you are thinking of the K20Z3 from the 8th gen SI those are good motors too but are a bit high in price.
 
mySIck said:
The K24Z3 is the motor found in the 09-14 TSX it is the same motor Honda used in the 2012-2015 SI got except the oil pan is different and was called a K24Z7. You can normally find the K24Z3 motor for around $300-600 USD for a complete long block versus the K24Z7 that is going to be much more in price.

I believe you are thinking of the K20Z3 from the 8th gen SI those are good motors too but are a bit high in price.
Click to expand...

If I understand correctly, this would be considered a k24z3 and to put it in my 2012 FG3 I would need to get a 9th gen si oil pan as well as the other parts mentioned

https://www.ebay.com/i/113830805684...PazEjtoejyz3OjhfE0tBE62BP_I8HT3oaAquaEALw_wcB
 
Any idea why the z7 is so much more expensive?
Apart from the name recognition of coming out of an SI and having the Honda oil pan its the same engine right?
mySIck said:
You are correct. When I blew my orginal motor in my SI I replaced it with that TSX motor.
Click to expand...
 
he's talking just the long block when he mentions price. He's not talking about the axles, brakes, ecu, wiring harness, intake/exhaust, fuel system, gauge cluster, transmission, and on and on needed to make the swap. That's not including the labor that is needed. You will spend SOOOO much more trying to make a swap happen and work. No offense, but it doesn't seem like you'd be doing the labor on the swap, so you'd have that expense which will not be cheap. There are also federal epa and state laws regarding engine swaps being no older than the chassis the vehicle age. So, if you have a 2012, you legally have to swap an engine no older than a 2012 into the car to be compliant. Do you live in a state that does vehicle inspections to get your registration or plate renewal?

It should be noted that while EPA's policy allows engine switches as long as the resulting vehicle matches exactly to any certified configuration of the same or newer model year as the chassis, there are some substantial practical limitations to performing such a replacement.
https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/documents/engswitch_0.pdf
 
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