What can I do with....

M

mhjung

Active Member
96
20
Rancho Cucamonga
Vehicle Model
EX
Body Style
Sedan
Alright 9thcivic...time to help and educate a fellow civic owner =] 2015 civic sedan ex. Cvt transmission (yeah I know not the best). If I had 7k to dedicate to engine parts, what do you guys recommend?

...and no please don't reply with "just trade it in for an si."

I want to learn. I want to do the research. I just need a little push in the right direction.
 
Look into engine management - hondata flashpro or ktuner. I've yet to see anyone post any real data showing their gains with flashpro on the r18 engine yet. If you're going to drop that much money into the engine, you'd literally be the first person going that direction on the 9th gen. There are a few intakes, and a few exhausts & that is about it.

Another member @420Coupe had a lot of custom parts made for his 8th gen r18 engine.
his thread for inspiration -
http://9thcivic.com/forum/threads/420coupes-boss-r18a1.3965/

In reality, you truly would benefit from either switching to the si, or doing an engine swap. There are so many parts available for the K series engines. The non-si engines are built around fuel economy and emissions. It'd be significantly cheaper to switch over to the si, or doing an engine swap with more gains.
 
As always, thanks for all your input webby. I am definitely open to doing an engine swap. I was actually just doing some light research on that. Do you have any websites in mind that have the engines available?
 
Dude, I hate to say it, I have an LX so I feel your pain, but seriously, do not engine swap your car.
Trade in plus your $7k, you should get an Si and learn to drive stick. Or a different car.

Not trying to be a dick or a hater. I've just contemplated this for a long time as well.....

In all honesty buy a $3k Miata and spend the net $4k rehabbing and prepping that car. You will learn a lot and leave you a reliable DD that can get you to Autozone and back for random crap you need and while you wait for parts.


I hate to say it but I have been down that road with plans for my car and in the end, realized I really really like that I have a car that always starts, always runs, and could drive across the country right now if I needed it to. Oh and get about 40mpg too!

It sucks but the reality is the R18 will fight you every step of the way trying to extract power from it. I would really like to bolt one of the jackson SC kits on it but for over $4k, I could take that money plus my trade in value and buy a $10K out of pocket almost new Fr-S/BRZ/Si?MS3/finance a little bit WRX and so on.

If you really want to chase this rabbit hole, Ill help you do it. I've spent a lot of time researching parts and solutions for my R18 but in the end, the cost is so high that you could seriously swap for so many other cars. Its hard to justify.

Still want to do it? Then I say go for it....


FlashPro -$750, you will have to buy new, hardly anyone has one, and used ones are rare as heck....
Weapon R Intake Manifold - $550
Jackson SC kit ( it works with AT so should work with CvT) - $4500
Tires - $750 (dunlop Z2 or equal in 235/40/17)

Bam theres your $7K right there. I left some room for accessories you will need. Like $50 left.... hahaha

It is le sucks.... PS with all this you might hit 200hp at the wheels.....
 
What nix said. I have a 2012 ex and I was doing the research too. Hell if Jackson racing would've confirmed fitment of the R18 kit on the 2012 models I would already have one. I was about 2 minutes away from just buying one and doing the work myself. Then cooler heads prevailed and I realized it was too much money to throw at this car for the horse power gained. I've also got over 67,000 miles on my car now and I want it to go another 60,000 at least.

I've upgraded my suspension, added a few personal touches to the design and now I have a car I prefer to drive more than my Mini Cooper S. Speed and power are great but the reliability and handling are nice too.

I do also have Ktuner tuned by vit. It made the car more fun to drive by leveling out the auto but this car just isn't built for speed. You would need to add/swap a lot to get there.

If you do this i will however be watching with everyone else. Good luck.
 
Man, such good advice from everyone @webby @Nix @Twitch thank you guys so much. I'll definitely be contemplating this decision for awhile before I jump the gun on anything.

Only up to 200hp?? Wow that really isnt that much gain for the money =\ I'm guessing a turbo wouldn't do much either lol

I definitely want to make the car more fun to drive but perhaps there are other options that wouldn't break the bank.
 
Yes, you could make more than 200hp at the wheels, but there's more to it than just that. Out of my research i was finding that the Jackson Racing kit was the most reliable. It is designed to go on the stock car with no other upgrades. Therefore it would get you a good balance of power while maintaining reliability. That said you are looking at 200HP for $4,500 + shipping + taxes. You should also get it tuned by Vit + $230.

Now you could go to the track pack that JR offers ($4600) and get to 240hp according to them. However, you would need to at least get a new down pipe ($150), intake manifold ($550) and a new fuel pump ($150), Vit tune ($230). I'm sure there's more you would want but this is the bare minimum i can think of - $5,800 + shipping + taxes.

Also keep in mind, once you start putting that much power into this car your going to feel how weak everything else is. Nix already recommended new tires, i would also throw in suspension upgrades. Your looking at $500 - $5000 in suspension/wheel/tire upgrades.

Now going above this into the 300's could be done. Your also taking the reliability out of the car though. And your transmission is going to be a weak link if you don't have engine issues. I personally would not do this for a daily.

If you cant tell, as much as Ive talked myself out of this I'm still on the fence. Ive already done the suspension and everything else. 200-250 hp would be fast enough for me and i still need the car to be reliable. That said, I would go with the tune it yourself kit ($3500), Vit tune ($200), fuel pump ($150), injectors ($240), down pipe($150), intake manifold ($550) = ~$4,790 + shipping + taxes.... I love my car but another $5,000+ i don't know. I'm eying my neighbors s2k instead for $10,000. Of course that'll be another $10,000 in parts because of course ill want to SC that and upgrade the suspension.... Such dilemas. Its all about what is worth it to you. Its only money...

How much power are you looking to make?
 
The cvt transmission will hold you back in the end. I was in the mitsubishi scene before and i've seen some turbo'ed cvt lancer. They had to run oversized transmission cooler and had alot of realibity issues ... the cvt is made for economy and cant handle much power.

As other said, I would go with a good suspension/wheels/tires set up and call it a day.
 
Yeah, you can definitely get more power but I was being probably a bit too conservative. If I had a manual 5-speed it would be a different story. The Jackson track pack and the KW kit both run an intercooler that don't fit with the AT and I suspect the same fitment issue with a CVT as well.

240hp with the track pack and maybe a little more with supporting mods would be awesome. However, AT/CVT most likely won't reach that due to size and space limitations. KW specifically says their kit won't fit AT civics.

I still like my car a lot and did a ton of suspension mods to it. I love the way it drives. Its just not fast. Which is ok, I still manage to get tickets. hahahah plus it'll last to 200k Im sure.
 
Not trying to be a downer but you're really better off trading in for an Si (which you could probably do with a few bucks leftover for mods) or buying a cheap project car like mentioned above. I just can't see $7k on a CVT being a good investment. Best of luck to you!
 
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