FK7 OEM+ build from Portugal

[rpereira]

Hello folks,

I decided to start this journal to introduce myself and share my progress with my Civic. I am from Portugal and I own a 2021 EUDM FK7 Sport+ that I got from the dealership in late 2021.

I am planning to own this car for a minimum of 7 years (Honda Portugal offers a 7y warranty), and despite only driving it every other weekend, reliability is top of mind to me. I think this is a very well done car by Honda and my plan is to create an OEM+ build, with a simple black on white style. However, before starting making any changes to the car, I decided to drive it for a few months and figure out what I like and don't like.

The good parts:

• I love the white color with black accents
• The electronically controlled damper allows for a noticeable change on how the car handles
• Power delivery feels good
• Fuel economy is pretty decent

The bad parts:

• Super quiet exhaust
• Even when the electronically controlled damper is set to the sport position, the car still has excessive body pitch and roll when cornering
• Needs improved stability at higher speeds
• The shifting experience is good but there's a bit notchy and inconsistent shifting feel that I do not like, especially on 2nd gear
• While the seats are reasonably comfortable, they do not offer the support I wish they did

With this spirit in mind, I want to make this car more fun to drive while keeping most of the mods as subtle and OEM-looking as possible and taking a conservative approach to power increase.


2022 Modifications
Bellow are the modifications I did during the first year of ownership to address some of the things I didn't like.

Aesthetics
In the spirit of a black on white style I made the following changes:

• Black OEM side mirror covers
• Black OEM wheel lug nuts

(I will later edit this post to add pictures)

Interior

• OEM Tear Drop aluminium gear shift knob from 2020 FK8
• Acuity shift boot collar upgrade, matte black

Suspension
Installed the OEM USDM Civic Si Springs. The excessive body pitch and roll when cornering was the most important thing for me to address and this modification made a huge difference. Combined with the electronically controlled damper, the car is now more fun to drive and handles corners much better. Also as a result, the car dropped 1 cm in the front and 1.5 cm in the back (approximately 0.39 and 0.59 inches, respectively) and the ride height is now exactly where I wanted it.

Performance
I have replaced the OEM filter with the Sprint Filter P08 – this is the exact model offered by Spoon but way cheaper. Without looking into logs is hard to tell if it made a real difference but it does seem the car pulls just a little bit harder in each gear and the turbo spooling sound can be heard just a little bit louder (when the window is open). Perhaps more importantly, the fuel economy did not change.

Fuel Economy
I understand this may not be relevant to most people, but I will document this at least for my own reference. After driving 10.000 km (6200 miles) mostly in highways and national roads with lots of hills to climb, while enjoying some spirited driving every once in a while, the car's fuel economy is at 6.0 L/100km (39.2 mpg). This seems very reasonable to me.

2023 Roadmap
My main goal for 2023 will be improving the exterior aesthetics a bit more. Realistically speaking, everything else will be a bit of a stretch goal for the year.

Aesthetics
To continue with the black on white style I am planning to change the following:

• Black "Honda" and "Civic" emblems on the rear
• Paint shark fin antenna in black
• Change roof spoiler and paint it black

For the roof spoiler, I am looking for one that looks a bit more aggressive and I really like the Spoon spoiler, but unfortunately it is very pricy here in Europe. Alternatively, I am also considering other OEM roof spoiler but I am still not sure I like this one better. Suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Shifting Experience
With the goal of mitigating the notchy and inconsistent shifting feel mentioned above and improve the overall shifting experience, the following upgrades are on the list:

• 2020 FK8 shifter
• Acuity Stage 1 Shift Kit
  • cable bushings
  • base bushings
  • centering spring

Future Plans
This section is more of a wishlist of modifications that I may want to do in the future but that at this point I am not sure of.

Sportier Exhaust Sound
Because police are usually a PITA about mods and vehicle inspection is no joke in most European countries, I am looking for something that is as OEM-looking as possible, while introducing a bit more sportier sound without drone.

I've seen folks deleting the resonator, both mufflers, or even straight piping it. The latter is definitely not something I would do, but perhaps deleting the resonator can be an option – I am unsure on how this would stand the test of time.
My preferred option however is a new exhaust system. I really like the products from Spoon, so the Spoon N1 is at the top of my list, but then again, it is very pricy in Europe so I will probably skip it. Also on the list is the HKS LEGAMAX Premium but I do not like the burnt tips, plus they attract unwanted attention (perhaps I can have this changed at a shop?).

Suggestions or experiences you may have on how to improve this aspect are very welcomed.

More Aesthetics
After completing the modifications that are on my 2023 roadmap, I think the exterior look will be pretty much as I want it. However, I might consider changing the front to look just a little bit more aggressive by:

• Changing the front grill – I like the mesh style from FKXRacing but sadly they do not ship to Europe
• Front lip – the Mugen one looks great but it is pricy in Europe

Suggestions are very welcomed.

More Suspension Improvements
I've seen many times folks in this forum recommending to upgrade to the Civic Si rear sway bar plus the Accord end links and installing the Civic FK8 subframe bar. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to find or ship the rear sway bar to Europe, and without it, I am unsure wether adding the FK8 subframe won't throw the car off balance.

Nevertheless, as of the time of this post, I don't think this upgrade will be necessary because I've been enjoying a lot the Si Springs + stiffer damper setting.

Performance
My car has the L15BA engine and was built in Swindon, so most likely it has installed the weaker 59B rods, as it has been discussed by this community multiple times. Because of this, I will be taking a very conservative approach to increasing the power. Running KTuner or Hondata is yet to be decided, but I am pretty sure I will upload a conservative base tune.

 

[Hondanickx]

For a sportier exhaust without getting trouble for inspection you can retrofit the fk8 exhaust.The rear mufflers are more free flowing and the exhaust pipe is also larger.
This will give a sportier sound.
I have a fk8 exhaust which i will retrofit onto my 2018 civic sedan (eudm) .The hatch will make this a straight fit only some minor adjustments on the mounting hooks AFAIK.

 

[rpereira]

For a sportier exhaust without getting trouble for inspection you can retrofit the fk8 exhaust.The rear mufflers are more free flowing and the exhaust pipe is also larger.
This will give a sportier sound.
I have a fk8 exhaust which i will retrofit onto my 2018 civic sedan (eudm) .The hatch will make this a straight fit only some minor adjustments on the mounting hooks AFAIK.

Interesting. I actually was offered this option by the shop that installed the Si Springs as they have a FK8 exhaust lying around. I cannot find any actual info on this, but the FK8 one looks heavier. Did you have the opportunity to weight both?
My main concern however is that I am not sold on that triple tip. Are you aware of any 3 tip to 2 tip conversion?

 

[arpypat]

Interesting. I actually was offered this option by the shop that installed the Si Springs as they have a FK8 exhaust lying around. I cannot find any actual info on this, but the FK8 one looks heavier. Did you have the opportunity to weight both?
My main concern however is that I am not sold on that triple tip. Are you aware of any 3 tip to 2 tip conversion?

The FK8 exhaust should weigh less than the FK7 or Si exhaust. It has a single muffler design vs the heavy dual muffler design. It does have 2 resonators, but they are light and a straight-through design.

CTR exhaust will sound great on your hatch!! Like @Hondanickx said, you just need to get the some hangers relocated, otherwise, it's direct bolt-on fit.

If you don't like the triple tip design, then get a shop to chop it off and put a different tip on. They could even use your OEM dual tip from your existing muffler and weld it onto the CTR mufflers if you want to keep the OEM+ theme going

 

[Hondanickx]

Interesting. I actually was offered this option by the shop that installed the Si Springs as they have a FK8 exhaust lying around. I cannot find any actual info on this, but the FK8 one looks heavier. Did you have the opportunity to weight both?
My main concern however is that I am not sold on that triple tip. Are you aware of any 3 tip to 2 tip conversion?

Really the weight of the exhaust is not like its adding 20kg or so.Fk8 exhaust is bigger in diameter so its going to weigh more .
A stock fk8 exhaust weighs 17.5kg (according to Tomei) and a stock FK7 exhaust weighs 15.8kg(according to Fujitsubo).So its only 1.7kg heavier which is nothing.

The rear mufflers can be easily modified for a twin exhaust tip .The center resonator doesn't have a outlet where the exhaust tip is.It's only there to reduce the resonances which is designed for the 2.0L K20 engine anyways.
I would recommend to cut off the resonator in the middle and the original exhaust tips of the fk8 muffler (Red lines) .Then you could easily add 2 new exhaust tips and add a brace ( Blue lines) between the mufflers to give it its oem rigidity back.You could also keep the middle resonator but need to make sure it's supported with the mufflers.
And if you delete the middle resonator the exhaust would weigh the same or even less then stock fk7.

Eman had a movie of a stock FK8 exhaust on his civic 1.5t Si with downpipe.
Fk8 exhaust on fk7

 

[rpereira]

Those are great ideas, thank you both @arpypat and @Hondanickx. This option modified for a dual tip is definitely growing on me.

@Hondanickx that is an awesome level of detail, I really appreciate it. After cutting off the resonator in the middle, that creates a hole needs to be plugged, correct?

Also, are you guys aware of anyone cutting off that smaller resonator that connects right after the front-pipe? I am wondering if that would be worth it since the FK7 only has one.

@Hondanickx, was the FK8 exhaust on that picture cut off in 4 pieces? I thought it was a single piece like the FK7 one.

 

[Hondanickx]

Those are great ideas, thank you both @arpypat and @Hondanickx. This option modified for a dual tip is definitely growing on me.

@Hondanickx that is an awesome level of detail, I really appreciate it. After cutting off the resonator in the middle, that creates a hole needs to be plugged, correct?

Also, are you guys aware of anyone cutting off that smaller resonator that connects right after the front-pipe? I am wondering if that would be worth it since the FK7 only has one.

@Hondanickx, was the FK8 exhaust on that picture cut off in 4 pieces? I thought it was a single piece like the FK7 one.

The smaller resonator doesn't need to be removed it helps keeping noise down.But hatchback´s do have a brace underneath right where this little resonator is located .So it might be a little more difficult to fit .

Fk8 exhaust is also 1 piece,it was cut into pieces to ship it to me.In that picture I also just had the exhaust treated with stainless picking paste to remove all the discolerations and rust spots it had.It gives the stainless steel back it's rust protection.All you need is a pressure washer and the pickling paste or gel.

 

[rpereira]

The smaller resonator doesn't need to be removed it helps keeping noise down.But hatchback´s do have a brace underneath right where this little resonator is located .So it might be a little more difficult to fit .

Fk8 exhaust is also 1 piece,it was cut into pieces to ship it to me.In that picture I also just had the exhaust treated with stainless picking paste to remove all the discolerations and rust spots it had.It gives the stainless steel back it's rust protection.All you need is a pressure washer and the pickling paste or gel.

Thanks for the tip for the finishing

Without removing any resonator the sound will be a bit louder than the stock FK7, correct? Do you think that by removing the resonator on the back and the smaller one in the front it will become a bit too much?

With regards to that brace, I understand it will make the installation more difficult, but are you aware of any future issues like rubbing or simply by being too close (while hot) to that brace?

 

[Hondanickx]

Thanks for the tip for the finishing

Without removing any resonator the sound will be a bit louder than the stock FK7, correct? Do you think that by removing the resonator on the back and the smaller one in the front it will become a bit too much?

With regards to that brace, I understand it will make the installation more difficult, but are you aware of any future issues like rubbing or simply by being too close (while hot) to that brace?

The complete stock fk8 exhaust will be a bit louder then stock fk7 exhaust since it has better flowing mufflers and larger exhaust pipes then a fk7.
The rear Resonator only removes drones at certain rpm for example(3000rpm) but they have a tuned length that is optimized for the fk8 engine.So it might not even work for the 1.5t engine and can be removed.
The little front resonator acts like a pre muffler ,I would keep that if it's possible.
There are several fk7 owners that have the fk8 exhaust so I think the brace wont be a problem.

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