2.0 vs 1.5?

[Lots2luv]

I currently have the 2.0 sport and I’m considering trading it in for the Sport touring 1.5. My problem is that I’ve heard a lot of people say the 2.0 is much better in the civic. Does anyone have any real experience with it that can help me out? I’ve heard it’s because of oil dilution. I really want the sport touring for the extra options but if it’s not worth it I don’t want to do it. Thanks in advance for any help.

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[NotSerious]

All of those options are more stuff that can break.
Generally speaking, the upper trim cars are less reliable than the lower trim cars.
If you keep your cars a long time, you usually don't want an upper trim vehicle.
And if you trade in your car now, you will lose thousand$ in depreciation.

On the other hand, if you keep your cars 5 years or less, don't mind the depreciation hit and want all of the luxuries, go for it.

 

[yansag1982]

The 2.0 is much better in the civic
It's because of the oil dilution.

 

[Snidely]

Drive both and buy the one you enjoy more. Get an extended warranty (maybe $800 for 120k miles) if you are worried. I don’t regret buying my SI with the 1.5 at all, especially with the aftermarket support it has

 

[Drake]

I don't know what all these fools are talking about. Sure, maybe the 2.0 will last 20 years and the 1.5 only 19 years because of its "extra complexity". Honda has been using the 1.5T for a long time in millions of vehicles for a reason. YES the upgrade will be worth it, not only because the 1.5T has better performance in almost all metrics, but also for the nicer overall car it comes in (if you get it for a good price). Perhaps if your commute is 1 mile both ways and you live in Alaska the 2.0 would serve you better oil-dilution wise. Other than that, the 1.5T will certainly feel nicer and you shouldn't have any reliability issues with it.

 

[StanMan]

More power and more torque-the car will accelerate faster at all speeds. The 2.0 barely has enough power to get out of its own way- minivans accelerate faster.

Reliability is a non-issue and so is oil dilution. Both cars will easily last 500k miles if you get the routine maintenance timely. It's a Honda.

At the end of the day, get the 1.5T if you want a faster car than the 2.0. If you don't care at all about performance you might as well get the 2.0.

If you do care about performance, you should get an Si anyway. None of the non Si or Type R models are performance cars or are good platforms to modify- they are going to drive like econo boxes no matter what you do to them within the budget that people would ever modify those cars.

 

[Lots2luv]

Thanks everyone. I don’t really care about the performance as much as just the options I would gain. I drove a EX but I preferred the sport over it as far as the way it rides. The payment difference between the two would be a $150 jump in payment. That’s for the vehicle with the negative carried over along with the extended warranty and gap insurance.

 

[Snidely]

Thanks everyone. I don’t really care about the performance as much as just the options I would gain. I drove a EX but I preferred the sport over it as far as the way it rides. The payment difference between the two would be a $150 jump in payment. That’s for the vehicle with the negative carried over along with the extended warranty and gap insurance.

Don’t ever let a dealer negotiate terms with monthly payments. Always look at total out the door price and make sure you aren’t getting ripped off

 

[Blueunderdog]

I bought the 2020 civic sport and was not happy with it. The dealer let me give it back and I got EX-L and I’m much happier with the 1.5.

 

[2017touring]

Don’t ever let a dealer negotiate terms with monthly payments. Always look at total out the door price and make sure you aren’t getting ripped off

Listen to this guy, OP.

He is right, forget about the monthly payments. Get yourself a true OTD price, including all the title, taxes, fees, etc. Then negotiate from there. Once you have a number you are comfortable with, then look at financing. 5 yrs/60 months or whatever you are comfortable with. Good luck

 

[LesAnanasNeParlentPas]

The L15B7 is a good engine, but the K20C2 just seems more "old school" Honda. The K20 also is port injected, which means it would not eventually get carbon build up versus the direct injected L15. Though, Honda and Mazda are one of the best went it comes to the least amount of carbon build up, which is a plus. As long as you let the car warm up well during colder weather, oil dilution should not really be an issue. An issue with the K20 though, is it can sometimes feel a little sluggish, especially when I am trying to merge on the freeway, which can be sometimes a bit frustrating. The L15 has more torque and is quicker in acceleration, where I heard the 0 to 60 is as quick as 6.7 seconds versus the almost nine seconds of the K20. Overall, good engines, but it comes down to your personal preference and I recommend you test drive the L15.

 

[gtman]

Let's talk quickly about oil dilution. In my honest opinion it has been vastly overblown. Out of the tens of thousands of 1.5T's here, find me anything that shows oil dilution actually caused a failure. All DI engines have small amounts of dilution, yet manufacturers still make tons of them. If they were truly problrmatic they wouldn't continue to sell them.

In the case of the 1.5T, here's how this whole mania started. There were some people with 1.5T CRV's complaining about oil dilution. It got to the media and they ran with it causing the hysteria on the forums.

Here's what what really happened. Those CRV drivers were in cold weather States. They drove their cars short distances and never let their engines get to normal operating temps. Yes, this caused higher dilution.

Honda subsequently fixed this by having the cars warm up faster. And that's the real key, getting the car up to normal operating temps before shutoff.

For the record, the Sport Touring hatch is a big upgrade in both features and performance compared to a Sport sedan.

 

[Nick20]

I currently have the 2.0 sport and I’m considering trading it in for the Sport touring 1.5. My problem is that I’ve heard a lot of people say the 2.0 is much better in the civic. Does anyone have any real experience with it that can help me out? I’ve heard it’s because of oil dilution. I really want the sport touring for the extra options but if it’s not worth it I don’t want to do it. Thanks in advance for any help.

Hi Regina, Honda is one of the best engine manufacturer in the world especially regarding 4 cylinders engines (ex Civic Type R) ! If you want to be maximum trouble free always do a good break-in on a new car the first 600 miles, use Toptier fuel and oil + change your oil every 5000 miles (my opinion) don't drive the car as if you stole it The 2.O (K20C2) is bullet proof that's a fact ! The 1.5 Direct injection turbo is more complex and more recent as well but still very good ! With every Direct injection cars you can face oil dilution problems and carbon build up issues... I would say if you plan on keeping your car a very long time stay with the 2.0 (like me) if not the 1.5 is good to go and more powerful. Happy Christmas Life is short enjoy !!! Nick

 

[2017touring]

The L15B7 is a good engine, but the K20C2 just seems more "old school" Honda. The K20 also is port injected, which means it would not eventually get carbon build up versus the direct injected L15. Though, Honda and Mazda are one of the best went it comes to the least amount of carbon build up, which is a plus. As long as you let the car warm up well during colder weather, oil dilution should not really be an issue. An issue with the K20 though, is it can sometimes feel a little sluggish, especially when I am trying to merge on the freeway, which can be sometimes a bit frustrating. The L15 has more torque and is quicker in acceleration, where I heard the 0 to 60 is as quick as 6.7 seconds versus the almost nine seconds of the K20. Overall, good engines, but it comes down to your personal preference and I recommend you test drive the L15.

Hi Regina, Honda is one of the best engine manufacturer in the world especially regarding 4 cylinders engines (ex Civic Type R) ! If you want to be maximum trouble free always do a good break-in on a new car the first 600 miles, use Toptier fuel and oil + change your oil every 5000 miles (my opinion) don't drive the car as if you stole it The 2.O (K20C2) is bullet proof that's a fact ! The 1.5 Direct injection turbo is more complex and more recent as well but still very good ! With every Direct injection cars you can face oil dilution problems and carbon build up issues... I would say if you plan on keeping your car a very long time stay with the 2.0 (like me) if not the 1.5 is good to go and more powerful. Happy Christmas Life is short enjoy !!! Nick

I purchased my 2017 Civic Touring 1.5T with 21,000 miles in Dec of 2019. As of Dec 2020, I have 32,000 miles on the engine. I took the car in for routine service at the beginning of this month and had the tech take off the intake and check the valves for carbon build-up. The tech showed me the opened up intake and valves and there was barely any carbon build-up on the valves. He blasted the valves anyways and now they look brand-new. I have used nothing but Pennzoil Ultra Plat 0W-20 in the car since I bought it and drive it on highway and local roads as needed. No issues with oil dilution or carbon build-up so far. Rest assured these engines are great OP.

 

[herox]

Let's talk quickly about oil dilution. In my honest opinion it has been vastly overblown. Out of the tens of thousands of 1.5T's here, find me anything that shows oil dilution actually caused a failure. All DI engines have small amounts of dilution, yet manufacturers still make tons of them. If they were truly problrmatic they wouldn't continue to sell them.

In the case of the 1.5T, here's how this whole mania started. There were some people with 1.5T CRV's complaining about oil dilution. It got to the media and they ran with it causing the hysteria on the forums.

Here's what what really happened. Those CRV drivers were in cold weather States. They drove their cars short distances and never let their engines get to normal operating temps. Yes, this caused higher dilution.

Honda subsequently fixed this by having the cars warm up faster. And that's the real key, getting the car up to normal operating temps before shutoff.

For the record, the Sport Touring hatch is a big upgrade in both features and performance compared to a Sport sedan.

I'd like to add Honda has been doing direct injection since 2012 and carbon build up hasn't been a problem for them. If anyone does a Google search they'll see it has been a problem for VW/Audi but not Honda. If someone wants to play it safe with the K20 that's their personal preference but all the doom and gloom about the L15 has been overblown.

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