A note to the tuning "haters"

[gtman]

Being able to make vtec more usable is a huge benefit to 2.0 na owners. Anyone hating on tuning one is probably just trolling not worth your attention

Agreed. Remember the guy who was on here (I think he was banned a long time ago) who went the other direction? He had an untuned 2.0 NA and went on and on about how slow 1.5 Turbos were compared to his ride. When we pointed out that the stock 1.5T had tested consistently 1.5 seconds faster to 60 than his car, he still insisted how fast his car was. "I've never been beat by a turbo Civic".

As far as tuned 2.0 NA's, the more the merrier. The added throttle response, lowered VTEC and small power bump in the KTuner tune works wonders for a daily. I wish we had more 2.0 NA owners in my reliability thread, believe me.

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[GrDeleto]

Agreed. Remember the guy who was on here (I think he was banned a long time ago) who went the other direction? He had an untuned 2.0 NA and went on and on about how slow 1.5 Turbos were compared to his ride. When we pointed out that the stock 1.5T had tested consistently 1.5 seconds faster to 60 than his car, he still insisted how fast his car was. "I've never been beat by a turbo Civic".

As far as tuned 2.0 NA's, the more the merrier. The added throttle response, lowered VTEC and small power bump in the KTuner tune works wonders for a daily. I wish we had more 2.0 NA owners in my reliability thread, believe me.

Also the k20c2 maxxecu thing that popped up.

 

[Bligity]

Especially with the people who hate on the 2.0L owners who try to tune their cars. No, it's not an Si. Yes, it's an economy engine. No, there isn't much of a market available for it right now. Yes, the Si has more support. But all some of us could afford at the time was the 2.0L trims, and/or some of us just want something we can daily drive but get a little fun out of.

the 1.5t (non SI) is an economy engine thats why the are notorious for blowing up

 

[SethNES]

I don't hate but I wanted to post this...

 

[Magnum]

Agreed. Remember the guy who was on here (I think he was banned a long time ago) who went the other direction? He had an untuned 2.0 NA and went on and on about how slow 1.5 Turbos were compared to his ride. When we pointed out that the stock 1.5T had tested consistently 1.5 seconds faster to 60 than his car, he still insisted how fast his car was. "I've never been beat by a turbo Civic".

As far as tuned 2.0 NA's, the more the merrier. The added throttle response, lowered VTEC and small power bump in the KTuner tune works wonders for a daily. I wish we had more 2.0 NA owners in my reliability thread, believe me.

Nope, I only joined last year. Sounds hilarious though! I've seen many more of the opposite with Si owners though. Only once with an NA owner acting like that but only on a single occasion.

Once I get my hands on a KTuner kit I'll definitely add my 2.0 to the thread, though!

 

[gtman]

I was actually quoting 86salmon. He knows about that guy. lol

 

[Magnum]

I was actually quoting 86salmon. He knows about that guy. lol

Ah. Still, pretty funny though.

 

[gtman]

Honestly at the time, more annoying, less funny.

 

[86salmon]

I was actually quoting 86salmon. He knows about that guy. lol

The only guy funnier was the one who fbo and turbo swapped only to get slower than his ots tune buddy. Then they came back yelling at everyone that tuning was a waste on multiple accounts

Driver mod was in short supply there

 

[Magnum]

Honestly at the time, more annoying, less funny.

Hm. I guess I have to see it for myself then.

 

[keller]

Have any small list of what could be done. And in what order it was done.

I highly recommend the acuity shifter. It's something you use multiple times a day and always bring you that smile.

 

[Cornercarver]

Nothing wrong with tuning when done right. Lots of successful tunes have been done and will be done on Hondas.

 

[neteng101]

Before you tell someone tuning is stupid or a mistake or guaranteed to f@#$ their car up, check out the real world numbers and facts.

Before you go encouraging people to tune, you need a disclaimer. Unless you're willing to help them out if something goes wrong - tuning always comes with risks. And yes its stupid to tune a cheap ass economy engine that Honda decided to put into most CIvics - I suspect the 2.0l NA guys are safer tuning than that stupid weak 1.5l that came from the likes of the Fit and Jazz ie. the bottom tier economy engine.

Yes most Civics do benefit greatly from a tune - but here's a thought - if a car is good from the factory, people won't be turning to tunes unless they really wanted to push things. Honda's lost it - they're just a bad choice for enthusiasts save a halo or two that they just do to stay relevant.

I've not had to tune my cars since mine blew - that says something about buying cars that aren't pathetic from the factory. Torn off my old Honda fanboy badge and realized there's plenty of great options out there. And I can easily safely tune for 400hp even now, since my motor isn't a pathetic 1.5l economy engine.

If someone else is seeing this - I'm here to tell you that you're better off selling your overrated Honda if you have a 1.5l model, trading it in for something proper if you actually want performance. Don't waste time and money on mods and tuning - its a bad platform unless you go full engine swap, so really - just sell it and dealers will still give you good money for it.

If I was honest to myself - I should have realized that Honda died for enthusiasts after the early 2000s... always regretted not waiting for an RSX-S back then, had an automatic 2002 that I enjoyed for 4 years until I crashed it one day. My 2012 Si should have told me that - that rev hang was beyond stupidity, it just couldn't recapture any of the fun memories of the RSX, and mods just made it merely ok. That 2017 HB Sport was another shot of recapturing the RSX magic, but nope - it just lit my world on fire - in a literally not good way. I don't entirely blame the tune though - its really the Honda Sensing being overly sensitive that led to the crazy scene that followed, collision mitigation activated hard when I was in the left lane unexpectedly forcing me to step on the gas after that to get back up to speed. Didn't even occur to me until a few weeks later than it could have been the engine - all I knew was something broke, loss all power but not electronics... even thought the brake lines might have blew out given the force of braking. Coasted to a stop and next thing I see is fire in the engine bay as I was looking at the wheel wells. The rest is history, crispy fried Civic which probably is a lucky outcome since insurance covered it but still lost given mileage accumulated.

Test drove a Mk7 GTI and thought it was too much of a hooligan, so I went with a Mk7 Jetta with a 1.4 turbo to replace the Civic which was a new model back then. That simple Jetta was eye opening, loved every bit of it, drove it for 4 years. And all the features actually work unlike the spastic auto sensing wipers on the Civic, having proper blind spot monitors, etc. Took advantage of great used prices and got into a GLI last summer. In the past 5 years I've had collision braking activate maybe 1-2 times in VW, vs. what was a weekly or more in that Civic death trap. And wipers actually work like they're supposed too. Never had any inclination of tuning either Jetta but the GLI is easily tuned to crazy hp if I wanted to.

Getting a proper weekend toy soon, its not Japanese either. Just sharing my story - but there's more than Honda or Japanese cars. Honda IMO used to make great cars - but not anymore other than a halo or two to try to provide an illusion. I was actually going to trade in my Si for a CR-V in 2017 but that disappointed so much in my test drive that I asked to try the Civic HB instead. In hindsight I should have kept my 2012 Si, just got tired after a year commuting in traffic after a job change. I had a 2011 CR-V leased for a while, that you wouldn't think is much to talk about but its hydraulic PS and NA engine and torque converter automatic all is a much superior package to the pathetic world of CVTs and 1.5l turbos that makes up the bulk of what Honda sells today.

FWIW - I also had a 2009 Honda Fit before the Si - that car I would say is a death trap and just not made for North American highways. It was so light it couldn't even bite into snowy roads, its a total greenhouse of glass so heats up like mad in the summer if let in the sun. It was worse than typical SUVs with crosswinds blowing. Between the Fit and Civic HB - two worse Honda's ever. And guess what - both share the same base engine, one just adds a turbo.

 

[GrDeleto]

If someone else is seeing this - I'm here to tell you that you're better off selling your overrated Honda if you have a 1.5l model, trading it in for something proper if you actually want performance. Don't waste time and money on mods and tuning - its a bad platform unless you go full engine swap, so really - just sell it and dealers will still give you good money for it.

If we went by that logic then even something like this would be better than the civic si:

And this is one of the civic si's main competitor btw.

Next we're gonna be saying that the accord 2.0 is the true si.

 

[DadBodMod17]

The way i see it… i decided the voided warranty and the possibility of me needing to buy a new engine at some point is worth the fun time i am having learning about cars again.

I’ll get the cat to 300/300(ish) next year and start taking it to the tracks. Then I’ll start learning more about the handling upgrades that can be made, I’ll learn how to swap in a Bit Brake kit, and who knows… eventually I’ll learn how to do an engine swap.

I am in a position where if/when i blow my cars engine, I’m ok with it being in the “shop” for a while. Not everyone has that luxury, i know.

The Si represented the best bang for my buck back in 2019 and given the current state of the car market… any enthusiast car I would want instead is vastly over priced and way outside my budget….

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