Casually Built Civic

[Stomekuttt]

Hello everyone,

Welcome to my build. I am writing this to keep track of car and in case someone else might find it helpful. I am an amateur when it comes to modifying cars. This is the first car that I’ve been able to modify like this. My previous car was a jeep and I was able to do a lot of maintenance on it, like with this one. I also drive a Pierce pumper for work and I have to do mechanical checks on it every shift, so I know an ok amount of things.

A little about my car; I chose to get a Civic because of the gas mileage and they look pretty cool. I bought it as soon as I started working because I was having to drive to the other side of the city to get to work. My car is a 2019 Civic Hatchback with a manual transmission. It has been stock for 50000 miles and tuned for about 5000. I’ll get into my tune in a later post.

I let the dealership do some of the oil changes but since I am busy, I decided to start doing it my self several oil changes ago. I pretty much do all the work myself at this point. My driving style for the untuned miles was mostly reserved with the occasional highway take off. It was underwhelming, but Faster than anything else I’ve had. I decided to tune my car to tailor it to my standards of what it should feel like. I did plenty of research on this forum and then joined to ask questions I couldn’t find or needed clarification on. There is a sweet post about reliability that I found very helpful.

Mods:
Ktuner V2
Phearable 1.5
27won Race Intake
27won TIP
Acuity spring
Acuity POCO Shift knob
ARK DTS Exhaust
PRL Intercooler no pipes

Mods I own but not installed:
ARP Headstuds from 2 step
Type R flywheel retro with stage 0 clutch

 

[Doc_Mello]

Awesome! Cool, another build thread!

Sounds like you know already there's a lot of good help on these forums. Also, were you speaking about GTman's tuning thread? That's a good'n. Please ensure you had your car to the thread, if you haven't already.

What kind of mods do you have in mind? Any particular vision for what you want your car to be, or just kinda playing loose?

 

[Stomekuttt]

My first actual modification to my car was window tint because I didn’t want to feel like I was in a fish bowl. I did this a few months after I bought the car. I decided with 15% ceramic. The brand is Scorpion Window Film. For something that will be almost permanent on the car, you might as well go high end. I like this tint because it blocks the UV rays well and keeps my car cooler during the South Carolina summers. You can really feel a difference. This ran me around 600$ to do the side windows and rear. The company didn’t actually have a back glass for the rear window so I had to bring it back to them a second time after they were able to get a glass to copy it.
I’d recommend this to everyone. It also makes the car look a lot more slick.

 

[Stomekuttt]

Awesome! Cool, another build thread!

Sounds like you know already there's a lot of good help on these forums. Also, were you speaking about GTman's tuning thread? That's a good'n. Please ensure you had your car to the thread, if you haven't already.

What kind of mods do you have in mind? Any particular vision for what you want your car to be, or just kinda playing loose?

I’ve already got a few on here. I have just been lazy in writing these down. Right now I have a 27won CAI and TIP with ktuner v2 and Phearable Stage 1.5. I only recently put on a ARK DTS exhaust. Stock downpipe.
And yes I have. I am waiting for my next oil change to post a new response on these. I really appreciate the data that he’s collected on there. It really guided my decision making. And there is a lot of good threads on here. It really great that people post on here so I know what to do and what not to do. I almost bought an aftermarket BOV for this thing until I saw the issues with them!

 

[Doc_Mello]

I’ve already got a few on here. I have just been lazy in writing these down. Right now I have a 27won CAI and TIP with ktuner v2 and Phearable Stage 1.5. I only recently put on a ARK DTS exhaust. Stock downpipe.
And yes I have. I am waiting for my next oil change to post a new response on these. I really appreciate the data that he’s collected on there. It really guided my decision making. And there is a lot of good threads on here. It really great that people post on here so I know what to do and what not to do. I almost bought an aftermarket BOV for this thing until I saw the issues with them!

Great, a nice mod collection building up! Have you considered any drivetrain or suspension upgrades? In a way, they utilize your power mods even more because they help put the power to the ground.

Ayt, gravy. Yeah, it's a great repository of stats.

IKR?! Yeah, BOVs are amazing, but reliability and proper fuel trims are even more amazing.

 

[Stomekuttt]

Great, a nice mod collection building up! Have you considered any drivetrain or suspension upgrades? In a way, they utilize your power mods even more because they help put the power to the ground.

Ayt, gravy. Yeah, it's a great repository of stats.

IKR?! Yeah, BOVs are amazing, but reliability and proper fuel trims are even more amazing.

I was looking at getting coilovers because of the adjustability and a “since I’m under here” mentality just to have new shocks as well. But lately I’m looking at lowering springs instead because it is cheaper. I live in a rural area so my driveway is terrible for low cars. On top of that South Carolina has notoriously terrible roads! I was thinking a 1 inch drop would be plenty low for me. Right now I’m just deciding on which brand to go with. If you have any thoughts on which brand is better let me know!

 

[Stomekuttt]

I think I should state my goals for my car.
Firstly- I’d like to keep the stock vibe as much as possible. I’m trying to maintain a certain comfort level, if that makes sense
2nd- The power level. Originally I was wanting 270-300 hp. After getting the Phearable 1.5 tune, I understand how much 300 hp would feel like. My newest goal is around 250-270. I feel as though this is perfect at the moment. I’m a speeder and 30 over is jail time.
3rd- ride height. I live in Rural SC and work in the city. I want to go lower as the center of gravity seems too high for me. I feel as though 1 inch drop won’t be too little and will still allow me to drive without scraping too much.
4th- I like to tinker. I have a good time installing parts in my free time. I would like to continue having fun. I’ve done all the work in my driveway. And I haven’t really had to chase problems yet

 

[Stomekuttt]

I bought the 27won race intake when it went on sale and at the same time bought the ktuner v2 and Phearable 1.5 together.. I got my ktuner and tune before the intake. I played around with the program a little and installed the tuner in my car. It was very straightforward but nerve racking at first. I went with ktuner because most people on the site have it and have good things to say. That was the deciding factor. I found that I like to be able to see how my car is doing in the moment and that I can change tunes on the fly. I think that makes it worth the money.
The intake is pretty sweet. I like the CAD drawing that they include with their stuff. The quality is up there and the instructions are straight forward. I can’t compare it to any other intake since I have only had the OEM intake and 27won intake. But I can tell you that I would recommend it for the reasons listed above. I don’t have to worry about flooding because I’m not in a flood area, I just like that it fills the space like OEM and looks good doing so. Also when I put my foot on the gas I can hear that thing suck.
I’m in the same boat with the Phearable tune as everyone else. No issues and feels really good. I usually stay in map 1 but lately I’ve been in map 2. Map 2 is super fun and very responsive. I haven’t really lost too much MPGs on the tune either. Map 1 rivals the OEM tune and Map 2 I only lose 3 mpgs. But this could be due to the fact that my foot is a little heavier in this tune. Not to say that I’m overdoing it.
Edit: I added a picture. This is picture is after added a TIP.

 

[casper]

Nice to see another 6-speed hatch build thread!

Aside from a few details here and there, I think we have similar goals with our cars. I’m probably not going to do much bolt-on wise though, but definitely looking to improve things that need replacing.

Looking forward to future posts!

 

[Stomekuttt]

Been a while since I have updated my build thread. Since I last updated this, I have installed a 27won TIP, ARK DTS exhaust, and a PRL intercooler without pipes.

The TIP was a hassle to install. I recommend getting a magnet. It took me hours. It was my first time. I ended up having to leave it for the night and come back in the morning to finish it. One of the big snags I ran into was one of the bolts that keeps the OEM TIP connected needed to be removed and installed in a different whole. It threw me for a loop and the customer service at 27won was super helpful with my questions and they got me squared away. I used 2 bolts to remove it and reinstall it. I also dropped a few bolts down in the engine bay that took time to find.
My hopes for it is that it will further reduce restrictions in the OEM intake and could possibly increase fuel efficiency because of this. It would be slight and maybe unnoticeable and to this day I am unsure if it works or not. It really depends on how I drive. It is very quality, which is evident by the way it is presented and the way it feels. I really like the look of it.
The downside with it, which it affects all of them, is that SC gets soooo humid and hot. The solid metal design retains heat andit has trouble cooling down. Anyone have any thing to help this? This is especially apparent when the car sits after being run and parked in the sun. I really didn’t need this because I am not planning on bigger turbo at the moment. but it looks sweet and it gave me something to do. It wasn’t a bad install overall.

 

[Stomekuttt]

So previously I was thinking about lowing my car but I remember that SC roads suck and there are other states that I go to with worse roads. If I do any suspension mods, it would be targeting body roll. I am looking into a sway bar at the moment.

My next install wasn’t hard at all. If you were looking for something that was satisfying and isn’t going to take all day to install, an exhaust is what you are looking for. I got an ARK DTS exhaust. I listened to so many sound clips and none of them sounded like “this is the one.” Any audio that you find online will not sound like it does in person.

I got the ARK exhaust because I liked the design and I wasn’t patient enough for the 27won exhaust. It sounds good. My wife likes it. It has some good gurgles at idle, it isn’t too loud and obnoxious either. It is almost what I was looking for. The perfect exhaust does not exist so that is a compliment. What is cool is that the drone is almost not existent until 3000 RPM but at 3000 RPM it is right there. It is almost like it is waiting at the gates and at 3000 they open. They were spot on with that. When driving on the interstate, it is loud in the cab. I listen to my music loud so it is no problem to me and of course I like the noise.Easy to overlook. When people are in the car, it is a different experience. Especially if they are quiet talkers like my wife is. I think this will be true for all exhausts.

One big problem I have with this is that I think the fitment is a little off. When installing it, it was very tight. So tight thatone of my exhaust hangers is fatigued and the exhaust is resting on the brace under the car. At 2500 rpm on decel, it rattles. It doesn’t sound good. I am waiting to do my oil change to get under there and then loosen the bolts and tighten them in the correct order. I’ll update when I get under there. And I will add pictures when there is sun out.

 

[Stomekuttt]

My next mod was to replace the shifter and spring. There’s nothing wrong with the shifter but replacing the spring with the Acuity spring really stiffened it up. Not hard but noticeable. This was easily my most enjoyable mod.

I’d recommend buying their plastic tool kit. It came in handy. This was so much easier than I thought and only took me an hour
After the install, my shifts were more satisfying, shorter, stiffer. Acuity also has an excellent video that you can follow.

Cons: my hands burn when it is hot. I am thinking of getting a plush octopus to put on it when I’m not in the car.

 

[Stomekuttt]

I have been having issues with an elevated LTFT. The only thing is that I had installed an intercooler before i noticed. Before I noticed, I was sitting pretty at 0% all the time. At some point this summer, I was sitting at -5% constantly and very occasionally I had that intermittent power surge, I guess. Not CEL. I decided to do some experimenting.

For some background info. I have 72000 miles on my 2019 Hatch Sport 1.5. Oil changes every 5000. Highway miles 85% of the time.

I started with the easiest things first. First the spark plugs. They looked like they had some miles on them. One had some yellowing on the ceramic. Replaced 2000 miles ago with OEM NGK plugs. Drove a couple hundred miles and noticed that I had dropped to -3% no changes in my driving. -3 is better but I know that I should replace my coils also.

I did some research and found that Hitachi makes my original coils. Saw Honda parts now sold them but were way expensive and the dealer was more than that! Looked on rock auto and found them for 20$ each. Double checked and bought them. One of my old coils had a little orange on it so I guess the seals weren’t so good in them anymore. Changed them out and drove a couple tanks. My LTFT was still around -3% but would also go to -4% sometimes also.

The last thing I have changed out was my PCV valve. A video popped on my YouTube feed about it. On hondapartsnow it is 34$. Not expensive. My old valve was stained but didn’t look too bad. I put that new valve in there anyways. Install was easy as 1-2-3. I am only 50-100 miles into this but so far I am sitting at -1% which I think is already a big improvement. I will update this in a few hundred miles so I can get more info on it. Need to post before pics.

Initially I thought it was the heat. I think it may be a collection of a few things. Hopefully some of you may find this helpful as I am also seeing people with high fuel trims. The only thing different is theirs is positive.

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