Honda Engineer States Adding a Bigger IC Won't Combat Overheating

remc86007

Senior Member
First Name
Ryan
Joined
Mar 18, 2018
Threads
2
Messages
550
Reaction score
409
Location
Jacksonville, FL
Vehicle(s)
2018 Civic Type R
Country flag
They must be running a different tune than the factory one. With the factory tune, horsepower is reduced as soon as IAT hits 104F. The stock intercooler, even on a high speed track cannot come close to keeping temps below that. At Daytona on a 75 degree night I was getting 125F IATs WITH water injection on. Without water injection I was getting 145-150F IATs! The car just feels slow when intake temps get that high. I did not have any overheating problems at Daytona, even running a tune with no cooling mods, probably because of the high speed sections providing adequate air flow. I'll likely be getting a PRL intercooler before the next track night at Daytona, so I'll post here if I notice higher ECTs.
Sponsored

 
OP
OP

fiend busa

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 22, 2017
Threads
54
Messages
1,380
Reaction score
547
Location
Canada
Vehicle(s)
2018 Civic Type R
Country flag
I think my next mod then is going to be swapping over to the 2020 grill and radiator and a modest IC like PRLs would be good for street use.
 
OP
OP

fiend busa

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 22, 2017
Threads
54
Messages
1,380
Reaction score
547
Location
Canada
Vehicle(s)
2018 Civic Type R
Country flag
They must be running a different tune than the factory one. With the factory tune, horsepower is reduced as soon as IAT hits 104F. The stock intercooler, even on a high speed track cannot come close to keeping temps below that. At Daytona on a 75 degree night I was getting 125F IATs WITH water injection on. Without water injection I was getting 145-150F IATs! The car just feels slow when intake temps get that high. I did not have any overheating problems at Daytona, even running a tune with no cooling mods, probably because of the high speed sections providing adequate air flow. I'll likely be getting a PRL intercooler before the next track night at Daytona, so I'll post here if I notice higher ECTs.
They're running more power than factory (I think around 330hp)
 

Dwight

Banned
Banned
First Name
Delon
Joined
Jan 25, 2020
Threads
6
Messages
64
Reaction score
20
Location
Usa
Vehicle(s)
Honda
Country flag
7:40


According to the engineer at honda research and development, adding a bigger IC just reduces the airflow that will hit the radiator, will lower intake temps briefly but increase water temp which will increase the temps of the whole engine thus will just raise the intake temps again. He's saying to keep the stock IC.

What they did to combat overheating at the track is just increase the radiator size and cut some ducts for airflow to the engine
So the prl fmic I was about to buy is a total waste of money?
 

Code Monkey

Senior Member
First Name
Rafal
Joined
Sep 7, 2019
Threads
8
Messages
150
Reaction score
75
Location
Atlanta, GA
Vehicle(s)
2019 Civic Type R
Build Thread
Link
Country flag
For road racing I would go with a tube and fin IC, Wagner or HKS. I am leaning towards the HKS one because it is not as massive as the Wagner.
 


Lust

Senior Member
First Name
Michael
Joined
Apr 17, 2018
Threads
16
Messages
1,411
Reaction score
1,774
Location
Bay Area
Vehicle(s)
2019 Champ White Type R
Country flag
I've been saying this for quite a while now. These massive bar and plate intercoolers are going to hurt cars that see hot track days. IMO these intercoolers are great for dyno queens but no ideal for track use. We need as much airflow as possible to the radiator. Ducting, AC condenser delete, upgraded radiator, properly sized tube and fin IC, etc are all pieces to the cooling puzzle.
 
OP
OP

fiend busa

Senior Member
Joined
Apr 22, 2017
Threads
54
Messages
1,380
Reaction score
547
Location
Canada
Vehicle(s)
2018 Civic Type R
Country flag
So the prl fmic I was about to buy is a total waste of money?
I can't say, not entirely sure.
I've been saying this for quite a while now. These massive bar and plate intercoolers are going to hurt cars that see hot track days. IMO these intercoolers are great for dyno queens but no ideal for track use. We need as much airflow as possible to the radiator. Ducting, AC condenser delete, upgraded radiator, properly sized tube and fin IC, etc are all pieces to the cooling puzzle.
So I guess HKS would be the way to go for IC?
 

TypeSiR

Senior Member
Joined
May 15, 2017
Threads
67
Messages
2,091
Reaction score
1,689
Location
On a Twisty Road
Vehicle(s)
1.5T Civic, Fit, MX-5, CTR
Vehicle Showcase
3
Country flag
The same Honda engineer that allowed 35000 earlier cars as beta testers so they can introduce a more track-focused 2020 model with bigger grille and larger radiator to combat heat soak?
 


wicked pissah

Member
Joined
Mar 1, 2019
Threads
0
Messages
19
Reaction score
23
Location
MA
Vehicle(s)
riced out fk8
Country flag
The same Honda engineer that allowed 35000 earlier cars as beta testers so they can introduce a more track-focused 2020 model with bigger grille and larger radiator to combat heat soak?
Nope, not the same engineer
 

ACUITY

Senior Member
First Name
Russell
Joined
Jul 26, 2017
Threads
2
Messages
357
Reaction score
699
Location
Baton Rouge, LA
Vehicle(s)
2017 Si
Country flag
...What they did to combat overheating at the track is just increase the radiator size and cut some ducts for airflow to the engine
That's not everything they did. Without seeing under the hood, there are some key changes that you'll miss. Can't release info now, but we have a product on these cars that will be available to the public in coming weeks that further helps reduce water temps beyond what a larger rad, a vented hood, and a more open grille will provide. :)


The same Honda engineer that allowed 35000 earlier cars as beta testers so they can introduce a more track-focused 2020 model with bigger grille and larger radiator to combat heat soak?
That engineer is Kevin Boehm, a test driver and now race car driver for Honda. He's only involved in development after the cars are mostly designed and I believe that while he was involved in the FK8 race cars while working with HPD, he was not involved in testing the road-version of the FK8, at least not much. Why Honda released the FK8 with as little cooling capacity as it has is a mystery to us though. I'm sure some engineer somewhere has a reason, good or not who knows.

~Russ
 

ACUITY

Senior Member
First Name
Russell
Joined
Jul 26, 2017
Threads
2
Messages
357
Reaction score
699
Location
Baton Rouge, LA
Vehicle(s)
2017 Si
Country flag
Interesting to see if the 2020 have overheating issues on the track.
Knowing the changes that Honda touted (primarily improved air flow, I believe), it should do better but it will still struggle on very hot track days. Can't be 100% sure until some people start tracking them though.

Whatever it is, just for the FK8 or will the FC1/3 benefit as well?
It's something that's unique to the K20C1 platform and cannot easily be adapted to the L15 platforms. We 100% would if we could though. It will make more sense why it's not possible when the product is released. That's all I can say for now.

~Russ
 

.grimace

Senior Member
First Name
Byron
Joined
Nov 9, 2017
Threads
49
Messages
1,796
Reaction score
1,348
Location
Reno, NV
Vehicle(s)
2021 Honda CTR, 2022 Range Rover , 1990 CRX SI
Country flag
This isnt really news I’ve been saying this for a long time as have others
Sponsored

 


 


Top