Looking for some help/info/advise on a 2016+ Si (turbo upgrades)

[Bbsccr01]

Hello all. Alittle about me, as I'm new here.

I've built my own 1995 Civic Ex D16z6, boosted motor. Internals, upgrades all throughout the car, and a buddy of mine done the tuning. I've had years of building and having fun but have been out of the game of building since 2006 or so. Alot has changed. I currently have a 2006 SI, all stock. Strictly a work vehicle. I love the car. Perfect motor, weight, feedback while driving, etc. (my opinion). Just overall fun to drive, for a stock car. But the miles have added up over the years and it's time to upgrade to something newer.

I've been looking at Nissan 370z's and after test driving some, I'm not impressed. Honestly I'm disappointed. So I've been looking at a 2016 or 2017 Si. I'm not a fan of the smaller engines. So here lies my questions and lack of findings.

I don't like CVT transmissions. I'll buy a manual, for sure. I'm looking at PRL and 27Won turbo upgrade. I've read on here that some members have had several issues with 27Won turbos. Seals going bad, cracks and such. So PRL may be the better choice then. With that said, I'm concerned about the reliability of any turbo upgrade. This will be my DD, and I'm not looking for huge gains. Just something fun. I'd be happy around 350hp to 400hp. I'm not a heavy foot driver, but I do enjoy ripping it on the back roads from time to time.

Anyone have these numbers without making major upgrades? I'm not trying to rebuild the motor or upgrade internals. Any advise? Any issues? Is this feasible on these 1.5L motors? I'm also located in Florida. For what it's worth. Thanks for any help, comments or advise.

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[Drake]

First, there was no 2016 Si. Second, Si only comes in manual so CVT wouldn't even be an option. Lastly, you're looking to buy a car already knowing you want to nearly double its power output? Those numbers would undoubtedly be "huge gains". Can you get there? Sure. Will it be a lot of money and (probably) headaches? Most likely. I would suggest you consider a 2017 Type-R if Civics are really your thing.

 

[Mcclaughry95]

Clutch will be the first one to point out at those numbers. I could be wrong but I think flex fuel and big turbo will get there. Would have to tune and be sure torque curve moves up in rev range to prevent motor failure. But as said above type r would be cheaper to get to those numbers then the si.

 

[dark_knight097]

Hello all. Alittle about me, as I'm new here.

I've built my own 1995 Civic Ex D16z6, boosted motor. Internals, upgrades all throughout the car, and a buddy of mine done the tuning. I've had years of building and having fun but have been out of the game of building since 2006 or so. Alot has changed. I currently have a 2006 SI, all stock. Strictly a work vehicle. I love the car. Perfect motor, weight, feedback while driving, etc. (my opinion). Just overall fun to drive, for a stock car. But the miles have added up over the years and it's time to upgrade to something newer.

I've been looking at Nissan 370z's and after test driving some, I'm not impressed. Honestly I'm disappointed. So I've been looking at a 2016 or 2017 Si. I'm not a fan of the smaller engines. So here lies my questions and lack of findings.

I don't like CVT transmissions. I'll buy a manual, for sure. I'm looking at PRL and 27Won turbo upgrade. I've read on here that some members have had several issues with 27Won turbos. Seals going bad, cracks and such. So PRL may be the better choice then. With that said, I'm concerned about the reliability of any turbo upgrade. This will be my DD, and I'm not looking for huge gains. Just something fun. I'd be happy around 350hp to 400hp. I'm not a heavy foot driver, but I do enjoy ripping it on the back roads from time to time.

Anyone have these numbers without making major upgrades? I'm not trying to rebuild the motor or upgrade internals. Any advise? Any issues? Is this feasible on these 1.5L motors? I'm also located in Florida. For what it's worth. Thanks for any help, comments or advise.

335-350whp is possible on the stock block with flexfuel on the GTX2860R and W1 turbo. 360-390whp and you're looking at using the GTX2867R and/or meth injection kit.

27won is coming out with a bigger re-designed W2. So I would also suggest being on the lookout for that.

As you know, you'll need a tuning device. I recommend ktuner as they've been supporting the SI platform much better than hondata this gen.

You're going to need a beefer clutch. The stock clutch is pretty hit or miss with custom tunes but will definitely slip when you add flex fuel and bigger turbo.
I recommend the type r retro fit, sold by NAperformance, Competition Clutch, or ACT. I personally run an FX400 and haven't had issues for nearly 30k miles but they seem to be hit or miss with people so I can't recommend clutch masters.

After that I would suggest getting a bigger intercooler as the stock one can't even keep the stock turbo air charge temps down after a few pulls.
PRL, 27won, and Mishimoto all sell great intercoolers.

I also recommend grabbing an intake since you'll be using a bigger turbo. 27won or prl are the only two I would suggest looking at.

After you got the clutch, intercooler and intake sorted, you'll need to get your hands on a flexfuel kit. You can either piece your own together or grab one from Prl or sirmoto.

Once you've got all of these parts, as I'm sure you know, you'll need a custom tune.
I highly recommend Derek Robinson from innovative motorworks. He offers remote tuning and email tuning if you aren't able to make it to his shop in PA.
He's tuned many many SIs to the power levels you're looking to get to reliably, including me. I've been around 345whp for more than a year now. I have a pretty aggressive and spirited driving style when traffic and road conditions permit and I have not had any issues.

All in all you'll be spending around 4-5.5k, if you do your own installs, to get to 340-350whp.
And since you're looking at a 2017 SI, you should be able to grab one of those for around 19-21k. So definitely cheaper than a type r. And still get 37+mpg.

 

[Si_papii555]

Hello all. Alittle about me, as I'm new here.

I've built my own 1995 Civic Ex D16z6, boosted motor. Internals, upgrades all throughout the car, and a buddy of mine done the tuning. I've had years of building and having fun but have been out of the game of building since 2006 or so. Alot has changed. I currently have a 2006 SI, all stock. Strictly a work vehicle. I love the car. Perfect motor, weight, feedback while driving, etc. (my opinion). Just overall fun to drive, for a stock car. But the miles have added up over the years and it's time to upgrade to something newer.

I've been looking at Nissan 370z's and after test driving some, I'm not impressed. Honestly I'm disappointed. So I've been looking at a 2016 or 2017 Si. I'm not a fan of the smaller engines. So here lies my questions and lack of findings.

I don't like CVT transmissions. I'll buy a manual, for sure. I'm looking at PRL and 27Won turbo upgrade. I've read on here that some members have had several issues with 27Won turbos. Seals going bad, cracks and such. So PRL may be the better choice then. With that said, I'm concerned about the reliability of any turbo upgrade. This will be my DD, and I'm not looking for huge gains. Just something fun. I'd be happy around 350hp to 400hp. I'm not a heavy foot driver, but I do enjoy ripping it on the back roads from time to time.

Anyone have these numbers without making major upgrades? I'm not trying to rebuild the motor or upgrade internals. Any advise? Any issues? Is this feasible on these 1.5L motors? I'm also located in Florida. For what it's worth. Thanks for any help, comments or advise.

Ive been researching this platform for 3 years. Basically.... anywhere around 300 is danger zone with these L15b7 motors. They love throwing rods considering how thin they are and how much these turbos love producing low end torque. If you want to simply throw a CAI and a tune on.. in some cases, your clutch will begin to slip. If you do decide to build internals and throw on a clutch, you will most deffinetely have to upgrade the tranny to safely stay NEAR 400whp. All that.... for around 300 hp. Anyone who doesnt do internals around 300-350 is balsy. If you want to do a drop in turbo, with rods, pistons, etc. your better off floating around 300-330hp to be safe. 3rd gear tends to go in these cars around that power from what Ive seen online. Much better platforms out there for building. Better off with the 370z IMO. Trade off is the si gets amazing mpg.

 

[dark_knight097]

Ive been researching this platform for 3 years. Basically.... anywhere around 300 is danger zone with these L15b7 motors. They love throwing rods considering how thin they are and how much these turbos love producing low end torque. If you want to simply throw a CAI and a tune on.. in some cases, your clutch will begin to slip. If you do decide to build internals and throw on a clutch, you will most deffinetely have to upgrade the tranny to safely stay NEAR 400whp. All that.... for around 300 hp. Anyone who doesnt do internals around 300-350 is balsy. If you want to do a drop in turbo, with rods, pistons, etc. your better off floating around 300-330hp to be safe. 3rd gear tends to go in these cars around that power from what Ive seen online. Much better platforms out there for building. Better off with the 370z IMO. Trade off is the si gets amazing mpg.

Lol, I don't know where you've been researching, but 300whp is not a "danger zone". Thats actually conservative for the SI when talking big turbo. 300hp is where every non si L15 with a big turbo gets tuned to so i fail to see how the SI is in some danger zone but the lower models with weaker rods are fine here??

Any respectable tuner will move the torque curve higher to persevere the stock rods when you start adding a lot more power. Thats like common sense for smaller turbo engines

Everyone knows the stock clutch is trash so im not gonna address that.

I'm at 345whp, there are plenty of others here and some even higher around 360-370. In this power range, there are only like 2-3 people that Ive seen upgrade their transmission.
The hundreds to thousands more of us have no issues with the transmission here. I wouldn't take the few bad drivers that break things and then blame the car and say everyone will have that issue.

I agree 300-330whp would be safe cause thats conservative. But literally go on Instagram and look at all the SIs tuners like Drob and Derf have tuned, on the the stock block and transmission, to 340-350whp. Some even at 400whp. No issues.
You can't take the few who abuse and break things and then say that will happen to every other car.












Plenty more examples where these came from. Non have had to upgrade the trans.

 

[Bbsccr01]

I stand corrected. There aren't any 2016 Si. 2017 and up. It appears I'm wrong regarding the transmission as well. So that's somewhat comforting, as I hate CVTs. I didn't include the clutch upgrade because I assumed that was a must, along with the tuning necessities.

So it appears I've got more digging to do with these newer Civics. As I stated before, it's been many years since I've last boosted. Lots of relearning is needed, I suppose. Thanks for the info and comments above!

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