New to the Si world. Looking for some advice.

[bthomas]

Soooo, I picked up 2019 Si back in February after my 96 Civic got stolen (R.I.P.). I have been dabbling with the idea of doing some basic mods but I am not sure where to start.

This car is my daily driver and I am not trying to take it to the track or anything but I would like to get a little more power out of it for general fun and I would like to expand my automotive knowledge a bit.

I've seen people talking about just doing something like a CAI, using Hondata or Ktuner (not fully sure what these do), installing an intercooler etc.

My questions are:

Which of these are viable for a daily driver? Or what else would you recommend?

Will any of these affect me getting my car to pass smog? ( I live in Cali) If I recall correctly, cars newer than 6 six years don't require smog checks but eventually I'll have to do it again.

Are their any good exterior mods I can do? Like different fenders, bumpers etc?

Lastly, if I do any of these mods, will that drive other maintenance or any requirements for other components?



Any help is appreciated.

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[The Bad Guy]

Ktuner, CAI, intercooler, tune, acuity pedal relocator, clutch fund, then enjoy.

 

[bthomas]

Ktuner, CAI, intercooler, tune, acuity pedal relocator, clutch fund, then enjoy.

Any specific brands for the CAI and intercooler? Is there a guide for tuning I should use? What do you mean by clutch fund? Sorry for the questions. Like I said, new to this world. Well new to car mods in general.

 

[KOIVUN1]

I can already tell you're just gonna get one line answers that still leave you somewhat in the dark. i gotchu.
A CAI brings in cold(er) air into your engine, compared to the stock airbox which draws in extremely hot air straight from the engine bay. I would 1000% recommend getting either PRL Cobra or 27WON's CAI. Both are extremely well designed and necessary imo especially since you live in Cali.
I would also recommend Ktuner with Phearable's 1.5 tune, as i have firsthand experience with it (~10k miles tuned now) and i love it.
I bought my KTuner V2 straight from phearable.net and the tune was included, just make sure you select the MAF housing you get with your cai, otherwise you'll need a new tune if the maf housings don't match. Cameron Hill & Edge autosport both have wonderful tutorials for flashing your ecu (applying a tune).
Once you're tuned and ripping on it a bit more, i'm sure you'll start to notice the heat soak: after 2-3 pulls, sometimes even just one pull on a hot day, the car will feel sluggish and slower. this is due to heat soak and living in cali you are bound to experience it. There aren't many ways around this, but there are several great ways to help. For one, PRL and 27WON make great intercoolers & charge pipes, both of which will help tremendously with heat soak as the fmic is larger and can cool more air as well as endure more heat for longer, delaying and pacifying the heat soak that is bound to seep in. The charge pipes aren't 100% necessary but they look great and they work flawlessly.

A CAI, FMIC, and a tune are all very easy mods and you can do them by yourself in a driveway or garage or even a parking lot, provided there's some shade. There are plenty of tutorials for everything i mentioned on youtube, if you need help finding them or deciding you can IM me.

I'm not too sure about the smog requirements for cali so i can't help you much, i know there was only one carb certified intake for our cars and it doesn't do nearly as well as the cobra as far as i know.

My advice for exterior mods: don't do anything tacky. if you have to wonder, 'will ___ look tacky?' it probably will. Honda HFP side skirts are a great (although they cost a pretty penny) exterior mod as they add to the body lines of the door and overall look great.
Lowering springs: Eibach pro or sport. worth every penny. D2 you'll need camber arms and whiteline's don't seem to do much in terms of height.
front/rear lip: get whatever lip you think looks best: it's your car. procivic.com, unity-performance.com, ebay(please dont) are all good sources for lips. I got my rear diffuser from ebay, easy install and looks great.
wheels: just make sure they fit right. 18x8.5+35 seems to be a go to around here. you can go x9 or x9.5 but try to stay closer to +40/+42 offset

interior: absolutely get a short shifter. Acuity makes a great stage 3 shifter, but unity performance has a stage 2 shift kit that does just as much imo for half the price. it's a 2020 fk8 shifter assembly with acuity upgrades to sharpen the feel overall. Lovely.
if you find yourself struggling to heel toe (look it up and try it in 6 months, thank me later), the acuity pedal spacer is great. i have it in position c and i love it. there's led replacements for the map lights if you want, maybe get a new shift knob (i know i hated my oem 2020 knob)

last but not least: you will most likely need a clutch at some point in the next two years. honda just decided the money they would save by putting in weak clutches in the si was worth it. unfortunately for us that means we can't do much more than 75% fbo (full bolt on: aka stage 1) without the clutch slipping.

basically start a piggy bank with a goal for ~$2k. it'll be worth it when your clutch goes out and you go from a car with 1 neutral to a car with 7.
you don't need to decide on a clutch now, and be thankful you don't have to since they're all on back order. ACT HD Street seems to be the preferred clutch, along with PRL SS clutch line and if you can get it, the kzCMC.
good luck and have fun. hmu if you have any more questions

 

[bthomas]

I can already tell you're just gonna get one line answers that still leave you somewhat in the dark. i gotchu.
A CAI brings in cold(er) air into your engine, compared to the stock airbox which draws in extremely hot air straight from the engine bay. I would 1000% recommend getting either PRL Cobra or 27WON's CAI. Both are extremely well designed and necessary imo especially since you live in Cali.
I would also recommend Ktuner with Phearable's 1.5 tune, as i have firsthand experience with it (~10k miles tuned now) and i love it.
I bought my KTuner V2 straight from phearable.net and the tune was included, just make sure you select the MAF housing you get with your cai, otherwise you'll need a new tune if the maf housings don't match. Cameron Hill & Edge autosport both have wonderful tutorials for flashing your ecu (applying a tune).
Once you're tuned and ripping on it a bit more, i'm sure you'll start to notice the heat soak: after 2-3 pulls, sometimes even just one pull on a hot day, the car will feel sluggish and slower. this is due to heat soak and living in cali you are bound to experience it. There aren't many ways around this, but there are several great ways to help. For one, PRL and 27WON make great intercoolers & charge pipes, both of which will help tremendously with heat soak as the fmic is larger and can cool more air as well as endure more heat for longer, delaying and pacifying the heat soak that is bound to seep in. The charge pipes aren't 100% necessary but they look great and they work flawlessly.

A CAI, FMIC, and a tune are all very easy mods and you can do them by yourself in a driveway or garage or even a parking lot, provided there's some shade. There are plenty of tutorials for everything i mentioned on youtube, if you need help finding them or deciding you can IM me.

I'm not too sure about the smog requirements for cali so i can't help you much, i know there was only one carb certified intake for our cars and it doesn't do nearly as well as the cobra as far as i know.

My advice for exterior mods: don't do anything tacky. if you have to wonder, 'will ___ look tacky?' it probably will. Honda HFP side skirts are a great (although they cost a pretty penny) exterior mod as they add to the body lines of the door and overall look great.
Lowering springs: Eibach pro or sport. worth every penny. D2 you'll need camber arms and whiteline's don't seem to do much in terms of height.
front/rear lip: get whatever lip you think looks best: it's your car. procivic.com, unity-performance.com, ebay(please dont) are all good sources for lips. I got my rear diffuser from ebay, easy install and looks great.
wheels: just make sure they fit right. 18x8.5+35 seems to be a go to around here. you can go x9 or x9.5 but try to stay closer to +40/+42 offset

interior: absolutely get a short shifter. Acuity makes a great stage 3 shifter, but unity performance has a stage 2 shift kit that does just as much imo for half the price. it's a 2020 fk8 shifter assembly with acuity upgrades to sharpen the feel overall. Lovely.
if you find yourself struggling to heel toe (look it up and try it in 6 months, thank me later), the acuity pedal spacer is great. i have it in position c and i love it. there's led replacements for the map lights if you want, maybe get a new shift knob (i know i hated my oem 2020 knob)

last but not least: you will most likely need a clutch at some point in the next two years. honda just decided the money they would save by putting in weak clutches in the si was worth it. unfortunately for us that means we can't do much more than 75% fbo (full bolt on: aka stage 1) without the clutch slipping.

basically start a piggy bank with a goal for ~$2k. it'll be worth it when your clutch goes out and you go from a car with 1 neutral to a car with 7.
you don't need to decide on a clutch now, and be thankful you don't have to since they're all on back order. ACT HD Street seems to be the preferred clutch, along with PRL SS clutch line and if you can get it, the kzCMC.
good luck and have fun. hmu if you have any more questions

Hell yeah man. Thanks for all the info. I'll start looking into this when I get home. Huge help.

 

[dthanb]

Just an FYI. Prl and 27won CAI aren't carb approved. But you won't need to worry about that til it's time to smog.

 

[Doc_Mello]

unity performance has a stage 2 shift kit that does just as much imo for half the price. it's a 2020 fk8 shifter assembly with acuity upgrades to sharpen the feel overall. Lovely.

One of the first and most essential mods! ??????

 

[arpypat]

CAI + Intercooler + Tune and you can call it a day for a DD!

If you are worried about CARB regulations, the Mishimoto intake is CARB approved. Not sure of any ICs that are.

 

[2020MSMcivicSI]

First, sorry to hear about your 96... that sucks.

Since no one said it yet... best exterior mod: TIRES!!!

Since you got the car used, there might already be good rubber on it, but the stock tires are lacking.

This car is the most fun when taking corners fast IMO and nothing helps that more than good summer tires.

 

[VTecYoSelfB4UWreckYoSelf]

Pick up a pair of clear or smoke turn signal markers as well as a chrome delete for around the windows.

 

[NukeKS14]

2020 Si coupe, daily driver. I've done the Acuity stage 2 shifter set w/ POCO knob to firm up shifts. I installed an HKS HiPower exhaust for sound (I thought the OEM exhaust was too tame. didn't want anything farty and this fit the bill perfectly.

I did Eibach Pro springs for a 1" drop for a few reasons and I'm very happy with that mod.

I had 35% ceramic Llumar tint installed and I think that helps to keep the interior a bit cooler while the car is sitting parked while I'm @ work. I use a sunvisor in the windshield. The sun can get pretty hot out here in KS but not as bad as some southern states. I still think tint is a good mod to help reduce interior temps and prolong the life of the interior plastics when used with a sunscreen and proper care/cleaning of the interior (NO ARMORAL!!)

Lastly, K-tuner and Hondata are different ways to tune or modify the engine mapping. So they allow to change the ignition timing, fuel, boost target, among a host of things.

I have access to 93 octane fuel right up the road from my house. I bought a Ktuner 1.2 from Phearable with their 1.5R tune that I keep on the 23psi boost target setting. The tune completely changes the car. It's very smooth and it unlocked a ton of power. I still average between 37-40 mpg per tank average. Check my post in the Tuned Civic Reliability thread for fuel logs.

Overall, I'm thrilled with the car as a daily driver. It's smooth, comfortable to ride in, has plenty of passing power when I need it, and is plenty efficient.

 

[Vincent@27WON]

Highly just checking out this blog to get some good 101 info on the new whip.

https://www.27won.com/blog/top-10-t...efore-you-start-to-modify-your-10th-gen-civic

 

[dthanb]

CAI + Intercooler + Tune and you can call it a day for a DD!

If you are worried about CARB regulations, the Mishimoto intake is CARB approved. Not sure of any ICs that are.

For intercooler; Greddy and Mishimoto are both carb legal.

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