The Tuned CivicX Experience & Reliability Thread (for all models)

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gtman

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Adding your car and updates and the importance of both...

I think there's sometimes some confusion about what this thread's goals are, when to add your car and when to add a new post with updates. Hopefully, people will take the time to read this and hopefully it will clear things up and make sense. I'll try my best not to make the post too crazy long so nobody skims it. :cool:

When to add your car...

As far as I'm concerned, you can add your car at any time once it's tuned. If you tune it today, you're welcome to add it today. If you just found out about the thread and have been tuned two years, that's a great time to add it too. The more tuned cars added, the more helpful. It's always interesting to see the various tune setups people are using and the variety of mods people are adding.

Why are updates such a big deal?

For two main reasons and both reasons are in the thread title... experience and reliability. Don't get me wrong, it's great if everyone just adds their tuned car initially. The community appreciates that effort. But it's the new, additional posts with updates that make this thread work.

Let say Joe Jones adds his tuned car with 1,000 miles on it. That's awesome. But then he changes tunes or adds a few mods or drives another reliable 15,000 tuned miles etc., but never adds any additional posts with that info. Basically it defeats the purpose of this thread. The reliability stats I keep become inaccurate and since no updates are posted we don't learn anything about Joe's long term tune experience.

You can either add updates at set intervals (every 6 months or once a year, for example) or post an update when something significantly changes with your tuning experience (more tuned miles driven, changed mods, issues etc.).

The bottom line is that all of this makes this thread better and more useful. Sure, I started the idea of this thread and I keep the stats updated but it's you guys (and gals) that ultimately are the ones who make it work.
 

Flawlessturd

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Vehicle: 2018 Honda Civic RS

Total tuned time: 2 days

Tuned miles driven: 100km

Tuning device(s) used: KTuner 1.2

Tunes used: stage 2 base map, currently on TSP stage 1 non-si

Fuel used: 98RON fuel

Additional related mods: Mishimoto intake, now waiting for Mishimoto intercooler

Problems/issues: None

Driving style: standard daily driving with occasional bursts of speed.

Tuning experience notes: the tunes definitely make the car feel more alive. The TSP tunes feel so much more smooth compared to the base KTuner maps. Only issues I ran into was that the CEL was on for the first 2 drives after flashing but turned off afterwards. Did not find any error codes so I assume it was just the car clearing some codes by itself.
 

GreaseCrow

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Vehicle: 2018 Civic Hatchback Sport, 6MT (Canadian Model)

Total tuned time: Since July 2020, Last update was June 2021

Total tuned mileage: > 18,000+ KMs

Tuning device(s) used: KTuner v1.2

Tunes used: Phearable 1.5 Non-Si (Map 2 & 3, Current), TSP Stage 1 (Non-Si, Map 3) & Ktuner 19.5/21psi Dual Map

Fuel used: Esso 93 Octane, Petro Canada 94 Octane, Costco 91

Additional engine mods: PRL silicone hose, PRL Short Ram Intake, Muffler delete ? , also using 0W-30 from Mobil 1.

Problems/issues: Some jerkiness releasing the gas quickly, jerkiness adding throttle at 2K RPMs (2nd/3rd gear)

Driving style: Since more mods, I've been driving a little harder ;)

Tuning experience notes: Just wanted to post an update with testing out different gas from different companies and the addition of the PRL Short Ram Intake.

Knock Control seems to be a bit higher on Costco 91 and very hit and miss. This is from Canada. Best gas I have found is anything from Shell or Petro Canada, 91 or above. 93/94 doesn't seem to be necessary as knock stays near .49 on either 91 oct from those companies.

LTFTB1 seems to be hitting lower negative values -5 to -7 from previous -3 to -5 after Short Ram install. Not sure what's going on but I am on Phearable with the stock MAF selected. Might need to get a tune update with the PRL Street MAF option instead.

IATs went higher with a SRI only when sitting idle, once moving, IATs are about the same as stock airbox.

That's all I have for now, woosh woosh away
 


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Vehicle : 2020 PWP Si
Total Tuned Time : since last night
Total Tuned Miles : 20mi
Tuning Device : Flashpro Carb
Tunes used : +6carb
Fuel Used : 76 91, gonna throw in some 100 just to see.
Mods : just flashpro
Problems : none
Driving Style : aggressive & late apex everything
Tuning experiences : love the response & sensitivity changes, full Throttle feels great and STARTING IN SPORT MODE IS A FREAKIN GODSEND!
 

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I do the same with the e85. Is it bad to run uneven amounts over and over again? I do a tiny bit under a gallon if I’m near empty but sometimes I have went a tiny bit under or over a gallon. Do you calculate it or estimate it?
It’s not exactly the same for me every time but usually I try to stay just under a gallon. The ECU can handle up to E15. So the rule of thumb is 10 gallons 91 octane plus 1 gallon of E85 equals 92 octane (E15). I used an online calculator to come up with that.
 
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Vehicle : 2020 PWP Si
Total Tuned Time : since last night
Total Tuned Miles : 20mi
Tuning Device : Flashpro Carb
Tunes used : +6carb
Fuel Used : 76 91, gonna throw in some 100 just to see.
Don't spend crazy money filling up on 100.

Instead, bump up octane and reduce knock control by adding 1-1.5 gallons of E85 to your 91 (per tankful).
 
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Current thread stats and info (as of 7/24/21):

Tuned cars submitted: 722

Total tuned miles driven: 10,186,050 (reported)
Most tuned miles: choo (139,000 - sold car);
dallasjhawk (101,000+); Pekingduck (80,000+)

Cars with major failures: 16 (2.2%)
Failures by tune type: Base: 7; OTS: 2; Custom: 7
Failures by model: Si: 4; Non-Si: 12; CTR: 0; 2.0 NA: 0
Highest failure rate: Non-Si 1.5T (3.6%)
Percentage of cars running reliably: 97.8%

Transmission type: CVT (247); Manual (475)
Base models: 70% CVT; 30% Manual
Aftermarket clutches installed: 77 (16%)

Hondata used for tuning: 153; Race (130) Carb (23)
KTuner used for tuning: 603; V1.2 (337) V2 (266)
Other devices used: JB4: 3, RaceChip: 4, Motec: 3

Pro custom tuned cars: 130 (19%)
Base tuned only cars: 220 (30%)

Most popular OTS tune: TSP Stage 1 (307)
Other popular OTS tune: Phearable Stage 1.5 (137)
Newest OTS tunes: TSP 1+ (30); Phearable 1.5R (13)

Cars by model: 1.5T Non-Si (332; 46.2%); Si (318; 43.8%); Type R (51; 7%); 2.0 NA (21; 3%)

Most popular fuel used: 93 octane (377; 52%)
Users adding 1-1.5 gallons E85: 89 (13%)
Flex fuel kits installed: 76 (10.5%)

At least one bolt-on added: 355 (48%)
No bolt-ons added: 225 (31%)
Cars with full bolt-ons: 142 (21%)

Cold air intakes installed: 255 (34%)
Short ram intakes installed: 80 (12%)
Upgraded intercoolers installed: 220 (30%)

Aftermarket downpipes installed: 215 (30%)
Aftermarket frontpipes installed: 153 (21%)

Upgraded turbo inlet pipes installed: 57 (8%)
Upgraded turbos installed: 49 (7%)
 

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Vehicle: 2018 Si HFP sedan

Total tuned time: 300kms base tune 30kms phearable 1.5 street tune

Tuned miles driven: 330kms


Tuning device(s) used: KTuner v2

Tunes used: base 19/23tune, Phearable Stage 1.5

Fuel used: petro 94

Additional related mods: none, stock

Problems/issues: None

Driving style: miss daisy with the occasional spirited driving

Even with a semi-heavy foot since tuning I’m getting 8.7l/km. The phearable tune is much nicer than the base tune. Less jerky, power comes on smoother.

Kcount is lower like 0/1 vs 3/4 with the base tune, fuel trims are low single digits too. Loving the boost by gear to save my clutch. I’m running map 1 and keeping the boost to 18psi with ramp up for gear 3-4-5-6 14 psi for 1 and 16 psi for 2. I love this car, so happy with the tune. The tuner plus the acuity stage 3 and the car is basically perfect for my driving style.
 


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Vehicle: 2019 CR-V AWD (EUDM) L15BY MT / Si pistons - non Si connecting rods

ECU: 5ST-G05

Gas: 100 RON EU (equal to USA 95 RON). Was operating with 93 RON US, switched to 95 RON 3000 miles ago for no actual reason, just peace of mind.

LTFT: -4.0 in traffic, -7.0 in heavy traffic, 0.0 on highways.

Total tuned time: 12 months

Total tuned mileage: 14.000 miles

Tuning device(s) used: Ktuner V1.2

Tunes used: Ktuner base 21 DUAL (turbo ramp rate improved II)

Additional engine mods: PRL SRI street / PRL catted DP / Injen FMIC / smaller sized mufflers / OEM exhaust and front pipe / Intake resonator delete / Hondahack with tunerview lite / 27WON TIP to be installed.

Oil used: Mobil 1 5W-30 ACEA C2/C3 (oil and oil filter change every 3000-4000 miles)

Problems/issues: OEM HU randomly changes brightness. Not Ktuner or Honda hack related. Has occurred 4-5 times in 12 months. Has not happened for 1 year. All indicator/error lights lit up the dashboard twice, probably Honda sensing related. Has happened twice in 3 days, summertime, hasnt happened since. Dealership hasnt found an actual issue.

Driving style: Very speedy with often aggressive bursts, start driving after 1 minute, never WOT if ECT is below 80. Always cooldown, never turn engine off if ECT is over 90 degrees celcius. VSA completely OFF with pedal dance 80% of the time.

Notes: Knock counts recorded 1 to 5, with stock spark plugs/OEM gapping, Knock control increases from 0.49 to 0.77 after long pulls (50mph to 140mph). Always 0.48/0.49 even at 60% or above TPS

Vehicle: 2019 CR-V AWD (EUDM) L15BY MT / Si pistons - non Si connecting rods

ECU: 5ST-G05

Gas: 100 RON EU (equal to USA 95 RON). Was operating with 93 RON US, switched to 95 RON 3000 miles ago for no actual reason, just peace of mind.

LTFT: -4.0 in traffic, -7.0 in heavy traffic, 0.0 on highways.

Total tuned time: 24 months

Total tuned mileage: 28.0000 miles

Tuning device(s) used: Ktuner V1.2

Tunes used: Ktuner base 21 DUAL (turbo ramp rate improved II)

Additional engine mods: PRL SRI street / PRL catted DP / Injen FMIC / smaller sized mufflers / OEM exhaust and front pipe / Intake resonator delete / Hondahack with tunerview lite / 27WON TIP.

Oil used: Mobil 1 5W-30 ACEA C2/C3 (oil and oil filter change every 3000-4000 miles)

Problems/issues: Car had rough idle at cold start only for 1 to 3 seconds. Pulled fine after that but did not test-WOT. After two weeks it threw all errors on the dash(aka Christmas tree). Cylinder 4 had 184 misfires, after it got warm it dropped to 9. Thought it was plugs or coils or head gasket. After checking it was not plugs/coils, I realised coolant was missing. Turns out cylinder 4 sleeve is cracked. Also, turbo is cracked on the exhaust side.

OEM HU randomly changes brightness. Not Ktuner or Honda hack related. Has occurred 4-5 times in 12 months. Has not happened for 1 year. All indicator/error lights lit up the dashboard twice, probably Honda sensing related. Has happened twice in 3 days, summertime, hasnt happened since. Dealership hasnt found an actual issue.

Driving style: Very speedy with often aggressive bursts, start driving after 1 minute, never WOT if ECT is below 80. Always cooldown, never turn engine off if ECT is over 90 degrees celcius. VSA completely OFF with pedal dance 80% of the time. Pulling WOT for over 2 minutes on a regular basis regardless of ambient temps. Maintaining top speed (143mph) for over 1 minute on occasion.

Notes: Knock counts recorded 1 to 5, with stock spark plugs/OEM gapping, Knock control increases from 0.49 to 0.77 after long pulls (50mph to 140mph). Always 0.48/0.49 even at 60% or above TPS.
 
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Anger, I added your info to the failures thread. Sorry this happened.

I do want to point out a few things. 80% of our noted failures have been from abuse or neglect and many have happened with multiple or full bolt ons. Surprisingly, the highest percentage of failures are on base tunes as is yours.

In your case, to be fair, you certainly appear to have maintained your car well. In terms of driving style, I think this is where things get dicey. When people ask me about long term tune reliability, I always say the key is your right foot. In other words, we are putting more strain on the drivetrain and I think the key to longevity/reliability is driving "normally" with aggressive bursts here and there. Continous hard driving such as on the track can be problematic, for example.

Based on your driving style decription, you drive your CR-V extremely hard. Driving mostly with the pedal dance employed, regularly driving two minutes at continuous WOT regardless of temps (Greece is hot) and maintaining the 143 mph top speed on occasion is really aggressive.

Again, I'm sorry this has happened but I wanted to throw out these observations in regards to your failures.
 
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Anger

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Anger, I added your info to the failures thread. Sorry this happened.

I do want to point out a few things. 80% of our noted failures have been from abuse or neglect and many have happened with multiple or full bolt ons. Surprisingly, the highest percentage of failures are on base tunes as is yours.

In your case, to be fair, you certainly appear to have maintained your car well. In terms of driving style, I think this is where things get dicey. When people ask me about long term tune reliability, I always say the key is your right foot. In other words, we are putting more strain on the drivetrain and I think the key to longevity/reliability is driving "normally" with aggressive bursts here and there. Continous hard driving such as on the track can be problematic, for example.

Based on your driving style decription, you drive your CR-V extremely hard. Driving mostly with the pedal dance employed, regularly driving two minutes at continuous WOT regardless of temps (Greece is hot) and maintaining the 143 mph top speed on occasion is really aggressive.

Again, I'm sorry this has happened but I wanted to throw out these observations in regards to your failures.
You are definitely more polite than I am to myself! Running basemaps and FBO for that long was a definite mistake but tbh I think it was the driving. Yeah I changed oil and filter more often than you could imagine, used the best gas, maintained or changed the intake air filter BUT......after owning two N/A K series engines on Type-Rs, I thought that Hondas are unbreakable. The L15 is NOT a K series or a B series.
I do believe than even on 100% stock form, when pushing a 3200 pounds car like this, this is what happens. Thankfully the local dealership understands this as well so I am covered under warranty for the short block, the turbo, the gaskets, belt, tensioner, injectors, the whole 9 yards.

Lesson learned. While the engine can be taken to a certain level of HP, this platform being aerodynamically a kiosk and weighing 20% over the civic, is not ideal for 143mph cruising.....
Question is what do I do now?....rebuilt, install FBO again, tune properly and be more careful, or keep it stock? All I am missing is the clutch and a drop-in turbo to conclude the built. I am scared now obviously but I still want the car to be what it can be and not keep it 173hp...
 
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I have included your CR-V in the failure stats but did point out you don't actually drive a Civic. :cool:

Great news on getting dealer coverage on this.
 

Anger

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Well, the engine is a Si/non-Si hybrid so still interesting for people here!
Sponsored

 


 


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