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

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gtman

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:thumbsup: :thumbsup:

A quick note again about adding updates to everyone who has previously added their car...

All you need to do is add a new post with changes only. No need for a complete new "survey". This will be easy for you and easy for me.

In other words, here's an example of an update:

Changes since last post
  • 4,000 additional tuned miles
  • Added a PRL Cobra intake
  • Now on custom tune by John Vega
  • Minor clutch issues
  • Switched to flex fuel

Just show additional tuned miles, any changed mods, any tune or fuel changes and any new issues, if any. Feel free to add any additional tuning experience notes, too.

Thanks again for helping out. Sorry to keep adding these reminders but there's no way to sticky an important post within a thread.
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Rob2112

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Vehicle: 2020 Honda Civic Hatchback Sport 6MT.

Tuned at 2,000 miles

Tuning device : Ktuner V1.2

Tunes used: TSP for about 500 miles.
Ktuner21 agressive settings for 9,500.
Phearable for about 1,000 miles and counting.

Phearable map 3 is my daily drive.
Smoother shifting.

No mod's

Spirited driving style.
No burn outs.

Phearable non-Si with manual transmission.
Smooth is all I can say. .49 knock average -93 Shell
TSP not so smooth with 6MT.
Ktuner Starter21 ect... kinda in the middle of the two.
I just think it my be a matter of tast and the difference between automatic vs. manual, Si - non Si.
All have been really fun and reliable toying with.
 
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Thanks for adding your car. I also switched from TSP 1 to the Phearable 1.5 tune. As happy as I was with the TSP, John Vega's tune is even better and smoother.
 

SlowasFK7

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*Updated 2/9/2022*

Vehicle: 2020 Civic Sport Hatchback CVT

Total tuned time: ~2 year

Tuned miles driven: 23,000+ miles

Tuning device(s) used: KTuner v1.2

Tunes used: Ktuner starter dual 16.5/21 (current), 18/21

Fuel used: Chevron 91 oct. (no other fuel used)

Additional related mods: K&N drop in filter, Resonator & muffler delete (though it might not be worth noting)

Problems/issues: None

Driving style: Spirited/Aggressive (WOT at least 1x each time I drive it)

Tuning experience notes: Second time tuning turbo CVT. First was my B8.5 CVT which was awful and ended up going back to stock after a 1 month. Compared to that experience, this platform has been amazing. Super easy tuning and much more features available through Ktuner and much more reliable and predictable. CVT still feels much stronger than the audi which started getting kinda sketchy (why I went back to stock).
 
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LukeFaz

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Vehicle: 2018 Honda Civic Hatchback sport (CVT)



Total Tuned Time: 10 months



Total Tuned Mileage: 10k+



Tuning Device: hondata flashpro



Tunes used: Hondata 21psi stage 1 cvt tune



Additional Mods: CAI, Catback Exhaust



Problems/Issues: Blown transmission and torque converter, however I did powerbrake, and do multiple burnouts, replaced under warranty, sold immediately
 


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LukeFaz...

There is no Hondata 21 tune.

Good luck with your new car. Here's to hoping you don't abuse that one. ;)
 
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rbnav

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Vehicle: 2016 Civic EX-T Sedan CVT (wish it was a manual but Honda didn’t have MTs my model year)

Total tuned time: ~8 months

Tuned miles driven: ~6700 miles

Tuning device(s) used: KTuner V2

Tunes used: mostly TSP Stage 1

Fuel used: Costco 91

Additional related mods: progressively went down the rabbit hole... FBO. PRL CAI, PRL Intercooler, Koyorad radiator, PRL Catted DP/FP, Injen dual exhaust

Problems/issues: Less gas mileage. Pre tune I was averaging 35-40mpg and now it’s around 32-34mpg

Driving style: WOT occasionally (rarely), mostly highway driving 30-40 miles per day, 75-80mph

Tuning experience notes: will never drive on stock tune again. Only caveat in this whole experience is that it’s definitely pay to play. Also unrelated to being tuned, passing smog was an absolute PITA this year lol
 
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Because this is a long thread and many people tend to just look at the latest posts, here's the original post and all the current thread info:

Everyone knows that tuning improves performance. But what about long term reliability and safety?

I created this thread to try to document just that and to get an overview of owner's overall tuning experiences.

If you currently have a tuned 10th gen (or were tuned in the past), help everyone in the community and add your car. It only takes a few minutes. Includes Type R, Si, 1.5T and 2.0 NA. Every tuned car added helps build our tuning knowledge base and helps others decide if tuning is right for them.

Please use the format below when adding your car to the thread (my car used as an example):

Vehicle: 2017 Civic EX-L sedan

Total tuned time: 36 months

Tuned miles driven: 16,500+

Tuning device(s) used: Hondata CARB Flashpro, currently using KTuner V2

Tunes used: Hondata +6 and my own +7.5 tune; KTuner Dual Starter 21 w/aggressive quick adjustments; D-Rob customized TSP Stage 1; currently using the Phearable Stage 1.5

Fuel used: Sunoco 93 Ultra (exclusively)

Additional related mods: PRL silicone hose / aFe Pro Dry S filter combo

Problems/issues: None

Driving style: Slightly speedy with aggressive bursts from time to time.

Tuning experience notes: This is my first time tuning and I've gone from total tuning novice to now feeling comfortable enough to help others with tuning. I've never had a mod transform a car like tuning has. The main reason I tuned was to reduce the feeling of turbo and CVT lag when quickly going from light to heavy throttle. Tuning has definitely reduced the lag by maybe 90% and gives me a completely different driving experience. My car went from a peppy commuter to a bit of a sleeper beast. My mpgs are only slightly lower since tuning. Mostly due to a heavier foot. I recently started using the Advanced VSA feature and really like it.


At the end of your post, attach pics, timeslips, videos, dyno results, etc...

Honda Civic 10th gen The Tuned CivicX Experience & Reliability Thread (for all models) newgar-



Honda Civic 10th gen The Tuned CivicX Experience & Reliability Thread (for all models) img_20190612_113827-01-jpe



-----------------------------------


Current thread stats and info (as of 3/3/21):

Total tuned cars submitted: 540

Total tuned miles driven: 7,590,900 (reported)
Car with most tuned miles: choo (101,000+)

Cars with major failures: 15 (2.8%)
Failures by model: Si: 3; non-Si: 12; CTR: 0; 2.0 NA: 0
Percentage of cars running reliably: 97.2%

Transmission type: CVT (169); Manual (371)

Hondata used for tuning: 113; Race (98) Carb (15)
KTuner used for tuning: 450; V1.2 (258) V2 (192)

JB4 used as tuning device: 3
RaceChip used as tuning device: 4
Motec used as tuning device: 3

Pro custom tuned cars: 107
Base tuned only cars: 158

Most popular OTS tune: TSP Stage 1 (245)
Other popular OTS tune: Phearable Stage 1.5 (79)
Newest OTS tunes: TSP 1+ (7); Phearable 1.5R (4)

Top rated pro tuners: Derek Robinson, John Vega

Submissions by model: Si (247); 1.5T Non-Si (234); Type R (41); 2.0 NA (18)

Most popular fuel: 93 octane (281)
Flex fuel users: 57

Cars with no added bolt ons: 173
Cars with at least one bolt on: 255
Cars running full bolt on setups: 112

Upgraded turbos installed: 40

Notes: The most installed bolt ons are intakes, intercoolers, downpipes and exhaust systems. Full bolts ons (for purposes of this thread) consist of downpipe, frontpipe, intercooler and intake at a minimum. "Base tuned only" means an out of the box KTuner or Hondata tune was used exclusively; no canned tune from Phearable, TSP or other vendors was ever used.

Major Failures: 2 of the cars had failed CVT's (both replaced under warranty). 1 car had faulty injectors and a blown head gasket. 1 car blew an engine running an E35/meth setup. 1 car blew an engine on the racetrack. 1 car blew an engine when the owner mistakenly used non-race gas with a tune designed specifically for race gas. 1 owner had a major failure on a used car he purchased. 1 owner admitted he abused his car and destroyed his engine. 1 CVT turbo owner used a high power stage 2 Powermetric flex fuel tune w/full bolt ons and blew his motor. 1 owner had his CVT replaced under warranty (damaged by high power ethanol tune); the new CVT has been trouble free for 70,000+ tuned miles. 1 car threw a rod under "iffy" circumstances according to it's owner (possible abuse/user error). 1 owner destroyed his CVT after some track time in 100° weather. 1 car had a bent connecting rod but there were many factors (neglect) beyond the tune. 1 car bent a rod while doing WOT datalogging for a custom remote tune (had run meth for a short time as well). 1 car blew a CVT after serious neglect/abuse with numerous brake launches and burnouts.

Lesser Issues: There were issues reported here and there with the stock clutch, a couple injector replacements and some fuel trim and knock control funkiness depending on intake and gas used. None of these issues were catastrophic.

Observations: From the cars added so far, base and canned tunes (on a more or less stock 10th gen) appear to be safe. Properly tuned, adding bolt-ons can be reliable, too. The issues seem to happen mostly when power output is pushed too high, owners attempt to self-tune too aggressively, or there is some abuse or neglect involved. It's also clear that the non-Si's have a lower tolerance for abuse.

Summary: There is no doubt that a tune is the single best power-based performance mod. Having said that, tuning does add additional stress. Long term reliability can be compromised if you tune for ultimate power (on stock internals) and push your car to the limit often. Use common sense and your tuning experience should go well.

Important info regarding updates: Since this is an ongoing thread, please add a new post from time to time. Use that new post to show additional tuned miles driven, changes to your tune setup, changed mods, issues that occur and new tuning experience notes. That way, we can keep the thread as accurate and up to date as possible. - gtman
 
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awsomsauce

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Vehicle: 2017 civic si

Total tuned time: 2018-Current

Tuned miles driven: 50k

Tuning device(s) used: Hondata and Ktuner

Tunes used: self tuned on dyno, modified base tunes

Fuel used: Pump 91 and ethanol blends

Additional related mods: RV6 turbo, RV6 catless downpipe and front pipe, injen fmic, PRL cold air intake w/race maf, Eman type r retro clutch system, Eman rebuilt transmission (Courtesy of clutchmasters bad clutch kits), hasport rear mount 88a insert

Problems / issues: poorly designed clutchmasters dual mass and single mass clutch kits damaged my transmission due to not having proper clearance inside the housing and rubbing on the housing. Thus not allowing the clutch to fully disengage and damaging syncros. Passenger side engine mount broke while drag racing. After installing hasport rear mount with 88A insert. Wheel hop was the cause. Blown head gasket. Cause unknown, Warranty canceled by Honda while trying to get the gasket replaced under warranty. Service tech recognized my car and showed the service manager the car was modded via my Instagram. They then scanned the ecu and found it was flashed before. Hpfp issue recently, discovered the problem was a mod feature in the tune. Turned the feature off and the car is good again.

Driving style: Crazy fast.

Tuning experience notes: I’m not a fan of ktuner due to its failure to perform on my car. I first installed and the car was in limp mode. I discovered the issue was my fault in that incident. I didn’t follow the flash procedure 100%. The next time there was an issue I tried flashing the car 3 times and I did all the flashing procedures correctly and my car was left in limp mode all 3 times. Finally I decided to go back to my Hondata. It was a nightmare removing and unlocking the ktuner from my car. I hit up ktuner with the issues, I got told my laptop had to be high performance mode, my car battery was the problem (it was brand new), in the end my experience with ktuner has been nothing but negative. I’ve had both Hondata and ktuner opened and back to back they are identical twins including the base maps.
 
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Really appreciate all the details and sorry you had a bad experience with KTuner.
 


CWIIIFK7

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Vehicle: 2018 Honda Civic Sport Hatchback, 6 spd manual

Total tuned time: 16 months

Tuned miles driven: 9,000 miles

Tuning device(s) used: KTuner V2

Tunes used: KTuner basemap, TSP Stage 1

Fuel used: Top tier 93 octane

Additional related mods: aFe/Takeda momentum intake, PRL Cobra Intake (race)

Problems/issues: None

Driving style: Very spirited driving, full throttle pulls at times mixed in with normal stop and go and interstate traveling.

Tuning experience notes: Both tunes I've used have seemed very safe for everyday driving. I have never seen my KControl go over .59 although I am meticulous about the type of fuel I use in this vehicle. The car just feels like a different animal with the TSP Stage 1 and a compatible cold air intake compared to stock. I have yet to notice any abnormal noises or warning lights with the tunes. Overall, I am very pleased with the performance and reliability I have had while being tuned.

Honda Civic 10th gen The Tuned CivicX Experience & Reliability Thread (for all models) Tgt8jLrgb6nJ4yhbMj76k3oIw=w1250-h937-no?authuser=0
 
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^ Quick question. CVT or manual?
 

wackybolin

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Vehicle: 2019 Civic Hatchback Sport CVT

Total tuned time: 1 month

Tuned miles driven: 500+

Tuning device(s) used: KTuner V2

Tunes used: KTuner Stage 2 Tune

Fuel used: 93 or 87 Octane Fuel

Additional related mods: DIY SRI

Problems/issues: None

Driving style: Spirited Driving 80% of the time

Tuning experience notes: Just got this new tune with a 21 PSI map. No problems at the moment but I will keep this updated.

Update: Got hit from the front left side and had the car totaled a couple of months after the tune. Now I drive a 2006 Subaru STI because fwd isn't worth it. The civic ran great and lost traction with the tune and DIY intake. I have a stock Type R exhaust for the 10th gens for cheap in south miami.
 
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Thanks for adding your car. When you do updates, just add a new post noting the changes from your original post. If you edit the original, it would would be impossible for me to keep the thread stats accurate.
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