TSP Stage 1 // 1.5T CVT // Hondata

[r.camlin]

So I received my tune from TSP today.

I'm making this thread as an ongoing honest review of the newly released TSP Stage 1 tune for non-Si 1.5T civics for those of you that may be on the fence or just curious as to what you can expect from this tune. Stay tuned for my objective opinion of you're interested. As of right now, this review will pertain to the tune on my 2019 Hatchback Sport CVT with Hondata FlashPro Race. I'll be picking the tune up for my KTuner when my ECU is supported. Although I can't imagine they'd be all that different. (Aside from the on-the-fly map switching of course, but this review is focused on the full TSP tune)

Entry #1 below:

(It's a lot of words, but I want to try to explain my experience as best as I can. For those of you that will, thank you for reading lol)

Sponsored

 

[r.camlin]

Day one / first impressions:

I didn't do much driving today, nor was any of it really fun, but I did do a little driving that would closely resemble the normal, around town driving I'd most often experience. I did get to squeeze in one little WOT pull though. More on that later...

Some things that are immediately noticeable: throttle and turbo response, and their interesting relationship with one another.

Previously, on the basemaps, I would get a kind of "gas, then boost" feeling, with the former part of the equation (if only for an instant) feeling a little dragging. On the TSP Stage 1 tune, boost and throttle seem to share an almost parallel, linear relationship.

I feel next to zero lag whatsoever. Responsiveness is significantly improved. And yet... it doesn't feel jumpy or jarring. It's just... smooth. So damn smooth. It's effortlessly nimble and aggressive, but in a very controlled and refined way. The car almost feels "lighter" in a strange way. To me, this is perfect for city/town driving. The car feels more agile, but not in an annoying way.

On demand power: engine output feels like a faucet and the gas pedal is the knob. Weird analogy, but it was the best I could think of. It's like the car is a spring that's constantly at the perfect amount of tension. It's really hard to accurately explain. Instead of an action/reaction relationship, it feels like the power on tap is an extension of your right foot. It's a strange, empowering feeling.

I had to pass someone at one point today and the experience was delightful. Not exhilarating. Not over the top. Just effortless and smooth. I went from cruising to passing, maybe 10psi or less, and the transition was so seamless I didn't feel it. But the car woke up for sure.

Now the fun part...

WOT: I floored it from a roll, hit 24psi, and almost had a heart attack. It genuinely startled me. By the time I slowed down I thought I was in the back seat. "Fast" is an understatement. It was honestly incredible.

And all that being said! It still wasn't an unpleasant, jarring rush. It was a rush for sure. But I still felt in complete control. Again, it transitioned so effortlessly. This is the "wake up" shit I'm always taliking about wanting to find.

The best way I can put it, when comparing to the basemap tunes, is this:

Okay so I thought the basemaps on both KTuner and Hondata when I've used them were plenty good. They turned my car into a high performance machine. They were powerful, snappy, and fun. Until today. They pale in comparison. Now I think they're almost vanilla and rough.

The basemaps are great. They work really well and I think they're the best performance upgrade money can buy for our cars. They make your car feel unmistakably "tuned".

TSP Stage 1 on the other hand makes your car feel like it came this way from the factory. It turns the Civic into a significantly higher performance machine, but in a way that feels almost natural.

It's just day one, but so far, with the nimble low end control and the incredible high end power, the car feels more capable and versatile. By an order of magnitude.

 

[dldaves]

i just bought my ktuner v1.2 haven't installed it just yet I bought it off a guy on facebook marketplace he said it comes with tsp tune and its unlocked I gotta get windows pc MacBook problems plus boot camp doesn't work on there

 

[theblackdogman]

Day one / first impressions:

I didn't do much driving today, nor was any of it really fun, but I did do a little driving that would closely resemble the normal, around town driving I'd most often experience. I did get to squeeze in one little WOT pull though. More on that later...

Some things that are immediately noticeable: throttle and turbo response, and their interesting relationship with one another.

Previously, on the basemaps, I would get a kind of "gas, then boost" feeling, with the former part of the equation (if only for an instant) feeling a little dragging. On the TSP Stage 1 tune, boost and throttle seem to share an almost parallel, linear relationship.

I feel next to zero lag whatsoever. Responsiveness is significantly improved. And yet... it doesn't feel jumpy or jarring. It's just... smooth. So damn smooth. It's effortlessly nimble and aggressive, but in a very controlled and refined way. The car almost feels "lighter" in a strange way. To me, this is perfect for city/town driving. The car feels more agile, but not in an annoying way.

On demand power: engine output feels like a faucet and the gas pedal is the knob. Weird analogy, but it was the best I could think of. It's like the car is a spring that's constantly at the perfect amount of tension. It's really hard to accurately explain. Instead of an action/reaction relationship, it feels like the power on tap is an extension of your right foot. It's a strange, empowering feeling.

I had to pass someone at one point today and the experience was delightful. Not exhilarating. Not over the top. Just effortless and smooth. I went from cruising to passing, maybe 10psi or less, and the transition was so seamless I didn't feel it. But the car woke up for sure.

Now the fun part...

Okay so I thought the basemaps on both KTuner and Hondata when I've used them were plenty good. They turned my car into a high performance machine. They were powerful, snappy, and fun. Until today. They pale in comparison. Now I think they're almost vanilla and rough.

WOT: I floored it from a roll, hit 24psi, and almost had a heart attack. It genuinely startled me. By the time I slowed down I thought I was in the back seat. "Fast" is an understatement. It was honestly incredible.

And all that being said! It still wasn't an unpleasant, jarring rush. It was a rush for sure. But I still felt in complete control. Again, it transitioned so effortlessly. This is the "wake up" shit I'm always taliking about wanting to find.

The best way I can put it, when comparing to the basemap tunes, is this:

The basemaps are great. They work really well and I think they're the best performance upgrade money can buy for our cars. They make your car feel unmistakably "tuned".

TSP Stage 1 on the other hand makes your car feel like it came this way from the factory. It turns the Civic into a significantly higher performance machine, but in a way that feels almost natural.

It's just day one, but so far, with the nimble low end control and the incredible high end power, the car feels more capable and versatile. By an order of magnitude.

Excellent. I should receive mine today or tomorrow. This makes me even more excited.

 

[Two Step Performance]

@r.camlin, thanks for the review. Glad you are enjoying it!

i just bought my ktuner v1.2 haven't installed it just yet I bought it off a guy on facebook marketplace he said it comes with tsp tune and its unlocked I gotta get windows pc MacBook problems plus boot camp doesn't work on there

In our experience, running Windows on a Mac has always worked fine when it comes to KTuner.

 

[r.camlin]

@r.camlin, thanks for the review. Glad you are enjoying it!

In our experience, running Windows on a Mac has always worked fine when it comes to KTuner.

Thank you guys for continuing to be awesome!

And I never really got BootCamp figured out on my Mac, but it's good to know it works. I just ended buying a $40 refurbished Windows laptop that I use strictly for tuning.

 

[Two Step Performance]

Thank you guys for continuing to be awesome!

And I never really got BootCamp figured out on my Mac, but it's good to know it works. I just ended buying a $40 refurbished Windows laptop that I use strictly for tuning.

Hard to beat a dedicated solution for $40 in that case.

This tune was a lot of work due to all of the ECU software versions that Honda has for the non-Si 1.5T but working along side @drob_imw we got it done and are excited to now have this option available to the community.

 

[TrippyPancakes]

Day one / first impressions:

I didn't do much driving today, nor was any of it really fun, but I did do a little driving that would closely resemble the normal, around town driving I'd most often experience. I did get to squeeze in one little WOT pull though. More on that later...

Some things that are immediately noticeable: throttle and turbo response, and their interesting relationship with one another.

Previously, on the basemaps, I would get a kind of "gas, then boost" feeling, with the former part of the equation (if only for an instant) feeling a little dragging. On the TSP Stage 1 tune, boost and throttle seem to share an almost parallel, linear relationship.

I feel next to zero lag whatsoever. Responsiveness is significantly improved. And yet... it doesn't feel jumpy or jarring. It's just... smooth. So damn smooth. It's effortlessly nimble and aggressive, but in a very controlled and refined way. The car almost feels "lighter" in a strange way. To me, this is perfect for city/town driving. The car feels more agile, but not in an annoying way.

On demand power: engine output feels like a faucet and the gas pedal is the knob. Weird analogy, but it was the best I could think of. It's like the car is a spring that's constantly at the perfect amount of tension. It's really hard to accurately explain. Instead of an action/reaction relationship, it feels like the power on tap is an extension of your right foot. It's a strange, empowering feeling.

I had to pass someone at one point today and the experience was delightful. Not exhilarating. Not over the top. Just effortless and smooth. I went from cruising to passing, maybe 10psi or less, and the transition was so seamless I didn't feel it. But the car woke up for sure.

Now the fun part...

WOT: I floored it from a roll, hit 24psi, and almost had a heart attack. It genuinely startled me. By the time I slowed down I thought I was in the back seat. "Fast" is an understatement. It was honestly incredible.

And all that being said! It still wasn't an unpleasant, jarring rush. It was a rush for sure. But I still felt in complete control. Again, it transitioned so effortlessly. This is the "wake up" shit I'm always taliking about wanting to find.

The best way I can put it, when comparing to the basemap tunes, is this:

Okay so I thought the basemaps on both KTuner and Hondata when I've used them were plenty good. They turned my car into a high performance machine. They were powerful, snappy, and fun. Until today. They pale in comparison. Now I think they're almost vanilla and rough.

The basemaps are great. They work really well and I think they're the best performance upgrade money can buy for our cars. They make your car feel unmistakably "tuned".

TSP Stage 1 on the other hand makes your car feel like it came this way from the factory. It turns the Civic into a significantly higher performance machine, but in a way that feels almost natural.

It's just day one, but so far, with the nimble low end control and the incredible high end power, the car feels more capable and versatile. By an order of magnitude.

Nice write up! I have one question though, I have been running this tune as well now and I have not once seen my boost go all the way up to 24psi. Is 24psi supposed to be the max, or is it at 21psi like the basemaps?

 

[r.camlin]

Nice write up! I have one question though, I have been running this tune as well now and I have not once seen my boost go all the way up to 24psi. Is 24psi supposed to be the max, or is it at 21psi like the basemaps?

The peak target, as far as I know, is 24psi. That is the absolute maximum though and certain conditions need to be met to ever hit that. Boost targets aren't just "on/off", 24psi is just the maximum this tune will allow. Under normal circumstances, the boost you see will be anywhere from zero to 24psi.

 

[TrippyPancakes]

The peak target, as far as I know, is 24psi. That is the absolute maximum though and certain conditions need to be met to ever hit that. Boost targets aren't just "on/off", 24psi is just the maximum this tune will allow. Under normal circumstances, the boost you see will be anywhere from zero to 24psi.

I had always thought of boost targets as on/off but it really makes sense that they aren't. I learned something new today, thank you!

 

[r.camlin]

I had always thought of boost targets as on/off but it really makes sense that they aren't. I learned something new today, thank you!

Floor it from a roll on a nice, cool day with a long, flat strip of pavement and you'll see 24psi lol.

Boost targets are basically just saying "at full boost, at this RPM, in this gear, under these conditions, 'X'psi is what you should hit"

Which is why when you come off of a stop, you'll get a little boost while you accelerate, then will usually see no boost at all when cruising at speed.

Increasing your RPM would involve giving it more gas, which would trigger the ECU to deliver boost at that specified RPM. But you can also increase RPM by rolling downhill sometimes or downshifting, so it wouldn't make sense to deliver boost without delivering fuel to the cylinders. Hence why it's conditional as well.

 

[dldaves]

@r.camlin, thanks for the review. Glad you are enjoying it!


In our experience, running Windows on a Mac has always worked fine when it comes to KTuner.

It sucks I cant used tsp stage 1 its not compatible with my software I got. 5AN AG20

 

[Two Step Performance]

I had always thought of boost targets as on/off but it really makes sense that they aren't. I learned something new today, thank you!

That's the old school way. Set your boost controller and that's that. With electronic controller we are able to have a lot more control throughout the process.

 

[Two Step Performance]

PSA to all Hondata users:

We are seeing lots of issues with the latest software release. We recommend not toggling the traction control options at this time. You may see other issues beyond that. We are hopeful Hondata will have it all corrected on their next release, which we hope is not far away. These issues are platform wide and not limited to our tunes.

 

[r.camlin]

PSA to all Hondata users:

We are seeing lots of issues with the latest software release. We recommend not toggling the traction control options at this time. You may see other issues beyond that. We are hopeful Hondata will have it all corrected on their next release, which we hope is not far away. These issues are platform wide and not limited to our tunes.

Interesting...

What exactly is the issue? I currently have it enabled, but I will be sure to disable it as soon as I'm near my laptop. That being said, I haven't experienced anything out of the ordinary yet.

(Side note: anxiously awaiting ECU support on KTuner. There's a lot of stuff I miss, to be honest.)

Sponsored