Upgrading from CVT on automatic civic

[Carsidious]

Curious if anyone has sourced a replacement transmission for the 10th gen K20C2 that is geared, and not CVT. (I have other plans but without a decent transmission for this car there's no point in doing anything bc I need torque.) Any info on older compatible transmissions from other cars or current sport or racing ones is appreciated. I have a tiny trailer and I used to tow it with my 2010 manual civic and it did just fine but concerned about this CVT going, and want to source something before the inevitable death of it. Thanks !

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[gtman]

My main concern. Forget the transmission swap for a second. You say you "need" torque. You're aren't getting big time torque with that engine short of the big project of adding a turbo.

I mean think about it. You want to swap the transmission AND need to go turbo (not an easy feat with that engine). The effort and expense is gonna be high. But it's worth it to you, that's cool.

Side note: I'm very happy with my torquey tuned EX-L.

 

[JonStewK20C2]

I'm going to largely echo the sentiment expressed by @gtman . However if you are an individual with the expertise, time, tools, and likely 10K+ CAD to blow, go for it. I have a 2L with a 6MT and it is awesome but you really should ask yourself whether or not you want to destroy the resale value on your car by swapping the trans.

On that note if you are determined on doing so, there are two people I'd recommend talking to. @tigereyes is turboing their 2L and is currently in the process of swapping the cvt for the 6MT. They can usually be found talking about it in the thread they made here: K20C2 Turboed

Another person worth directing your questions to is @chmst . They swapped an si trans into their car that had a 1.5T and cvt in it. The thread for that swap is here: Si Trans Swap

I'm someone that has an affection to the 2L as well, hell I run a thread pretty well for the development of the 2L. Shameless plug here: FC2 & FC4 Dev Thread. That being said the 2L at this moment in time has no love from the aftermarket. There are maybe a handful of 2L specific parts and none of them give a massive gain in performance. If you are still interested in modding your 2L or swapping the trans, we would love to hear from you over at the FC2 and FC4 Development Thread.

I hope at least some of that was helpful!

 

[gtman]

I get the want for a CVT to manual swap. No doubt. But if I'm reading him correctly the OP wants a combination of gobs of torque and a swap to a traditional automatic transmission.

My point by posting my car is that the beefed up CVT that comes with the turbo models takes to tuning well and handles a fair amount of torque. Trading into that setup may be another solution to what the OP wants (if I'm reading him correctly).

 

[Carsidious]

My goal is simply to be able to pull more than the rated 850lbs for many years. I know this cvt will eventually die. I want this car until it melts Into a pile of rust, but I do handyman work, my trunk is full of tools. I use a 4x5 trailer to carry plywood with my old civic it was fine but I know eventually I'll want a higher end transmission to replace this stock one when it DOES end up going. My engine likely won't see much more than a ktuner, I got a kid on the way so this is just supposed to be my reliable road trip/ daily Driver. Sorry it isn't more exciting but reliability is paramount

 

[gtman]

The thing is a KTuner by itself won't give you much additional torque at all.

 

[Carsidious]

Just to clarify for everyone the use of the words "inevitable, eventually, and reliability" and that I want to TOW, and I do, and have with this HP alot. But I know a CVT can't and won't handle the added weight of carrying 1000 - 1500 lbs on the transmission. It will ruin it, that is why I'm making this post, not because I'm adding a turbo or want a manual swap. Just looking for a geared transmission like there are for countless other sedans of this size engine.

 

[gtman]

That's fine man. You have to understand this is an enthusiast forum and you're original post talked about "needing torque" so we responded accordingly. I get it now. Thanks for the explanation.

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