New Owner Observations and Question or Two

newskate9

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Entering my second week of ownership thought it was time to make an entry in the log here. I came from owning and loving a tuned SI coupe that I just loved - I literally stared at the R for hours across 2 days before pulling the trigger. Sales gal was very patient with me, paid MSRP. Here goes:

1. This is not an SI. If feels more substantial and bigger (although it "isn't", but it is taller). I've got 425 miles on it and will crest 500 today on a short trip. I can't wait! I've been behaving and not had any hard pulls or fast stops. It rides smoother, or at least seems like it.

2. I don't know why, but 3,000 RPM feels more wound out in this car, than the SI. I feel like I'd be doing something bad for the car going to 4 or 5,000. The one or two times I've been there it felt as though I shouldn't be. Maybe the engine feel or the exhaust noise. This feeling is something I hope goes away with more rpm experience. The SI felt like it was at home 3-6,000. Don't hammer me here; anyone else feel this first 500?

3. Love the lights. I thought the seats might be less comfortable but for my rear end, they are more. Wish they were heated. I also miss my right side camera. Love the stereo. My phone holder I build for my SI fits perfectly (as it should!). I love the mats, but they are history when my 3D's arrive tomorrow. I'm going to love the hatchback but the panel is HEAVY.

4. Beside looking good, they squeak. Not when fast to slow, but slow roll to stop they squeal like I ran over a cat. Very annoying. I thought it was break-in / needing seated but I've not rammed them yet. Any thoughts here?

5. Driving sane I'm getting 25 MPG combined versus the 35 I was getting on my SI. Ouch. But I knew this. I love the looks I get in the car. Every tweener with a muffler kit revs me on the way by and I just smile. Could I beat you? Perhaps. But, I have a Type-R. SO there is that. An earlier gen SI parked in my back seat on a twisty road yesterday and I just let him sit there, minding the speed limit. I'm in break-in remember? He was not happy! Again, maybe he beats me or stays with me. I have a Type-R.

6. Coming from the SI, I love the exhaust. Not too loud but loud enough. The first time I started the car in my garage it took me 2 days to get the smile off my face.

HERE'S where I need help: In the SI, tuned, I trained myself to not "pull" below 3,000rpm. I also would down-shift when looking for a quick pass on the highway. It was all about protecting the clutch. Does this car need that protection? Is this clutch suspect? Example, on a highway drive I was at 70 or so and needed to get around a few knuckleheads, I slow rolled fast in 6th. The car didn't seem to mind at all but it got me thinking for sure. Anyone give me some perspective on what to be careful of here a la clutch / engine / rpm stuff?

Thank you for ANY input. Cresting 500 is going to be SO much fun!
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NapalmEnema

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I can't speak for the rest of your post - but on the shifting / passing - high load - low RPM's is never advisable, especially for smaller displacement engines with a turbo. With the rev matching, or if you prefer, double clutching to match RPM's for a downshift yourself, you should always grab a lower gear rather than bog it / have low RPM's while giving her the gas.

Enjoy the car I think they are fantastic from a test drive here and there but haven't joined the club yet lol. I don't recall the brakes squeaking on the two I drove, I'd suggest looking up a proper bed in procedure and try that first then see if they still do it. They may, and then you might need to consider different pads. Pads should be really easy to change on these and could easily be done in a driveway with basic tools.

Have fun
 

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The Type R has a width of 73.5 inches - which is definitely larger than the Si. You can feel this vehicle is larger on the road. So it’s not in your head that this vehicle might feel bigger, because it definitely is!

The clutch on this car seems much less prone to slip compared to the Si but I wouldn’t floor it at low RPM in a high gear regardless. I would either use gentle throttle or just downshift. The car helps with that anyways :)
 

tinyman392

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Entering my second week of ownership thought it was time to make an entry in the log here. I came from owning and loving a tuned SI coupe that I just loved - I literally stared at the R for hours across 2 days before pulling the trigger. Sales gal was very patient with me, paid MSRP. Here goes:

1. This is not an SI. If feels more substantial and bigger (although it "isn't", but it is taller). I've got 425 miles on it and will crest 500 today on a short trip. I can't wait! I've been behaving and not had any hard pulls or fast stops. It rides smoother, or at least seems like it.

2. I don't know why, but 3,000 RPM feels more wound out in this car, than the SI. I feel like I'd be doing something bad for the car going to 4 or 5,000. The one or two times I've been there it felt as though I shouldn't be. Maybe the engine feel or the exhaust noise. This feeling is something I hope goes away with more rpm experience. The SI felt like it was at home 3-6,000. Don't hammer me here; anyone else feel this first 500?

3. Love the lights. I thought the seats might be less comfortable but for my rear end, they are more. Wish they were heated. I also miss my right side camera. Love the stereo. My phone holder I build for my SI fits perfectly (as it should!). I love the mats, but they are history when my 3D's arrive tomorrow. I'm going to love the hatchback but the panel is HEAVY.

4. Beside looking good, they squeak. Not when fast to slow, but slow roll to stop they squeal like I ran over a cat. Very annoying. I thought it was break-in / needing seated but I've not rammed them yet. Any thoughts here?

5. Driving sane I'm getting 25 MPG combined versus the 35 I was getting on my SI. Ouch. But I knew this. I love the looks I get in the car. Every tweener with a muffler kit revs me on the way by and I just smile. Could I beat you? Perhaps. But, I have a Type-R. SO there is that. An earlier gen SI parked in my back seat on a twisty road yesterday and I just let him sit there, minding the speed limit. I'm in break-in remember? He was not happy! Again, maybe he beats me or stays with me. I have a Type-R.

6. Coming from the SI, I love the exhaust. Not too loud but loud enough. The first time I started the car in my garage it took me 2 days to get the smile off my face.

HERE'S where I need help: In the SI, tuned, I trained myself to not "pull" below 3,000rpm. I also would down-shift when looking for a quick pass on the highway. It was all about protecting the clutch. Does this car need that protection? Is this clutch suspect? Example, on a highway drive I was at 70 or so and needed to get around a few knuckleheads, I slow rolled fast in 6th. The car didn't seem to mind at all but it got me thinking for sure. Anyone give me some perspective on what to be careful of here a la clutch / engine / rpm stuff?

Thank you for ANY input. Cresting 500 is going to be SO much fun!
I don't think I broke 3500 during the first 500 miles of break in. The car makes peak torque at 2500 RPM. If you haven't driven Honda's later vehicles, they are very torquey making lots of torque very early on. May I ask what year your Si was and what turbo was put on it? A larger turbo will have more lag but also suffer from possible detonation issues at lower RPMs thus the don't push below 3k RPM. If you were on a current gen Si and still had a small turbo, it made peak torque around 1.5k and would lose steam around 4.5-5.5k. The Type R will pull from about 2.5k* all through the red line.

The brakes will squeak very loudly when coming to a stop. You have two options to mitigate this, get a different set of pads that are less aggressive and less noisy or go slightly harder on the brakes. If you fill up 2 of the "bars" (about 200 PSI in the brake lines) they should almost never squeak.

I don't get how not pulling below 3k RPM would help the clutch out. The only things that really damage the clutch would be slipping it or shifting improperly (downshifting or without rev matching or dropping the clutch all the time). On an older turbo vehicle, or a modified turbo vehicle, it is possible to put the motor into a detonation situation by lugging the motor (pushing it before it's hit its turbo threshold). This was popular on Subies. On a Type R that number would be 2500, for the Si it's closer to 1500. If you're going 70, you're already at >=3k RPM regardless of gear, you're fine. Though if you want to pass someone I would drop down a gear. You can do a slow roll at 3k RPM without issue though.

*This assumes you have surpassed the turbo lag which generally means you start pulling around 3.5k.
 

WindJunkie

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Coming from the SI, I love the exhaust. Not too loud but loud enough. The first time I started the car in my garage it took me 2 days to get the smile off my face.
I agree. For all the hell folks give the stock CTR exhaust, I really like it
 


CbusHondaFan

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Entering my second week of ownership thought it was time to make an entry in the log here. Love the stereo.
Just curious what you like about the stereo? I always thought mine sounded worse than my 2006 Si, it has almost no bass coming from the subwoofer and so the music overall just sounds lifeless. I had to hack the headunit and install Viper4Android to get the system to sound good. I wonder if they changed something at the factory recently because I also noticed a YouTube reviewer, TheTopher, rave about the sound system in a '19 Type R. Maybe I need to have the dealership check out my system but they are such a bunch of monkeys that I don't want them touching anything on my car.
 

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Really awesome, I love reading first impressions.
 

CivilciviC

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The factory brake pads squeal like crazy. The only way around it is to replace with aftermarket pads. There are a lot of pads out there for the CTR that will not squeal like the factory pads do.
 

CivilciviC

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Just curious what you like about the stereo? I always thought mine sounded worse than my 2006 Si, it has almost no bass coming from the subwoofer and so the music overall just sounds lifeless. I had to hack the headunit and install Viper4Android to get the system to sound good. I wonder if they changed something at the factory recently because I also noticed a YouTube reviewer, TheTopher, rave about the sound system in a '19 Type R. Maybe I need to have the dealership check out my system but they are such a bunch of monkeys that I don't want them touching anything on my car.
What I found that really works for me- I have the bass cranked up on the car stereo, but, I stream 99% of my music through spotify. In the spotify app on your phone you can find an equalizer in the settings- I cranked the bass on that too and by the end the system sounds infinitely better than before.

You're right- the system does lack bass- but it seems capable of putting it out, just the programming/software doesn't allow us to turn it up. The stereo is anything but spectacular, but for a daily driven car that's more about driving than music, I feel like I found a good balance now.
 

fiend busa

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What I found that really works for me- I have the bass cranked up on the car stereo, but, I stream 99% of my music through spotify. In the spotify app on your phone you can find an equalizer in the settings- I cranked the bass on that too and by the end the system sounds infinitely better than before.

You're right- the system does lack bass- but it seems capable of putting it out, just the programming/software doesn't allow us to turn it up. The stereo is anything but spectacular, but for a daily driven car that's more about driving than music, I feel like I found a good balance now.
Use Honda hack on the head unit and install viper4android. Makes a huge difference
 


tinyman392

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The factory brake pads squeal like crazy. The only way around it is to replace with aftermarket pads. There are a lot of pads out there for the CTR that will not squeal like the factory pads do.
Going slightly harder on your brakes also helps as well. Get some heat in them and they should stay relatively quiet.
 

Rayzorman1

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Just passed 2500kms on my 19 that I picked up about 6 weeks ago and I cannot get over how sweet this car is. I’ve been driving SUVs for years and decided to have a little fun.

My son just got a 19 FK7 in March so that is my obvious comparison point. The type r just feels More substantial in all aspects. The clutch is considerably heavier as is the steering. Gobs more power that doesn’t wind out so quickly. I do though understand what you are talking about revving through 3000rpms and up. That said, it’s still moving right quick!

Had my car for 30 mins and was challenged to race twice. People really crack me up. There is something in the water with this damn car! Lol.

I love the seats but being 225lbs and 6’1”, it is a little well snug. My 185lbs also 6’1” son obviously loves them. Wow do they work though when you push it through a corner.

That segways to the grip. She corners like she’s on rails. Point the nose and it goes. Soooooo fun in the twisty stuff. I am though concerned about replacing the gigantic stock tires. Saw a few stock sets online and nobody wants em! I guess many are downsizing to 18s

I also really love the exhaust. It’s there but not too loud. Civilized. I was going to pull the trigger on an Invidia and am glad I didn’t. The stock set up is perfect.

I’ve decided I’m going to leave it stock. Only thing I did was tint it. It’s perfect the way it is from the factory for me.
 

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I think the harshness you mention above 3k is due to the lack of a balance shaft which contributes to an increase in NVH though I could be wrong. I believe the 1.5t has a balance shaft which probably contributes to the smoother feel.
 
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newskate9

newskate9

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So many thank you's for the responses and inputs.

1. I've hacked phones for years, no programming, but using xda, etc. I didn't hack the SI and I'm not bummed enough to do the R yet. My impression when I researched Honda Hack about year ago is it was not ready for prime time. Any users offer more data? Reliability? Reversibility?

2. That said, the stereo just sounds better to me for some reason. I did re-balance it some more by moving center ice (my term) the middle of the car, as opposed to the dash board. Maybe that has helped a little.

3. Crested 500 miles last night and drove home with "fast" traffic, no racey stuff. Perhaps it is the exhaust, but above 3k it just seems like it wants to fly apart! I know I'm crazy so no correction needed. The SI, again, just seemed very comfortable at higher RPM, the R, not so much. Now that I'm above 500 I'll make some slow pulls and see how it feels / sounds.

4. My conclusion from the comments above: 3K is not as much as issue on this clutch / engine combo. Never WOT at high gear / low RPM, but if I do, it won't kill it if I don't make a habit of it. Downshifting is still good thing to do in general.

5. Seems I'm an idiot for thinking the Civic is the same size as a Civic. :spaz: NOT the first time, as my wife will confirm.

NEW OBSERVATION that I noticed on the SI and repeats on the CTR: The %Throttle reading on the cluster is the peddle position. NOT the throttle. Using KTuner, one could select the actual signal to the gas valve. This can be shown when is cruise control, the %Throttle disappears. Turn cruise off or cancel, and back it comes. This is pointless to me. This reading should be signal to the car. Why? Well, one can be a WOT on the signal, and no where near it on the peddle position. I don't get why they did this.

Also - I put a TYPE-R tag on the front. This reduces wind drag and allows me to get over 40 MPG. And it looks good too! :D:D Just kidding of course. BUT - people LOVE this car.

Honda Civic 10th gen New Owner Observations and Question or Two upload_2019-11-7_5-38-8
 
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krees

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1. I've hacked phones for years, no programming, but using xda, etc. I didn't hack the SI and I'm not bummed enough to do the R yet. My impression when I researched Honda Hack about year ago is it was not ready for prime time. Any users offer more data? Reliability? Reversibility?
I can speak to this as I was Honda hacked for quite some time but recently started have HU issues, such as AA refusing to work, (not sure if it was HH) so I factory reset and there is not trace of HH left. A simple factory reset should be all it takes to revert back. I will be re-hacking my HU as I want viper back because my audio is really shrill at the moment (little bass).


NEW OBSERVATION that I noticed on the SI and repeats on the CTR: The %Throttle reading on the cluster is the peddle position. NOT the throttle. Using KTuner, one could select the actual signal to the gas valve. This can be shown when is cruise control, the %Throttle disappears. Turn cruise off or cancel, and back it comes. This is pointless to me. This reading should be signal to the car. Why? Well, one can be a WOT on the signal, and no where near it on the peddle position. I don't get why they did this.
Yes, I agree this kinda stinks but is not limited to the type r. I have been in 6th a few times and applied light pedal pressure to pass and have noticed boost near the double digits (oops) so the throttle input and pedal input are not consistent. I, too, would rather see actual throttle demand instead of reading the pedal demand.
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