Moopy62
Senior Member
- Joined
- Sep 28, 2017
- Threads
- 14
- Messages
- 59
- Reaction score
- 22
- Location
- 19475
- Vehicle(s)
- 2018 civic sport hatchback
- Thread starter
- #1
I'm 55 and have been driving junk for a decade (kids, college, etc) when I finally decided to get a new Civic. Since seeing one last Spring in a local showroom I knew that was my next car. I used to own a 5 sp 93 Civic back in the day and knew I WANTED the 6 speed manual. After years of ho-hum vehicles (I still have the 98 CR-V we bought when my college bound daughter was born). I wanted to DRIVE again and for me that meant participating with clutch and gearbox. I waited until the 2018's were coming out when I decided to pull the trigger on a 6Sp Sport Hatch in Sonic Grey.
All positives aside, my biggest beef so far is, for whatever reason as we all know, Honda made it impossible for me - a grown-ass man - to order this car with XL / Touring options. I WANTED a manual and I wanted a little bit of luxury - including heated seats, radar cruise, and a nice radio with carplay. No dice. Frustrating still and it still bugs me since my next major beef is the impossibly horrible basic radio. Many issues. It won't let you hear phone GPS voice directions when in Radio mode (have to be in Media mode). Connecting to Siri is wishy-washy at best being you have to perform a dance with the steering wheel mic button only for a long acknowlege delay - 50/50 at best and it can definitely take your attention off the road. Also it loses on screen media info as soon as the doors locks activates required the phone to be un-plugged /plugged to regain. I took the car to the dealership and their main tech guy seemed to know less about the issues than me. Literally my $70 Panasonic aftermarket head unit does a better job! I do not understand how this kind of crap can happen. What engineer puts their stamp of approval on such a disaster. After reading a lot of posts here Honda needs to do better that's for sure.
On to nicer things.
Ktuner and a guy named VitViper.
Being a total novice with tuning I did my research and decided on the Ktuner V2 and a professional tune using VitTune. The Ktuner took some time figuring out the software as the instructions and user interface are pretty un-refined. It could definitely use some tweaking. I will say, however, Ktuner made these deficits tolerable with fast, reliable, and just plain fantastic customer support and in the end the unit does the job its meant to do.
Once I figured things out I tried a couple of the Ktuner base maps. Whoa big difference but I was just getting started with VitViper Tune. I'm still working through the tuning process but its like having a totally different car and, like the Ktuner folks, Vit is super responsive if your having any issues/questions.
Although Ktuner V2 definitely has some user interface issues with the software, it makes what would be an everyday "just ok" driving car and literally transforms it. Rev hang and turbo delay go away. Torque and overall performance changes make the car a pleasure if not a down right little beastie. If you have any doubts at all about tuning I will say that, for me, it is the best $800+/- I ever spent and, in all honesty, without it would probably be a little disappointed with the car otherwise.
I love driving again!
All positives aside, my biggest beef so far is, for whatever reason as we all know, Honda made it impossible for me - a grown-ass man - to order this car with XL / Touring options. I WANTED a manual and I wanted a little bit of luxury - including heated seats, radar cruise, and a nice radio with carplay. No dice. Frustrating still and it still bugs me since my next major beef is the impossibly horrible basic radio. Many issues. It won't let you hear phone GPS voice directions when in Radio mode (have to be in Media mode). Connecting to Siri is wishy-washy at best being you have to perform a dance with the steering wheel mic button only for a long acknowlege delay - 50/50 at best and it can definitely take your attention off the road. Also it loses on screen media info as soon as the doors locks activates required the phone to be un-plugged /plugged to regain. I took the car to the dealership and their main tech guy seemed to know less about the issues than me. Literally my $70 Panasonic aftermarket head unit does a better job! I do not understand how this kind of crap can happen. What engineer puts their stamp of approval on such a disaster. After reading a lot of posts here Honda needs to do better that's for sure.
On to nicer things.
Ktuner and a guy named VitViper.
Being a total novice with tuning I did my research and decided on the Ktuner V2 and a professional tune using VitTune. The Ktuner took some time figuring out the software as the instructions and user interface are pretty un-refined. It could definitely use some tweaking. I will say, however, Ktuner made these deficits tolerable with fast, reliable, and just plain fantastic customer support and in the end the unit does the job its meant to do.
Once I figured things out I tried a couple of the Ktuner base maps. Whoa big difference but I was just getting started with VitViper Tune. I'm still working through the tuning process but its like having a totally different car and, like the Ktuner folks, Vit is super responsive if your having any issues/questions.
Although Ktuner V2 definitely has some user interface issues with the software, it makes what would be an everyday "just ok" driving car and literally transforms it. Rev hang and turbo delay go away. Torque and overall performance changes make the car a pleasure if not a down right little beastie. If you have any doubts at all about tuning I will say that, for me, it is the best $800+/- I ever spent and, in all honesty, without it would probably be a little disappointed with the car otherwise.
I love driving again!
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