My Turbo R18 Honda Civic. EDIT: Not the end of an era...

[GTO]

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

This is the result.

180 horses at the wheels! Your car must be insane in full throttle mode. If we take a 10% transmission loss, that's 200 horses at the crank. Power to weight in the range of more expensive Germans.

Please time her 0 - 100 sometime.

The Civic is an amazing car to modify. The steering is so pure, its still a good looker and there are innumerable bolt-on upgrades available (brakes, suspension etc.).

Happy to see a Civic turning out well. Congrats.

[SunnyBoi]

Congratulations Nikhil! 180whp on possibly the most pessimistic dyno out there is no simple feat!

I was there when the car was being dynoed at RRP and the ambient temps were 37-38*C with the blowers running at full tilt. Plus RRP didn't have any fans blowing straight at the radiator/intercoolers which meant IATs were insanely high. So high that IATs when driven on the road at noon were lower than what was observed in the dyno room. 180whp despite these conditions -- take a bow Joe and Venkat!

I also remember RRP showing up graphs from a stock civic putting out 90whp and 130nm of torque on the same dyno. Double the output with totally stock internals is nothing short of amazing.

Originally Posted by GTO

The Civic is an amazing car to modify. The steering is so pure, its still a good looker and there are innumerable bolt-on upgrades available (brakes, suspension etc.).

He already has the TEIN super street suspension, 16inch BBS wheels with sticky rubber. We were cornering at speeds same as the dyno bhp output,this with 4 people on board when returning from coimby!

Honestly I have no words to describe this car. It's unreal.

It's only going to get a lot better for sure from here. All the best Nikhil, Joe and Venkat!

[Meccanico]

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

Or is it just yet another turbo Civic?
I want a FAST car. A daily driver. As reliable as a stock car. As silent as a stock car. I DO NOT want a BHP monster or a dyno beast. I dont give a rat's a.s.s about how much BHP my car makes. I dont ever want to dyno my car and then get involved with numbers in this incredibly political and emotionally charged automotive tuning scene. I dont care if my car makes 50hp more or 100 hp more or 500 hp more. I just want a fun, fast car with stock reliability.

I absolutely loved reading your turbo story! I can relate to you when you say you don't care about the numbers. As long as the car puts a grin on your face when you put your foot down, numbers don't matter. I also loved how you've kept all things possible stock - people will be hugely mistaken to think its just another civic. Kudos to the tuners for their job in the engine bay. Clean and organised.

[NiXTriX2004]

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

Currently, we are facing an issue where after some highway driving, when I approach a toll booth, the engine dies. Start the engine again and it doesnt idle. I have to switch off the car for a minute, allow the ECU to reset itself and then it behaves fine until the next time I slow down.

Faced it a lot when I was driving to Goa and returning from Pune. I had to stop, switch off my car for 2 minutes and then proceed.

It is an annoyance but not the end of the world. I use the time to drink some water, stretch my legs, use the restroom. That still isnt good enough for me! I like to drive non stop for as long as possible. I hate stopping to take care of this.

However, Venkat has promised that he will look into this wierd behaviour and sort it out. Given how my past experience has been, I am not worried.

Has the cause for this been identified? It sounds very similar to the issue I face on my Duke 200 after some spirited revving. I have not been able to find a good enough answer to resolve this 4 year old problem. I know I am comparing apples to oranges but, the resemblance is uncanny. It could be a similar kind of problem which plaques both rides.

[Rahulkool]

Originally Posted by NiXTriX2004

Has the cause for this been identified? It sounds very similar to the issue I face on my Duke 200 after some spirited revving. I have not been able to find a good enough answer to resolve this 4 year old problem. I know I am comparing apples to oranges but, the resemblance is uncanny. It could be a similar kind of problem which plaques both rides.

Sorry for OT

This problem was there in my 2012 duke. IIRC it was taken care by a new ECU firmware.

You can read more about it in my ownership thread.

Problem
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motorb...ml#post2900880

Resolution
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/motorb...ml#post2906533

[Nikhilb2008]

Originally Posted by GTO

180 horses at the wheels! Your car must be insane in full throttle mode. If we take a 10% transmission loss, that's 200 horses at the crank. Power to weight in the range of more expensive Germans.

Please time her 0 - 100 sometime.

The Civic is an amazing car to modify. The steering is so pure, its still a good looker and there are innumerable bolt-on upgrades available (brakes, suspension etc.).

Happy to see a Civic turning out well. Congrats.

Thanks GTO. I agree with you! The steering is just amazing. And now with the extra power and the suspension, the car feels amazing.

Originally Posted by SunnyBoi

Congratulations Nikhil! 180whp on possibly the most pessimistic dyno out there is no simple feat!

I was there when the car was being dynoed at RRP and the ambient temps were 37-38*C with the blowers running at full tilt. Plus RRP didn't have any fans blowing straight at the radiator/intercoolers which meant IATs were insanely high. So high that IATs when driven on the road at noon were lower than what was observed in the dyno room. 180whp despite these conditions -- take a bow Joe and Venkat!

Honestly I have no words to describe this car. It's unreal.

It's only going to get a lot better for sure from here. All the best Nikhil, Joe and Venkat!

Thanks Sunny!

Originally Posted by Meccanico

I absolutely loved reading your turbo story! I can relate to you when you say you don't care about the numbers. As long as the car puts a grin on your face when you put your foot down, numbers don't matter. I also loved how you've kept all things possible stock - people will be hugely mistaken to think its just another civic. Kudos to the tuners for their job in the engine bay. Clean and organised.

Thank you!

I like the sleeper looks of the car. Most higher end car drivers on the highways cant react quickly enough when they see this car flying past them! They try catching up but it's almost impossible!

[Nikhilb2008]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X4C2u8EtiDA

A video I shot yesterday on NICE road.

The car runs beautifully. With a stock exhaust, stock intake, stock internals and just 8 PSI of boost, the car is pulling very well.

Disclaimer: Road was pretty much empty and I didnt exceed the speed limit for this road which is 120 kmph. I was also careful while accelerating.

[unk9ja]

This is one fast car I bet. I had met Nikhil at a traffic signal last week. As usual had a few words till the signal was a go. I was on my Duke and managed to hit ahead of Nikhil. 200 meters later I brake for a speed breaker and as I see my RVM, I see the Civic in all its glory on my tail. Gosh I was nearly taken aback seeing a car for the first time on this stretch as I regularly find 2W on my tail here.

That is a heck of a machine, Nikhil. Would like to be your passenger for a short drive on a twisty circuit.

[AliAbdullah]

Originally Posted by Nikhilb2008

We had a chance to go to the Dyno at Red Rooster Performance Coimbatore.

They have a pretty impressive setup and we did a couple of dyno runs and tuned the maps as well.

This is the result.

Car has run 19,500 kms since October.

5,500 kms since April 18th.

Nothing more to say.


Attachment 1507597

Hello Nikhil,
I have been following your thread and all the development on your car since the first turbo installation. It has been a real joy to see someone take on a project and complete it, facing problems and solving them. It requires a great deal of work and money but cheers to you for this effort and success. I was also wanting to see the dyno chart for this build and after seeing the peak numbers I am very impressed. Your car even surpasses the build of Red Rooster Performance turbo civic in both torque and HP by some margin all thanks to garrett turbo. But the peak numbers are just one part of the story and specially seeing the torque curve peaking in the middle for a short duration (1000 RPM) I guess the power band will be small. Some further tuning to deliver max torque early in the rev range will surely increase the overall drive-ability. But then thats just how i would want my car to be

Congratulations once again and now its time to enjoy the fruits of your labour.

[dracul]

Nikhil, you have got an awesome setup for a daily drive. I have just one question, any particular reason not to go for RD ecu considering it is available locally and may be cheaper?.

[Nikhilb2008]

Originally Posted by dracul

Nikhil, you have got an awesome setup for a daily drive. I have just one question, any particular reason not to go for RD ecu considering it is available locally and may be cheaper?.

I was told that RD is the best Indian option available. And if I was willing to spend more, there other ECU's with more user friendly features which would be helpful in tuning my car and also deliver a good level of cabin refinement.

After using the Haltechs, I have no reason to regret. If someone is on a tight budget, then I'm sure the RD ECU would be a great option. Many people are running with them and they are performing well.

The Haltech ECU has so many options and features, it's insane! I cant even begin to start listing them here.

[Nikhilb2008]

Another major update:

Finished a recent 1,921 km drive to the southern tip of India and back.

The car has crossed 1,50,000 kms in total.

About 21,000 kms since we began the turbo process.

And approximately 8,000 kms on the latest original Garrett Disco Potato turbo (since April 18th).

This makes this turbo the longest lasting turbo in my car!

My latest trip was a nice long drive from BLR-Pondicherry-Velankanni-Rameshwaram/Dhanushkodi-Kanyakumari-Madurai-Dindigul-BLR.

1921 kms across South Tamil Nadu. A good mix of 4 laned expressways and beautiful, twisting 2 laned roads (from Pondy to tuticorin).

The car behaved beautifully throughout. I hope I dont jinx it, but I didnt have a single issue with the car apart from the slightly low fuel efficiency (more on that later). The car drank whatever fuel was available and behaved perfectly well.

On the expressway till Villupuram, the car was extremely well behaved. Can maintain highway cruising speeds in a very refined manner. And with the suspension working the way it does, there is barely any need to slow down for corners or overtaking.

With the turbo, overtaking on expressways is a breeze. I have so much torque everywhere, it is incredible! I rarely have to downshift while cruising at 100-120kmph and have to overtake a slow moving truck or car.

When we hit the twisty, narrow sections, the car was even more fun. One time, due to force of habit I downshifted to 3rd while at 80kmph and the car just flew! It was a bit scary! I soon realised that 4th gear was more than enough for overtaking at anything above 80kmph. Below that 3rd gear itself would make the speedo digits jump in multiples of 3 or 4. For me, this is the definition of "Point and Squirt". Pull out from behind a slow moving vehicle, just step on the pedal and wheeeeeeeee. Off we go!

Truly enjoyed my drive from Velankanni to Kanyakumari. Till Tuticorin the roads are beautifully surfaced 2 laned roads. From tuticorin to Kanyakumari is a 4 laned expressway and minimal traffic.

At the beginning of the drive.




At the end of the drive.




A big milestone. In 6 years, 3 months and 3 days.






The Northern most points covered by my car and it's good companion, a 2011 Honda City! Khardun La, Pangong Tso, Turtuk, Wagah Border, all visited by these 2 cars.




And of course the southern tip of India.






At the last patch of Mainland India before driving onto the Pambam Bridge to Rameshwaram Island.




On the Pambam Bridge.







The car was an absolute joy to drive.

This feeling cannot be put into words. The feeling you get when your car understands your every thought and your every intention and behaves exactly the way you expect it to is something phenomenal. Especially when we have gone through a lot of heartache to reach this level of performance, reliability and refinement. The way the car was surging forward in 3rd and 4th is something I cant describe in words. Imagine a feeling that makes your heart swell with joy and happiness and that is how I was feeling everytime I stepped on the throttle a little aggressively.

The car is smooth and refined at highway speeds. There are minimal vibrations, no loud Free Flow Exhaust to interrupt my music or my thoughts. It is perfect. This is the car of my dreams. This is exactly the feeling that is romanticised in every car advertisement by every car company.

[Dr.Naren]

Congrats buddy!! Really great job. I appreciate your patience and finally getting what you wanted.

Cheers!!

[Nikhilb2008]

The wiring is something I forgot to cover properly, so here it is.

The following devices were added to or modified on the stock electrical system:
Haltech ECU added
Stock injectors replaced with RDX and later ID725
EGT probe and amplifier added
Wideband sensor replaced the stock O2 sensor, and wideband controller added
Boost solenoid added

For all these modifications, not a single wire in the stock harness was cut or spliced.

Venkat built a patch harness that would sit between the stock harness and ECU, and all connections were made to and from that.

The injector had different connectors compared to stock, but the pins were kind of the same. So there he cleanly depinned the stock connectors and pinned the aftermarket ones on.

The wideband and EGT probes reused the stock primary and secondary O2 sensor wiring paths, and were connected using pigtails chopped off the discarded O2 sensors.

The boost solenoid power and signals reuse the stock EGR wiring, because we didn't need the EGR anymore. Initially, he just stufffed the solenoid wires into the stock EGR plug using temporary pins. This is how we were running on the dyno. Later, he sourced the proper matching connector and pins for that plug and cleaned up that connection. Here are some pictures...

[dracul]

It's good to see lot of good stuffs used in the build, but why a 715cc injectors or am I missing something?.