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-   -   Turbocharged R18 Honda Civic. EDIT: Upgraded Turbo, 0-100 in 7.1 seconds (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-drives-initial-ownership-reports/121414-turbocharged-r18-honda-civic-edit-upgraded-turbo-0-100-7-1-seconds-10.html)

Glad to see that Joel has joined in. :)

Forgot to mention the fuel efficiency. These of course can vary a lot depending on how much time that big fella is spooled up.

Highway - 11km/l (50% ac)
City - 9km/l

Also, please note that the ac has to work doubly hard, as that huge intercooler upfront does block a lot of air flow that would've otherwise gone to the ac condenser.

Car is running rich as I mentioned earlier, after a mild retune hoping for a 10-15% gain in fuel efficiency.




Thanks a ton for the compliments and wishes man. Car is now in chennai with me, where I work, so no orr video for a while. No such road in chennai.

Hey Joel,I would like to drop in at your place sometime :).

I hope you wouldn't mind me making a small suggestion on the build. I'm not seeing the air intake(filter) separated from the rest of the engine bay. An enclosure with a heat shield all around and a duct to bring air ,should work in favor right (lower intake temperature)?? I'm not aware of fabrication difficulties at this point of time. As i said wud love to come over and see the machines you got in there.

And yea congrats on the 'Valley Run' and the ohc v-tec build :thumbs up

Hi Nithin. We had discussed this, and might do it at a later stage, but it is barely going to make a noticeable difference, as we've got a really big intercooler up front and the header is properly wrapped, so the intake air temperatures are well under control.

Great Build @Bhuvan_Prasad!

OT, but cant help myself :) I have a Honda that i want Joel to look at! Would like to catch up with you when your in Chennai!

Do let me know if this is possible!
Thanks !

Stupendous thread and Kudos to Bhuvan Prasad for all his efforts. The OP has got himself a real mean ride must say.

However, my experience with the whole mod scene has left me feeling that is best to go for a powerful stock car from a manufacturer rather than going for a mod on a car that was never intended to go so fast in the first place. There are many more issues then just raw power, like for example the dynamics and handling of the car, whether it can safely cope with all the power you are gonna give it.

Just to explain my point of view. In the year 2005, I started off with a Maruti Zen and got a Baleno engine installed in place of the 1000 CC stock engine. The power was good but the chasis could no way handle so much power and the car would shoot in all directions with incredible amount of torque steer and the brakes would lock up whenever there was some anount of urgent braking required, soon I realised that either I would end up taking some body else's life or loose mine in the process and therefore chose to sell the car. Also another problem was that the upsized wheels would scrap the under body on bumpy roads and therefore the car could not be pushed unless the road was absolutely smooth. Also the FE suffered and came down 5-6 levels, overall the whole project was not what I expected and sold the car case closed. The MOD was done by a guy called Fahad Shaikh in Mumbai.

The first made me steer clear from any more experiments for a couple of years, but after all an enthusiast can control his desires for too long. After 5 years the bug bit me again and this time I found RRP, after reading about them in some car magazines, also at that point of time they were big in rallying with Shirish Chandran I believe driving one of the RRP prepared Cedia's in the INRC. After digging up more info about them on the net and finding out that it is a company being run by true rally legends like Leela Sir, I got a feeling that these guys just cant go wrong and may be the first time a round the job was done by an amateur and therefore the disappointment.

It is with this mindset and a renewed vigor I contacted RRP and asked them as to which vehicle was the most suitable one for a mod. I also told them that I was keen to get a Cedia with more than 200 HP. However, the guys at RRP suggested and suggested strongly that I go in for a swift and get a turbodrive MOD done on it. Means a turbo install with a Tein suspension, brake upgrades mintex pads, intercooler, air filter BMC, ECU Race Dynamix, Injectors and a clutch upgrade also. Also we went in for 15 inch alloy wheels with 205 55 R15 Tyres - Yokohama. The whole MOD cost me approx 3 lakhs or a little less and the car a Swift Vxi was bought new for this purpose solely. In my case I had the car driven y my driver from Mumbai to Bangalore and back took no chances.

Once I got the car back there were some issues with the car smoking a lot. That was attributed car running too rich and Kayaan came down from RRP to Mumbai at their cost and retuned the Map, which sorted the problem. However the FE that I kept getting with the A/c switched off and even moderate driving was never above 6.5 in the city. I kept complaining about the same to them, they kept telling me that they got not yet get the right ECU from their partners in Australia for the new 1.2 K-series engine and once they would have it, they would change it for me and solve this issue. This never happened over the course of 1 year. Also there was a serious amount of lag in the lower gears and getting off the line the car could never beat a stock Accord or a stock Laura, so there was no real butt kicking you could indulge in with this car. However it had a good mid range and top speed was 160 but power tailed off after 140 and took a long amount of time to get from 140 to 160. So the car was not too fast even. I was expecting a much more powerful car to be honest, they had told me to expect 0-100 in under 8 seconds or max 8.00 seconds, before we went in for the MOD, but what is got was more like 10.00 seconds to a 100 from standstill. Dreams shattered once again...:Frustrati

Also there was a peculiar issue the car would overheat in traffic and I had to avoid traffic situations and plan my trips out with the car. As once or twice the car overheated badly when I was stuck in traffic. To top this all when I told them I was not happy wth the power, they said the 1.3 engine is better suited to the MOD and not the 1.2 K-series. Why did they not tell me in advance. I would have bought a second hand car if they would have told me so, I had checked with them before I bought the new car with the K-series engine. In all this time the ECU was never replaced and still the issue with the low FE was never resolved. Also the car would pull to the left under heavy braking and the left front wheel would lock at times before the right front wheel and scare the hell out of me. Also the overall balance of the car was not right...cant explain it in words...one can only feel it when you drive the car real real hard. Since the car had no ABS which they ddid not push me to install it would lock up a lot and gave me a couple of scares and I again got a feeling that this was not a very safe ride for going all out. Somehow I feel there was no real harmony and all the MODS made it fast but not safe and fast.

The car met the same fate had to be sold after using it for about 10000 kms after the MOD. Since then I have made up my mind never again to go for a MOD, but to look for a stock car that was made to go fast even if it means I have to buy it second hand. There are cars like the 328i, which can be bought used easily and will give you a time of about 0-100 in 6.10 seconds which is quite decent and when Im talking BMW issues like handling, dynamics, safety etc need to be raised at all. Also one does not need to travel out of the city if in case there are any maintenance issues with the car. There is good amount of after sales service available in all major cities.

In relation to the experiences I have had over the last 10 years. My honest and humble opinion, for what its worth or not is that if you want a fast car, please wait a little longer and accumulate more money to go in for a car that you will not need to touch mechanically. It is something that I intend to do. Wait till I have a budget for a used Z4 or Cayman and then just fulfill my life long dream of owning a truly drool worthy and seriously quick car.

Well written Merc_Lover. Great that you helped many to avoid this path, helping to save time and money.

I seriously thought of going the Swift + RRP route and then just went and both a used Laura TSI. I can't complain, car is fast in acceleration / top speed, very quiet inside, handles well / ESP/ ABS, brakes strong. To top it, I love the drags with the BMWs & Mercs.

Total fun indeed without going to visit the mechs often.

I don't think Bhuvan got his civic turbocharged just to dish out sports car figures. The whole experience of getting the car built and tuned outweighs the joy of buying a stock "fast" car. Also the feeling you get out of a car you would have driven for years when it changes the way it responds when you push the throttle against the floor is just mind boggling. Atleast that's how I feel. Unfortunately quiet a few people have faced problems with the RRP build and they have gotten allergic to aftermarket performance upgrades.

Besides Joel hasn't gone Frankenstein on this build. He recognizes how much the car can handle and what the threshold for a recipe to disaster is. As far as I've heard no ones had a reliability issue from Joel's build.

I'd rather get my car built by the right guys than buy a factory car and drive around. The whole image of being just another sheep in a flock pops in my head thinking about stock cars. So bottom line I feel Joel knows how to build a car that's reliable and also one that performs really well. Otherwise Bhuvan wouldn't have gone with his upgrade from the RRP build and neither would I decide to give my car to Joel.

But lack of proper sound mechanics who know how to TC a car and lack of availability of dynos throughout india, makes this entire process a pain.

True that. But we are fortunate to be in Bangalore and have reliable people to build our cars in the same city. May I suggest a request to everyone not to convert this thread into a discussion of whether TCing a car is a good idea or not?

Yup! Being in Banglore or near Coimbatore is definitely a big advantage.

Yup x 2!! Let's not get off the subject. Love your build. I too own a civic and have been in two minds for many years whether or not to turbo charge it. Been closely following all turbo civic threads on TBHP.

@Merc_lover666 - Sorry to hear about your bad experience with the mod scene.
The reason why builds go wrong mostly is coz of two main reasons. 1 - you going to the wrong person without enough credits and experience/race craft, 2 - The tuner pushing his options and parts down your throat.
It was the exact same case with this civic build as well. A 1.8 Liter running a full standalone super expensive race spec Haltech ecu with a GT20 miniature turbo and an expensive compact intercooler etc which can never work right in a Civic!
The engine needs to get the right parts and tune and the person doing so has to have the technical understanding and engineering skills to get it spot on.
Bad experiences with tuning can leave a long lasting impression in the mind of the enthusiast. Most people go for cheaper options to save money and get poor results. Too many chinese turbo/parts being used in turbo packages thesedays. They cost less than half, so do they last half. Many are using diesel OEM turbos in petrol cars - completely wrong sizing. All I can say as a fellow bhpian is to verify what you are getting for what you paying. Bhuvan knew exactly what he was getting and he got just that!

Congrats on another awesome build Joel and Bhuvan!

A bit off topic but I am not able to PM you fieroid because of some error (something about your inbox being full). I was wondering if you can tell me how to test if the VTEC in my OHC is working properly. I've already tested part of it but am facing some trouble. More details in my post here: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...ml#post3612195

Thanks and congrats on the valley run earlier this week!

Well I agree with the bit that may be I went to the wrong guys for getting the MOD done in the first place...but honestly after sampling many modded cars owned by my friends including a claimed 300 HP Pete's tuned Laura. I will stay put my neck out and say that if you have the money to spend then just go ahead and buy a powerful stock car, there will be any hassles like void warranties, running around for maintenance frequently, no fear in the back of the mind regarding long term reliability issues...I am sorry to bring it down to this level but think like this if money not being a limiting factor, would one buy an assembled personal computer or a branded machine like an Apple or Dell for that matter. Also when you are out with your ride being seen in a sleeper laura or civic is just not the same as being seen in a BMW 328i or a Z4. I had loaned a SLK 320 from my friend last year for a day and believe me the attention that the car got was like crazy. At the signal on the main road outside Mahalaxmi Temple lane and opp Cadbury house there was a group of 10-12 people crowding in front of the car and clicking pics like crazy...man the car made me feel great while on the move but even better made me feel like a movie star when waiting on the signals..stupid:

So now I am sold on the idea of buying a genuine sports car albeit a used one, but believe me guys you really need to experience the feeling of using a true blue sports car, its just gonna put you on another planet..if you know what I mean.

I completely understand what you are trying to say. I'm sorry if I'm being blunt here but I don't think this thread is about whether or not one has money to buy a sports car or not. Neither is it about wanting people to notice us and hopefully get some. It's just pure passion or a hobby (as I'd prefer to put it) to push the envelope of a car. I'm sure you've read that people having supercars also tend to upgrade their turbos, exhausts among other things. It's something not everyone will understand and probably venture into. Infact many bone stock premium luxury cars also have proved to be a pain to many owners and there a whole lot of threads on it. End of the day we just need reliable cars, be it stock or tuned and I'm convinced that I've found a reliable guy to carry out the turbo build.

That being said, everyone's entitled to their opinions and you're absolutely right about the feeling one gets when they get off an exotic car. As long as the car you drive keeps you happy all is good. Hopefully you can get your hands on the Z4 you mentioned earlier and give us all a sneak into how it drives.

There are lots of 300+ and 500+ tuned Octavia and Laura VRS' and so on without any dyno proof. The build cost is a really fat bill, but no time slips or dyno charts to match. Huge appreciation for how much they spent, how low is the skirt, fancy spoilers, diffusers, fat end cans, fancy rotors, calipers etc - on social media. People are blind folded to such claims. I'd like to see someone put one such car on a dyno and set a time on a strip.
So if this is what one is comparing with to be a tuned car, then its all gone wrong!
The whole tuning community suffers from false claims and self claimed inexperienced tuners!