Honda Civic 10th Gen Tuning (FC/FK)

"All you need to know about performance tuning the Honda Civic 10th Gen engine!"

After receiving a slew of inquiries from curious forum members looking for information on the Civic 10th Gen (FC/FK) and our recommendations for modifications, we've put together this guide to walk you through the steps necessary to make the most of this fantastic vehicle.
First introduced in November 2015, the 10th generation Civic was lower in weight due to the use of higher-grade steel.

In September 2016, a Type R prototype based on the hatchback variant was revealed to highlight the possibilities of the 10th Generation platform.

Our favorite part of the new Mk10 Civic is its sportier fastback design, which is built on the Honda small global platform.

The Honda Civic 10th Generation is a joy to work on, and with a few smart performance items like remaps, turbo upgrades, and camshafts, you'll undoubtedly have more pleasure behind the wheel.

Tuning for the 10th generation Civic is the focus of this article so let's look at what sets this mk10 apart when compared to a 9th Gen Civic.

It boasts new MacPherson strut front suspension and multi-link rear suspension with fluid-filled bushings. were added in the 10th Gen.

Check out our video introduction to Honda Tuning, all you need to know about mods and upgrades on your Honda.

The 10th Gen Civic came in 3 body styles (4 if you count the Type R separately as you should due to the various changes made to the cars underpinnings for it's more sporty prowess.)

• FC1 2 5 6 8 Sedan
• FC3 4 Coupe
• FK4 5 6 7 Hatchback
• FK8 Type R Hatchback

History of the Civic 10th Gen Engine

Gasolene

• 1.0 L P10A2 I3 turbo
• 1.5 L L15B7 I4 turbo
• 1.6 L R16B I4
• 1.8 L R18Z1 I4
• 2.0 L K20C2 I4
• 2.0 L K20C1 I4 turbo (Type R)

Diesel:

• 1.6 L N16 i-DTEC I4 turbo

Civic 10th Gen Engine Specs & Power

1.5 L L15B7 l4 turbo petrol

• 174 hp (130 kW) at 6,000 rpm (Standard) 162 lb⋅ft (220 N⋅m) at 1,700-5,500 rpm (Standard)
  205 hp (153 kW) at 5,700 rpm (Si Sedan and Si Coupe) 192 lb⋅ft (260 N⋅m) at 2,100-5,000 rpm (Si Sedan and Si Coupe)

2.0 L K20C2 l4 petrol

• 158 hp (118 kW) at 6,500 rpm 138 lb⋅ft (187 N⋅m) at 4,200 rpm

1.6 L R16B I4 petrol

• 125 hp (93 kW) at 6,500 rpm 112 lb⋅ft (152 N⋅m) at 4,300 rpm

1.8 L R18Z1 l4 petrol

• 140 hp (104 kW) at 6,500 rpm 128 lb⋅ft (174 N⋅m) at 4,300 rpm

1.0 L P10A2 I3 turbo petrol

• 128 hp (95 kW) at 5,500 rpm 147 lb⋅ft (199 N⋅m) at 2,250 rpm

1.6 L N16A1 I4 turbo diesel

• 118 hp (88 kW) at 4,000 rpm 221 lb⋅ft (300 N⋅m) at 2,000 rpm1.5 L L15BA / L15C l4 turbo petrol
• 180 hp (134 kW) at 5,500 rpm (Manual) 177 lb⋅ft (240 N⋅m) at 1,900-5,000 rpm (Manual)
• 180 hp (134 kW) at 6,000 rpm (CVT) 162 lb⋅ft (220 N⋅m) at 1,700-5,500 rpm (CVT)

2.0 L K20C1 l4 turbo petrol

• 315 hp (235 kW) at 6,500 rpm 295 lb⋅ft (400 N⋅m) at 2,500-4,500 rpm

We have Civic tuning guides covering Civic 3rd Gen Mods, Civic 4th Gen Mods, Civic 5th Gen Mods, Civic 6th Gen Mods, Civic 7th Gen Mods, Civic 8th Gen Mods, Civic 9th Gen Mods, and Civic 10th Gen Mods

Tuning the Honda Civic 10th Gen and best Civic 10th Gen performance parts.

Civic 10th Gen Engine swaps

Many ask about fitting the KC20C1 from the Type R but this is far from a simple swap. It usually works out cheaper to just buy a Type R rather than replacing the subframe, steering rack and front suspension.

The 2.0 L K20C2 is a more straight forward proposition for the L or R series engine owners and provides a good basis for tuning up further with lots of parts around, K Tune or Hondata can make these engine blocks really sparkle. This also applies to the K20Z3 which also has plenty of upgrade potential.

Swapping a 1.6, 1.8 R Series, or the naturally aspirated K20 for the Earthdreams 1.5 turbo makes a lot of sense and relatively straightforward (but not simple) and this will give a better base to work from when tuning your mk10 Civic.

The K24 sounds good on paper but when you start looking into it the added weight and lower tuning potential rule this out.

Best Civic 10th Gen tuning parts

Regardless of whether specific mods are appear in lots of Civic 10th Gen projects it doesn't mean it is good, we shall concentrate on the greatest mods that will give your Civic 10th Gen the best power gain for you money.

Check out our video introduction to Honda Civic Tuning, all you need to know and full guide.

Best mods for your Civic 10th Gen

• Fast road cams are significant power adders, but they must be installed in your engine by someone qualified to set them up properly and they are not always easy to source but we are sure you'll find a local firm to regrind a stock camshaft .
• Intake Upgrades and Exhaust - Be aware on their own these mods will NOT ADD PERFORMANCE , but they will enable you to enhance power after other mods by removing the restriction.
• Lightened Flywheels - a reduced weight flywheel will significantly improve the engines rev changes. Not always not a great upgrade for all Civic 10th Gen engines.
• Head work - The goals of porting and flowing the head are to get air flowing into the engine while removing flow restrictions and turbulence.
• Civic 10th Gen Suspension Upgrades - Adding a Suspension Kit dramatically improves Civic 10th Gen handling Poly Bushes and Coilovers are typically fitted to achieve this
• Brake Upgrades - Stopping your Civic 10th Gen should be high on your agenda.
• Turbo Modifications - forced induction is the most significant way to improve intake air supply, allowing you to burn more fuel and make higher power. It is one of the most expensive modifications but provides the best gains.
• Tunes - A remap gives the biggest gains with respect to your investment, aftermarket ECUs, and inline Tuning boxes are all alternatives Hondata or K tune are used by many Mk10 Civic owners to adjust the ECU via the OBDII port.

Civic 10th Gen Tuning Stages

Typical stage 1 mods often include: Performance Brake Pads, Intake manifolds, Fast road camshaft, Panel air filters, Sports exhaust manifold, New Bushes, K Tune or Hondata ECU mods.

Typical stage 2 mods often include: Brake Discs (drilled/slotted or grooved, Fast road cam, induction kit, fuel pump upgrades, Ported and polished head, high flow fuel injectors.

Typical stage 3 mods often include: Adding or Upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Twin charging conversions, Crank and Piston upgrades to alter compression, Engine balancing & blueprinting, Internal engine upgrades (head flowing porting/bigger valves), Competition cam.

Civic 10th Gen Handling/Suspension Upgrades

Adjusting the handling is often the first step in using the Civic 10th Gen. Adjusting the Civic 10th Gen's handling is often the first step in modding it.

The front suspension was changed to MacPherson struts, while the rear suspension was upgraded to a multi-link design with an ultra-rigid rear subframe and fluid-filled suspension bushings in the 10th Gen.

One of the most popular reasons for modifying your Civic 10th Gen suspension is to improve its handling. In spite of this, we regularly witness the same mistakes over and over again.

Coilovers allow you to set a ride height and this allows you to fine tune your handling.

1. Tein Flex Z Coilovers
2. BC Racing BR series coilovers

There are quite a few decent spring replacements around for the mk10 Civic too.

1. D2 Pro series springs
2. Eibach Sportline Springs
3. Eiback Pro

Rear sway bar upgrades make quite an improvement to handling on the mk10 Civic and are quite easy to install.

Is there anything I should bear in mind while deciding on suspension settings for my Civic 10th Gen?

Upgrading your Bushes

Bushing mods are needed so what's involved? Bear in mind Honda used fluid filled bushings to dampen road noise and vibration and these are really effective, but most of our readers will happily suffer additional harshness if it sharpens up the handling.

We would recommend you stick with the OEM bushing whilst they are in good order and upgrade them when they have started to wear or need replacing, looking for a performance alternative.

The Civic 10th Generation's suspension components may be attached to the car's chassis thanks to bushings, which are rubber mounts. It's inevitable that the rubber ones will degrade over time.

Hasport make a complete mount kit in varying durometers but we recommend 62A for street applications.

You may dramatically enhance your Mk10 Civic's performance by installing new OEM rubber bushings.

While the ride may be less forgiving with polyurethane bushes, the bushes will last longer and retain the car's handling for longer.

In addition, the increased vibration and play might lead to the premature depreciation of other suspension components.

Rubber bushings are notorious for their excessive play, which may be alleviated with a new set of poly bushings.

Polyeyurothane bushings may be difficult to get, however most people will be able to find the major mounts at their local retailers. It is possible to have poly bushings made to your specifications.

How low should you go on the Civic 10th Gen?

When it comes to road vehicles, the maximum suspension drop is 24 - 43 mm, but when it comes to versions that come with lowered suspension already, the maximum suspension drop is 22 mm, according to TorqueCars.

Tolerances may be greatly reduced by altering the diameter of the wheels. Lowering a vehicle, even with 17-inch wheels and stock suspension, can create several complications.

Civic 10th Gen Camshaft Upgrades

Getting a fast road cam will helps you to boost top end power and we generally recommend this as a primary mod on petrol engines, and secondary on Diesels to a remap. Most cars will see top end power benefits through performance camshafts on most engines.

Getting the VTEC to come on sooner is a great way to boost power, and makes sense since this cam profile is setup for a more sporty power delivery. Just cutting 500-1000rpm off the cut in level will make the car feel quite different.

Significant gains on the Civic 10th Gen can be made from cam upgrades. Altering the cam profile alters the intake and exhaust durations on the engine and can dramatically change the bhp and power output.

Fast road cams normally increase the bhp and torque across the rpm band, you could sacrifice a little bottom end bhp but your high end rpm power will be lifted.

Motorsport and racing cams improve the high-end power band, but the vehicle will not idle smoothly and almost always suffer from low-end power.

The performance of a Motorsport cam may struggle if it is used in congested areas with slow moving traffic.

You should ideally match your engines power to your cars usage so for a daily driver stick with a fast road Civic 10th Gen cam.

When a camshaft is installed on a Honda Civic 10th generation engine, the head and flow characteristics of the engine may have a significant impact on the performance of the engine, depending on the camshaft being more or less aggressive.

Torque increases may be influenced by the ecu map and fuel supply, as well as the fuel pump and injectors.

On most engines, extending the durations of the intake or exhaust valves and the lift of the valves may improve performance.

We're delighted to announce that Civic 10th Gen powertrains are easy to work on and there are a lot of options for components and performance items available.

ECU Mapping Improvements for the Civic 10th Gen

ECU flashing will help unlock the full potential of all the upgrades you've done to your Civic 10th Gen.

The Turbo K20C1 and L15 respond really well to Hondata and Ktuner via your OBD port, giving around 25hp more.

(Sometimes flashing the ECU is not an option, so an aftermarket ECU is the route to take, and most of these exceed the specs and performance of your factory ECU's but make sure it has knock protection and that you get it correctly setup.)

It will usually give around 30% more power on turbocharged vehicles and you can expect to see around 15% on NA (naturally aspirated) engines, but power output usually rely on the upgrades you've done and the condition of your engine.

Air Flow improvements on the Civic 10th Gen

Forcing air into the Civic 10th Gen engine is the main goal to any engine tuning task.

Air Intake manifolds take the air during the suck phase from the air cleaner and allow it to be drawn into the engine cylinders.

Shape and flow rate of the Air Intake manifolds can make a large difference to to fuel atomisation on the Civic 10th Gen.

Commonly we find the manifolds are crying out for aftermarket parts, although a few makers provide decently flowing headers.

Larger Civic 10th Gen valves, doing a bit of port work and head flowing will also raise torque, the fantastic side effect is it will raise potential for raising the torque increase on other parts.

Civic 10th Gen Turbo upgrades

NA (naturally aspirated) engines need quite a lot of work when you add a turbo, so we have a separate guide to help you take into account the pros and cons of going this route on your Civic 10th Gen - engine swaps are a great way to go turbo and can be more easily fitted than reworking your NASP for a turbo.

Typically you'll need to uprate the direct injection fuel pump on the 10th Gen Civic, alternatively running on Methanol may help you reach the power gains you seek with a turbo but this is known the degrade the engine if used over a long term.

Water Meth mix will help you avoid detonation though and seems to be the best solution if you pardon the pun.

The few turbo conversions we've heard about faced many problems getting this to work on the mk10 Civic. It makes little economic sense to fit a turbo, but there are some kits in development - Dream Automotive and  27won are developing such a kit right now.

Why would you want to? Well the more air you can get into an engine, the more fuel it can burn and uprating the induction with a turbocharger upgrade makes impressive power gains.

If a car has a turbocharger upgrades are going to make more power and you'll see that turbo engines are built using uprated components so the 2.0 Turbo type R is a tuners dream.

Turbo Upgrades

1. Garrett GT2860RS 250-360hp
2. Garrett GTX3071R Gen2 330 - 640 hp

Or Bolt in turbo kits for NA versions

1. 27Won L15 W1 adds around 52hp (E85 fuel used)

However you'll find engines will have power limits. See where you'll find these limitations and fit better pistons and crank to survive the power hike on your Civic.

We've seen tuners spending a fortune on turbo upgrades on the Civic 10th Gen only to experience the motor explode soon after it's first rolling road session just because the mapping wasn't right or they were too enthusiastic with the boost and didn't factor in detonation and knock.

We are pleased that the range of turbo chargers is always evolving and we are seeing variable vane turbo chargers, allowing the vane angle is altered according to speed to lower lag and increase top end power.

Twin scroll turbo chargers divert the exhaust gases into a couple of channels and flow these at differently angled vanes in the turbocharger. They also help the scavenging effect of the engine.

It is common that there is a limitation in the air flow sensor MAP on the Civic 10th Gen when loads more air is being drawn into the engine typically around 27psi of boost.

We note 4 bar air sensors coping with quite large power gains, whereas the OEM air sensor was restricting bhp at a much lower level.

Adding a supercharger or additional turbo will make large power gains, although more challenging to configure. We have this article on twincharging if you want to read more.

Civic 10th Gen Intercooler Upgrades

Both the 1.5T and 2.0T have small intercoolers which quickly suffer from heat soak and start to sap power after lots of spirited driving.

Fit a Front Mounted Intercooler for best effects and this can release around 20hp from a tuned turbo engine at peak power.

PRL Motorsports intercooler is a neat unit and works well, despite it's size (compared to some aftermarket intercoolers) but it does fit nicely in the engine bay.

Civic 10th Gen Fuelling Upgrades

Don't omit to ramp up the fuel system when you are increasing the performance - it makes the car more thirsty. Fuel pressure boost valves raise the fuel pressure, can provide a better throttle response.We would recommend you to be generous with your flow rate on the injectors.

As a rule of thumb add 20% to the flow rate when buying an injector, which takes into account injector deterioration and provides a bit of spare capacity should the engine need more fuel.

We think this one is common sense, but you'll need to match your fuel injector to the type of fuel your car uses as well.

Civic 10th Gen Performance Exhausts

You should look to uprate your exhaust if the current exhaust is actually creating a restriction.

On most factory exhausts you'll find your flow rate is still ok even on modest power gains, but when you start pushing up the power levels you will need to get a better flowing exhaust.

Sports exhausts can help increase the flow of gases through the engine.

1. Greddy
2. Borla
3. AFE Power

But if your exhaust pipe is too big, ie: it's over 2.5 inches bore, you will lose a great deal of your flow rate and end up sapping power and torque.

Downpipes are the common area of restriction with very little gains to be had with a catback system.

For road going cars mods such as a sports catalyst pretty much remove this restriction, primarily due to it's larger size and surface area, and will effectively raise the performance to levels you would expect without having a catalyst installed.

This keeps the car road legal and will remove the restriction due to it's higher internal surface area and design. The alternative catless mod or cat removal should be considered an off road only mod, as removing a catalyst is illegal in most territories and regions for road registered cars (and in some you can't even replace a working catalyst).

Weak spots, Issues & problem areas on the Civic 10th Gen

The Civic 10th Gen engines are generally reliable and solid as long as they are well maintained.

Carbon build up in the head, particularly around the valves which will reduce power, this is a very common problem on direct injection engines but should be looked out for on all engines. We have tips on carbon removal guide By avoiding short journeys where the engine doesn't warm up and using good quality fuel you can reduce this risk.

Regular oil changes are vital on the Civic 10th Gen, and more so when the car is modified and will help maintain the long life of the engine.

To find out more about mods and upgrades, or just get feedback on Tuning your Civic 10th Gen engine please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss Civic 10th Gen tuning options in more detail with our Civic 10th Gen owners. It would also be worth reading our unbiased Honda tuning articles to get insights into each modification and how effective they will be.

Please help us improve these tips by sending us your feedback in the comments box below.

We love hearing what our users have got up to and which tuning mods work best for them on each model of car. We use your comments and feedback to improve the accuracy of these Civic 10th Gen tuning guides which get regular updates and revisions.

This article is flagged for an update, so please pass on specific tips below that I can include. All articles, and content was written by me, Waynne Smith TorqueCars founder. Some outlines are just too general so I appreciate your feedback and suggestions. This entry was filed under Honda. You can leave a response below or join our forum to discuss this article and car modification in detail with our members.

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