SilverCure

Hey everyone. I'm new to this site so sorry if I'm starting up an old discussion.

What's the best ECU software to give my automatic 2.0 some more power? I'll do the intake upgrade at the same time.

Thanks!

weather

^^ ...to trade it for the 2016 ILX *lol*

SilverCure

LOL....great! I just got it, so it's gonna be around for 3 years.

Timmy18

Go look on the 8G Civic forums at the R18 guys. They have a few tricks up their sleeves to make their R18's hang with some K20's.

SilverCure

Thanks I'll definitely check it out

usdmJON

What Timmy said. I'm on the 9thgencivic.Com
some of those r18 guys may see a tuning solution soon but not sure if it'll work with the r20.
As Timmy said 8thgen guys have r18s too so hopefully theYreka tuning solution works for us.

I know aem has a stand alone ecu I was told to try. Not sure how great it will work but I'd imagine a simple daily tune with low psi from a small turbonetics turbo or even jackson SC should give decent numbers.
I believe some r18 guys have already attempted to run the aem standalone.

usdmJON

Sadly hondata has cornered the market with ecu tuning and they have already told me they don't care to tune the r20. They did the r18 auto but won't touch the r20.

I understand the cost Yada yada.
I still think it's bullshit. They should be able to produce a simple map for any ecu. They just don't care to as it won't make 500% profit like the other platforms do.

But if any of their buddies picks up an ILX it will be tuned that week. It's all who you know.

SilverCure

Figures! And You are right it is bullshit. If you can program an r18 then you can easily program th r20. That really sucks. I guess for now I'll have to do the intake and get 5+ HP. Better than nothing!

Timmy18

I would still try a R18 ECU on a R20. For all I know, the R20 just has a larger bore and I'll assume slightly larger cams and valves to help fill the larger combustion chambers and different intake manifold and TB. The rest should all be the same as the R18 for the most part. Acura of course uses a more sophisticated tune that requires premium gas with the higher compression in the R20 vs R18 so that could be the only problem I see with the ECU change not matching up but that could be adjusted with AEM right?

On a bright side, R20 guys can get the 5-speed from the R18 civic LX/ EX and swap it in, so with a beefed up ECU and some other little engine mods and the 5 speed you could hang with the K24 ILX's and have Navi when they don't ! lol

usdmJON

I've not messed with ecus yet but I don't believe it is that easy Timmy. If it was we'd see a lot more boosted r18 guys.
As of now the 9th Gen r18 guys can't even use the Hondata from the 8th Gen r18. That's how restricted hondata flash pro is. I'm sure if they could swap the ecus like that they would have.

Once an ecu tuning is figured out we will most definitely hang with the unturned k24 guys... which is all but maybe 3 right know.

I've had some civic guys tell me the aem stand alone won't even work. No idea why as I said I haven't messed with ecus yet and people online like to shoot ideas down without explaining why so yeah.

Timmy18

Hondata is looking for a '12-15 Civic R18 to test tune with!

Hondata - Honda ECU Modification and Enhancement

And IDK what this guys has but it can do all this.



There are plently other Turbo R18's like this one on YouTube as well

usdmJON

That is great but Hondata as I said is very very limited. Literally it ONLY works with the exact motor it is made for. If I remember correctly you cant even use a USDM spec R series hondata on a JDM spec R series.

Also, I already spoke with a hondata rep and was told they have no plans to work on the R20. It took the 9th gen guys 2 years to get hondata to R&D for that 9th Gen R18.

For the first two videos this is the guys mods list:
So he is on flashpro meaning he is running an 8th gen civic. As stated hondata has released a unit for their motor. Lucky bastards.

Last video the guys doesnt list his mods but for all we know he could be in an 8th gen also. Or he could be running a turbo without a tune. He doesnt state what turbo mods or if he is tuned. Anyone can run a turbo without a tune and they will still make more power it just wont be optimal and I hear it can hurt your engine.

Also, this is the response I got from the 9th gen guys when they were talking about hondata making something for the r18 and how long they have waited. I responded that any car can be modded with a stand alone ecu and they said:

usdmJON

Just got confirmation that Ktuner will be releasing support for the R20 guys.
Their R18 flash hardware is just about to launch and orders can now be made.

I asked if it will be possible to use this to flash the R20 and got a quick response on 9thgen
Very cool!

SilverCure

Oh that's F@&$ing Great! Love everything about the car so far. Installing the spoiler this week, tints soon, then intake and ECU flash when ready. I'll be really happy then!!!

SirWaWa

I would trade it in for a 2016
a loss for sure but that money would go to mod's anways