11th Gen Honda Civic Turbocharger Design Blog Pt 4. - FEEL THE POWER
It’s time!!! Time for everyone’s favorite blog when we talk turbos and that is our POWAAAAAAAAA blog.
Please please hold your applause after you see the amazing results of Gin, our upcoming drop-in turbocharger for the 2022+ Honda Civic 1.5T and the 2023+ Acura Integra. We have spent the last several months racking up the miles and handing out the L’s all around town as we dial in our 22 Civic Si test mule with the full suite of 27WON goodies for the most power we can make.
If you want to see how we got all the way here first, then check out PT1, PT2, and PT3 in our entire series of blogs on developing the right upgraded turbocharger for your 1.5T 11th Gen Civic and 5th Gen Integra.
The progression of this blog will be straightforward to follow. We’ll look at our car in various configurations and share with you the results of upgrades along the way, all the way to our ultimate number that is from a fully tuned and bolted 11th gen with all the 27WON goodies.
100% Stock 2022 Civic Si
2022 Civic Si with Exhaust (catted turbo back - TBE) no tune
2022 Civic Si with TBE, FMIC, and Gin (91 oct, no tune)
2022 Civic Si with TBE, FMIC, and Gin (91 oct with tune)
2022 Civic Si with TBE, FMIC, and Gin (91 oct and flex fuel tune)
Before we dig in, let me share with you some quick details on our equipment. All of this testing was done at our Las Vegas, NV world headquarters. We utilize a Dynapack DAQ4 Chassis Dynamometer with hookups to the hubs. All of our tuning was done through the use of a Ktuner with tuning from our good friend Drob at Innovative MotoWorks. All this adds up to the accurate and repeatable data that we present to you below.
100% Stock 2022 Civic Si
Before we jump in let's see what we are working with. As the bold letters say, this is a 100% stock 22 Si on just 91 oct. No parts, no tuning, no nothing. Just a new car on a dyno after break in. We record a respectable 195 peak WTQ and 189 peak WHP. Not too shabby for a little 1.5L. We have a pretty flat torque curve which makes for a good driving experience, but power drops off pretty hardcore after 5500 rpm, so we are probably short shifting to keep the torque flat. Again, not bad but plenty of room to improve.
2022 Civic Si with Exhaust (catted turbo back - TBE) no tune
For this next graph we have the same car with the only change being the addition of our sweet sounding 27WON Catted Turbo Back Exhaust System. No tuning, no intake, or anything, just the full exhaust. As you can see peak WTQ jumped up to 229 for an increase of 34 WTQ and WHP went up to 209 for an increase of 20 WHP. Those are HUGE gains for just an exhaust. More torque, more horsepower, and more sound. It's a win on all fronts. Not only does it sound amazing, but opening up the exhaust system to larger diameter piping really lays the groundwork for the extra boost and power our Gin turbo will bring to the table. If you are not sure where to start on your modding journey, our full exhaust system should be high on your list.
2022 Civic Si with TBE, FMIC, and Gin (91 oct, no tune)
For round 3 we step it up a bit. We are now looking at our car equipped with the same full 27WON Catted TBE but we also add in our upcoming FMIC and a prototype of our SRI all mated to an OEM turbo inlet pipe. We will be sure to post up the blogs of our FMIC power numbers later so you can see those gains from just the intercooler. Lets just say, it’s a lot. Okay but now back to it. So we got a FMIC, SRI, TBE, and just a Gin drop in turbo with a JB (Journal Bearing) CHRA. Again no tuning yet, just putting the turbo in and seeing what it does.
Now, what you see is a drop in TQ but a gain in HP. We lost about 12 WTQ and picked up 15 WHP. You might be thinking that is odd, what the heck? But what this highlights is the importance of tuning. We just put a big turbo that can make more boost and move more air but the car does not know that. Unless we tell it… by tuning. So you see a much slower spool and slower torque response. It would feel lazy, like the car got slower without tuning. Now check out what happens when we start doing some tuning work on the dyno 🙂
2022 Civic Si with TBE, FMIC, and Gin (91 oct with tune)
WOW!!! What a difference tuning makes with all these parts. We are now looking at 303 WTQ and 280 WHP. That is an increase of 74 feet pound of torque and 71 horespower from our TBE only set up. Those gains are HUGE!!!!!!. I mean just look at that graph. We pick up torque from 3700 rpm all the way to redline and horsepower from 3400 rpm to redline. That is straight power that you definitely feel. Now as awesome as the car drives like this it goes without saying that you can’t have your cake and eat it too. Given the larger Gin turbo with bigger wheels and a bigger A/R some of that bottom end response of the OE turbo is lost. This would be what most people refer to as turbo lag. From about 2000 to about ~3400 rpm the car will feel like it's a bit slower. This is the small sacrifice for the giant gains we get. Well worth it if you ask us. Oh, but wait, it gets better.
2022 Civic Si with TBE, FMIC, and Gin (91 oct and flex fuel tune)
Now for the cherry on top. We have the same setup as the previous graph with the only difference being we added in flex fuel for an ethanol blend of E30 and swapped in a Ball Bearing CHRA. Drumroll please……. We ended up with 323 WTQ and 329 WHP. That is another 20 feet pound of torque and 50 wheel horsepower. This is just like what we’ve seen from the 10th gen line up of turbo Hondas such as the Civic 1.5T, Type R, Accord, which all love some “E" and shows us the power of ethanol. Good fuel and more of it can go a long way to getting everyone some power. If you have the ability and access to ethanol, we 100% recommend it so you can get more power for your ride.
Alright fam, let's bring it full circle with one more graph. In this last one we show the first graph (stock Si) vs the last graph (FMIC, TBE, SRI, Gin BB on Flex Fuel) on the same graph so you can see where we started and where we ended up: Peak gains of 131 feet pound of torque and 140 wheel horsepower. Huge gains, I mean come on, look at that graph. When we look at the TQ side of things we have gains from 3200 rpm to redline and on the HP side of things big moves from the same spot of 3200 rpm to redline. Now yes we do give up some torque between 2000 and 3000 rpm and that is a matter of simple physics.
We are getting close to the release of the ball bearing version of our Gin turbo and we’ll be working with some early adopters. So if you are hungry to make power soon, give us a call or drop a comment below with your details and IG handle so we can check out your ride and get you on the early access list to purchase one!
The Gin BB (Ball Bearing) version of this turbo will hit the market first, later this year. If you can wait longer then you’ll have a chance to save some coin. We are continuing to dial in Gin JB (Journal Bearing). That turbo will be released about 3 months after the BB variety.
I hope you are as excited for the Gin drop-in turbocharger as we are. We are tearing up the streets of Las Vegas with all this extra powa. Your going to love this upgrade no doubt just like we do.
Till next time
REDEFINE the Aftermarket
Co-Founder
-Vincent Melon