First mod for 2018 Civic?

So I’ve had my 2018 civic LX for about a year and a half now and not until a few months ago I would say was I deeply interested in making modifications to my car. I’ll be honest and say I am not very savvy when it comes to cars so I’m not really sure what my options here would be, I just know that I definitely want to do some performance upgrades to my 2.0L I4 engine as well as change the dull stock hubcaps that I have installed. I’ve read many websites saying that its a good idea to start with the tires/brakes because these components are just as important as the engine. What are your thoughts?

You need to be aware that some performance modifications will void your warranty . Also many do not really show much improvement for the cost. I would say look for a shop in your area that does that type of work and let them guide you . They should also know what will not void the warranty .
And for Pete’s sake don’t let anyone put some lousy after market exhaust with the sewer type tail pipe as they sound terrible.

What do you want the car to do better than it does now?

You are driving a CVT , there is little you can do to improve acceleration .

Unless you’re going to run autocross, I’d pass on brakes. Do you want sharper handling, with some loss of ride? Then I’d go tires/wheels, maybe shocks/struts.

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basically i want to improve the acceleration more than anything else but with an automatic car i realize its probably more tricky. I was so used to my old 2005 nissan murano which came with a v6 that now it feels like I really have to stomp on the gas just to get it to run.

If you make any modifications to the engine/powertrain ass’y it’s likely to void your new-car warranty. For that path, best to wait until the warranty has expired. There’s a magazine titled “Honda Tuning” that you can read in the meantime. A change of tires is where you’d probably get the best bang for the buck in terms of a noticeable performance improvement. Shouldn’t be a warranty issue as long as they are an acceptable size listed for you car.

There is NOTHING you can reasonably do to the engine to make a significant change in that car’s acceleration. Give up on that, or get a new car.

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Using Google it appears that the 2018 Civic is about 1 second quicker 0 to 60 and about 1 second quicker at the 1/4 mile . Me thinks Javi has a perception problem . And the Civic will certainly handle better than that 2005 Murano ever did.

Making performance mods to a Civic is like putting a spike collar on a Mexican Chihauha ( I’m watching the Westminster dog show)

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Is that actor (John O’Hurley I think is his name) from the old Seinfeld show hosting the dog show this year?

+1 to both arguments.
Civic came with normally aspirated 2.0 engine and 1.5 turbo.
The second one has more power AFAIK but both are not sport cars.
Still, they are adequate for the “regular user”.
You will probably spend less in the end trading for Subaru WRX STI or similar “sporty mini-box”.

…and one expensive thing you can do that will injure the acceleration is to install the all-too-common big alloy wheels with wide low profile tires.

He was the announcer last night, tonight is someone else.

I see the finalists are a wire fox terrier, boxer , golden retriever, whippet, havanese, standard poodle, and sheepdog. Should make for an interesting final selection. Great dogs those. The poodle would look better imo with a more traditional (i.e. simple) hair style though.

Better information here, some mods like a ecu reflash would void the warranty but would get you some power gains. I’d want to find a shop with experience and get an idea of what could help in this situation.
https://www.civicx.com/forums/engine-exhaust-transmission-tuning.5/

If the OP is willing to spend some serious $$, a shop with a dyno and the ability to correctly tune the ECU could yield a little hp. For major hp a turbo or supercharger is needed. Better to just replace the car with a Civic Si.

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Yeah, and for that serious $$$, OP could just sell the LX and get a Type R. Or a Veloster N.

I’m with you on your first argument - get another car or learn to be happy with what he’s got.

+1

Yup!

Yes!
Unless the OP doesn’t care about voiding the Civic’s Powertrain Warranty, he should simply defer gratification or buy a car with more power.
:thinking:

Actually, since a spike collar is designed to help the wearing dog better survive attacks from other dogs, it seems to me a Chihuahua is the perfect dog for one (or at least cause a sore throat to the larger dog that swallows it whole…).

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