The renowned Honda tuners at Hondata have worked their magic on the 11th-generation Civic, bringing significant gains with just an ECU reflash.
Many modern cars with forced induction come from the factory with some extra power “hidden” behind software, typically to meet emissions and/or fuel economy regulations. In these cases, reprogramming the ECU, also known as reflashing, can unlock some if not all of that extra power, and that’s exactly what Hondata has done to the new Civic.
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They’ve already done the same to the previous-generation turbocharged Civic, and seeing as the new one’s engine is very similar, it was only a matter of time before they were able to crack it. The car they used was a Civic EX with the 1.5-liter turbocharged inline-four engine. It had around 1,000 miles (1,609 km) on the odometer and, on high-octane fuel, it delivered 162 hp (164 PS / 121 kW) and 163 lb-ft (221 Nm) of torque on Hondata’s dyno.
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After the reflash, the car was pushing 196 hp (199 PS / 146 kW) and 213 lb-ft (289 Nm) of torque to the front hubs, a gain of 34 hp (34 PS / 25 kW) and 50 lb-ft (68 Nm) of torque over stock. This data will be used for development of the latest FlashPro, a consumer product that plugs into your car’s OBD-II diagnostics port and essentially serves as a plug-and-play tune. Seeing as this is the EX, we’re excited to see what Hondata can do with the upcoming Si and Type R.