[BongoBennie]

Welcome to my build thread.

Car
--2003 Civic Hybrid
Engine
--block; K20a2
--head; K20a3 (11.7:1CR)
--ARP head studs
--Intake manifold; K24a4
--Turbo; Garrett GT2554r
--Intercooler; Frozenboost air to water
Transmission
--Accord 5 speed gear set in EP3 case
----1st: 3.266
----2nd: 1.769
----3rd: 1.147
----4th: 0.872
----5th: 0.659
------FD 4.388
--OEM LSD
--OEM TypeS Flywheel
--Exedy Stage 1 clutch

GOAL, to build the ultimate commuter for my personal commute, 26 miles each way in the Vegas valley, 90% freeway and 90% @75mph +-. the other 10% is very aggressive city driving which is not conducive to getting good mileage and will do what I can for advantage (LSD, tire choice, etc). I will also have 1400 watts of audio to keep me sane.
Keep in mind there are days when I will in fact hypermile and I will definitely be doing so with this car.... sometimes, and sometime I will be hauling ass literally trying to see how fast I can get to work while still looking to see what kind of milage I'm getting regardless. I will be keeping a detailed spreadsheet to see how things are working and will even take it to the drag strip just to see what it will do.

It's obvious I'm not going to be improving the MPG of the Civic Hybrid so why Ecomodder?

This is more about the idea of having a muscular car for a commuter. One that is capable of daily fun while getting somewhat decent mileage, whatever that even means. While K swapping a 7th gen civic is nothing new, the way I'm going about it seems to be a first.

ENGINE
K series has to be one of thee most popular of any manufacturer to be tuned from parts on the shelf to hours on the dyno. That being said when I bring this list of parts up on the general K20 forums all I get is negative comments as guys feel its a waste since I can get the same power from other engines with half the money and effort not realising while HP is important it's not a race car in the least. I feel I will get the best help here on Ecomodder so that's why I'm here.

K20. Head is a3 which is the most eco version of the K head, same cam profile as K24a4, same intake manifold gasket as the K20a2, VTC is 50° same as K20a2. Valves are same as a2 but springs are lighter(single). Where this head is unique is the combustion chamber has quench pads which adds .7 to the compression ratio of what ever engine its attached to, also the exhaust ports themselves are a bit smaller compared to all other K heads which are the same.
The A2 and A3 bare blocks are the same, the basic differences are the following: The pistons 11:1 (11.7:1), Oil pump is high volume, piston oil squirters, stronger rods, counterweighted crank, aluminum oil pan.

The turbo..... just a note here, I am under no illusion that the turbo is helping me get better mileage, having a small turbo gives me quick access to power without needing to rev high to get it... The Garrett GT2554r is the smallest ball bearing turbo available, should be good for about 240HP to the wheels, again in the race crowd, a huge waste of money when it comes to HP to $$ ratio and why I'm here.

Not everyone that thinks I'm crazy though is being unhelpful, I have a great tuner that finds my build very interesting (he recommended the ARP studs). From a tuners prospective he feels the engine could easily handle 300HP with a bigger turbo at 11.7CR and 91 octane (hundreds of Kseries dyno hrs experience) With a somewhat small exhaust and lean burn tuning, I myself am very curious what a setup like this can muster up.

Transmission
Pretty simple, the Accord 5 speed comes with a wide spread perfect for this type of build, Installed these gears and the LSD from the 06 Civic Si into an 04 Si case, interesting note the Accord trans main and second shaft have slightly smaller diameters (lighter) than RSX/Civic/TXS counterparts I assume because this would be for economy reasons? Axles/hubs will be the smaller 32mm vs 36mm which is the go to for this kind of swap (base instead of type s)

Unless anyone asks I won't go into details on how to actually complete the swap however I will say this. I am swapping the Hybrid 4dr (ES9 chassis) which besides the obvious IMA stuff has a few interesting differences compared to the standard D17 4dr (ES1/ES2 chassis). First the hybrid engine unlike the D17 has a clockwise spinning engine so i sits on the same side as the Kseries, when you swap the subframe you can use all OEM RSX motor and trans mounts without the need of any type of mount conversion kits, EP3 radiator/condenser also swap. Two brake lines from master cylinder to ABS pump have sensors for the hybrid braking system (they are in the way), the corresponding RSX lines are a direct swap.

Other stuff

ECU will be Kpro V4 with boost by gear as well as an E85 sensor
5 lug swap RSX base front brakes/hubs, rear disc
Wheels are from 06 Civic Hybrid
Suspension is Koni Yellow and will be ordering Ground Control coilover kit spring rate TBT


I had planned on posting this when the car was done but at the same time I have a few questions that I want to put in front of the clan so I figured a build thread was a good idea. I will ask those in future posts.

Some may have heard me talk about this idea in different threads, the engine was destined to go into my Insight but that car just wasn't meeting my needs.... to rare, and not really a daily driver no matter how I slice it. Civic to me is so common that if I were to mess up the car I can always pull the parts for something else and the car itself is dime a dozen... compared to the Insight which is like trying to make a daily driver out a Delorean, not very practical.