Bridging the Gap from the 1.5 to the ITS

[Subby625]

Just wanted to start a thread to see what people's thoughts were on if / how close the 1.5 Integra can safely get to the base performance of the ITS?

Wondering what upgrades would be necessary to bring the performance closer together and how safe it would be with the 1.5 engine?

 

[nawfoo]

I'm not trying to make my integra into a type s. I got the Integra for great gas mileage that has decent acceleration. You might as well trade in your Integra for a Type S instead of trying to piece it together.

 

[Integra23]

Just wanted to start a thread to see what people's thoughts were on if / how close the 1.5 Integra can safely get to the base performance of the ITS?

Wondering what upgrades would be necessary to bring the performance closer together and how safe it would be with the 1.5 engine?

A tune wakes it up. I recommend Ktuner and
phearable tune.
Beyond that maybe a downpipe and intercooler.
Unfortunately the 1.5T is an Eco Motor and has it's limits. Also the stock clutch is weak and you will see slipping conditions if you run too much boost.

 

[Tylershuman07]

To answer your question more directly, you should be able to get the base ITS performance out of the 1.5L without having to upgrade major engine internals. Without upgrading internals, the safe HP limit is somewhere around ~380hp based on all of the 10th gen civic si info out there. Yes, the 1.5L in the integra is slightly different than the 1.5L in the 10th Gen si but the numbers will be similar enough. To do it safely I imagine you would need to:
1. Upgrade the clutch
2. Put a bigger turbo on it
3. Upgrade the intercooler
4. Grab a Ktuner and get a custom tune
Doing these things should in theory allow you to get around the 300hp mark without having fear of the engine blowing up (as long as you drive like a normal person). If you can do the turbo upgrade yourself it actually wouldn’t be a super expensive build. Certainly nowhere near the $15k extra that an ITS would be.

 

[Subby625]

To answer your question more directly, you should be able to get the base ITS performance out of the 1.5L without having to upgrade major engine internals. Without upgrading internals, the safe HP limit is somewhere around ~380hp based on all of the 10th gen civic si info out there. Yes, the 1.5L in the integra is slightly different than the 1.5L in the 10th Gen si but the numbers will be similar enough. To do it safely I imagine you would need to:
1. Upgrade the clutch
2. Put a bigger turbo on it
3. Upgrade the intercooler
4. Grab a Ktuner and get a custom tune
Doing these things should in theory allow you to get around the 300hp mark without having fear of the engine blowing up (as long as you drive like a normal person). If you can do the turbo upgrade yourself it actually wouldn’t be a super expensive build. Certainly nowhere near the $15k extra that an ITS would be.

Thank you! Definitely along the lines of what I was thinking.

I think the main point of my post, as you’ve noted, was to discuss how to get closer to the ITS without the slightly inflated (in my opinion) price for the performance

 

[Tylershuman07]

No problem. There are a couple of companies developing bigger turbos for the integra which will make the swap much easier. Once those come out (if they haven’t already) I imagine you’d have a pretty easy time hitting a reliable ~300hp. You will 100% need a new clutch to handle that sort of power although the rest of the transmission should be completely fine, again based on 10th Gen civic si testing that’s out there. I plan on doing this somewhere down the line when the car is out of warranty. Maybe around the 5year ownership mark or so.

 

[RUNN1N]

You could mod the crap out of a 1.5T and hope you don't blow it up... or you could just swap in the 2.0T and know you most likely won't blow it up.

https://mountuneusa.com/products/honda-k20c1-crate-engine

 

[lnf]

To answer your question more directly, you should be able to get the base ITS performance out of the 1.5L without having to upgrade major engine internals. Without upgrading internals, the safe HP limit is somewhere around ~380hp based on all of the 10th gen civic si info out there. Yes, the 1.5L in the integra is slightly different than the 1.5L in the 10th Gen si but the numbers will be similar enough. To do it safely I imagine you would need to:
1. Upgrade the clutch
2. Put a bigger turbo on it
3. Upgrade the intercooler
4. Grab a Ktuner and get a custom tune
Doing these things should in theory allow you to get around the 300hp mark without having fear of the engine blowing up (as long as you drive like a normal person). If you can do the turbo upgrade yourself it actually wouldn’t be a super expensive build. Certainly nowhere near the $15k extra that an ITS would be.

I feel like headstuds should be #2 on the list if you are aiming to hit 300hp on any of the 1.5T motors. The L15B is notorious for the head lifting in high boost scenarios. I feel the L15CA probably has the same issue.

 

[Subby625]

I found this blog interesting, I admittedly don't know much about the engines and different engines between the Civix and the Integra, but 27Won's blog seems to say the stock engine could handle around 375HP, obviously that's pretty high, but interesting none-the-less:
https://www.27won.com/blog/power-limits-of-the-civicx-stock-engine-and-transmission

 

[Integra23]

L15 is an efficient economy engine.
Just leaving this here..

 

[SierraOne]

Just leaving this here..
L15 is an efficient economy engine.
Just leaving this here..

I agree that the L15 is certainly by far not one of Honda's better engines, but I also am not a fan of the arguments of "Honda used to overbuild, now they don't", and "they should have known people would modify the crap out of these cars". Enthusiast forums/youtube videos are not a good sample population for how people normally drive these cars, and you certainly can't expect Honda/Acura (or really any brand) to design their economy-level engines for enthusiast use. In fact, that's what the CTR and ITS are for...

You paid for an economy car/engine, you got an economy car/engine.

 

[CB750 rider]

I sometimes have issues getting traction with just the 1.5. I would expect that a wheel/tire upgrade is needed in addition to the engine output mods.

 

[5thHatchback]

Going down this path too or at least entertaining it for the time being. Are there any specific oil or spark plug requirements when running a tune?

My basis of experience was a built EA888 Mk7 GTI tuned via EQT. The tuning process required different considerations.

If im being honest and based from reading throughout the forum. 99% leaning towards Phearable.

Any resources members recommend to find solid information on our 1.5L platform?

 

[Integra23]

Going down this path too or at least entertaining it for the time being. Are there any specific oil or spark plug requirements when running a tune?

My basis of experience was a built EA888 Mk7 GTI tuned via EQT. The tuning process required different considerations.

If im being honest and based from reading throughout the forum. 99% leaning towards Phearable.

Any resources members recommend to find solid information on our 1.5L platform?

I ran phearable 1.5R tune and liked it. The upgrade to the Type S wasnt cheap. Nothing like another year of car payments.