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FK8 New FK8 owners Q&A - everything you want to know and dare to ask here

How’s it going chaps! Finally back into a Honda, had the EP3 Type R years ago and the void was never filled,
I spent 3 years in a BMW 430d and spent 2 years lusting after the FK8, finally bought one on Saturday and I’m over the moon with it! Got a few questions though so here goes.

1. Spending 3 years with the BMW meant that I had 3 years worth of the frankly outstanding Harmon Kardon audio and the Civics 11 speaker system is nowhere near as good which is a given, I never expected it to be as good but I couldn’t believe how poor the quality is once you really turn it up, it’s distorted and very disappointing as Honda emphasised the 11 speaker upgraded audio on the spec sheet as part of the GT trim, has anybody picked up on this and found out a way to make it better without blowing the bank, I’m not after subwoofers and amps, I’m not 17 but I like my music and enjoy going for night drives.

2. The second gear crunch, is that still a thing?! My EP3 done it and so does this, It happened as I pulled away from my friends house and was very embarrassing, what is the right way to shift from first to second in a Type R when flooring it?

3. After I bought the car, I took a few friends out in it and properly floored it, the first time I did, I heard a loud knock from the left side of the car, it wasn’t a nice noise. On the same drive, my friend asked me how the brakes were so I braked hard and the same noise occurred again, at this point, my mood was ruined and I text the seller asking him, he said it’s never happened and he never drove the car that hard to realise it. He wouldn’t lie as it would be a warranty issue, not like it’s a 4K car where he would hide it.. I stopped driving the car in the same manner, where it’s hard acceleration and braking, I’ve found the right way/balance of driving it in a spirited manner. It never made the noise again until I was cruising along and hit a pothole that couldn’t be avoided, the noise happened again! Now I must say the Front tyres need replacing, I bought it privately and decided to replace the tyres myself as the guy would have got them from kwikfit for a fortune which I would have had to pay for. I ordered some online so waiting for them to come. This could be a reach but could it have something to do with the VSA, loss of traction/slip etc?
I think it’s a reach for them to be associated but I hope someone can advise me, my BMW spent a lot of time at BMW for minor problems but it was very annoying and I really dont want to take it to Honda. The benefit of BMW was getting decent loan cars, I really don’t want to drive around in a Jazz while my car gets looked at haha

Long message I know but we’re enthusiasts and this forum is for help so, please make my day gents

Welcome sir - are you the chap on Pistonheads with the PMM I replied to about this small but perfectly formed forum? :lol:

1 - It's not great. I spent a bit of time in the missus' cooper s of late and we both agreed the music system in that is miles better. So I have been doing some fiddling on the civics, and to be honest just whacked the bass up..! Lots of info on civicx.com of people who have done audio installs, but I am ok with mine

2 - I'd be worried if yours is crunching now as it could be the start of bigger problems which a number of people on here have had. Mine, and others on here touch wood, has been fine from day one and continue to be, so it was a lottery it seems. Keep your eye on it, watch your 'clutchmanship' and try different styles as we all get caught out now and again so hopefully it's just that..

3 - Hmm, if you are the one from pistonheads, i thought your ride height looked a little high. Make sure the orange transit blocks are out from each suspension strut. If it's not that, pothole damage is a nightmare and can cause damage to the suspension which does make a 'clanging' noise - check this story out - https://www.topgear.com/car-news/hot-hatch/life-honda-civic-type-r-pothole-diaries

Hope i am not killing your buzz of a new car mate, but best to sort these niggles out then you can really enjoy what's a great car
 
Thanks a lot for that, very insightful.

Thankfully there’s no real worries, I read the top gear article and that’s exactly what’s happening to me, so I’ll take it to Honda for a quick fix hopefully.

Averaged 42 mpg on a 10 mile trip today without using boost once, trip back was 35 and I went a bit faster that time, really surprised on how good it’s been, the MPG actually goes down slower once I hit a busy city centre than my diesel BMW! My overall average is 21 though over 300 miles but at least 150 of those were me really giving it some, I’ll happily take that!
 
Welcome

1. It's poor but doesn't bother me.
2. I haven't had an issue but 1st into 2nd just doesn't feel great so very very rarely use it when going for it, tend to short shift or pull away in 2nd.
3. 100% not right, get it checked, I have damaged one alloy on a pot hole which killed the tyre too, was unlucky but does seemingly happen quite often due to how thin the tyre is.
 
I was suffering from the second gear crunch. I have tried all work arounds and I found one on my car. If I put the clutch pedal to the floor really quickly but actually move the gear lever normally, no crunch. If I granny shift by putting the clutch to the floor normally it crunches. I only have to do this for second gear. This makes me believe it’s the delay valve and a slow depression to the floor has some fluid bleeding by possibly back into the reservoir. I had this once in a conventional hydraulic clutch and you could see the reservoir level going up and down slightly. That’s my thoughts anyway.
 
I was suffering from the second gear crunch. I have tried all work arounds and I found one on my car. If I put the clutch pedal to the floor really quickly but actually move the gear lever normally, no crunch. If I granny shift by putting the clutch to the floor normally it crunches. I only have to do this for second gear. This makes me believe it’s the delay valve and a slow depression to the floor has some fluid bleeding by possibly back into the reservoir. I had this once in a conventional hydraulic clutch and you could see the reservoir level going up and down slightly. That’s my thoughts anyway.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clutch_delay_valve

Car has one, many post in Civicx discuss it, some people have had it removed

Sent from my SM-G930F using Tapatalk
 
I was suffering from the second gear crunch. I have tried all work arounds and I found one on my car. If I put the clutch pedal to the floor really quickly but actually move the gear lever normally, no crunch. If I granny shift by putting the clutch to the floor normally it crunches. I only have to do this for second gear. This makes me believe it’s the delay valve and a slow depression to the floor has some fluid bleeding by possibly back into the reservoir. I had this once in a conventional hydraulic clutch and you could see the reservoir level going up and down slightly. That’s my thoughts anyway.

I wonder if temperature affects this as well? As I occasionally had the crunch when I first got car back in January (seems to have cleared, or I'm doing as you suggest without realising. Although 1st to 2nd still is a bit 'draggy' when cold
 
I was suffering from the second gear crunch. I have tried all work arounds and I found one on my car. If I put the clutch pedal to the floor really quickly but actually move the gear lever normally, no crunch. If I granny shift by putting the clutch to the floor normally it crunches. I only have to do this for second gear. This makes me believe it’s the delay valve and a slow depression to the floor has some fluid bleeding by possibly back into the reservoir. I had this once in a conventional hydraulic clutch and you could see the reservoir level going up and down slightly. That’s my thoughts anyway.

CDV didnt fix it on my FK2. so far theres been one expensive solution thats proven (after 8 months) to be the fix on mine. replaced clutch with the xtreme SMF conversion.
i've another 7-8months to be 100% sure (i had the shift issues twice, each time after about 15months) but all those issues, niggles and randomness of the OE clutch have gone. this xtreme is consistent in all weather.

iirc 2nd gear would show itself first. then i'd start having issues getting 1st at idle.
CDV removal, new fluids (gearbox oil&clutch), acuity shift bushes, braided flex hose etc all gave little/no improvement.

another one that's really improved gear engagement for me (after xtreme clutch) is an upgraded rear engine stabiliser mount. I ended up with the HASport 70a mount, but i'm sure the softer 62a would be fine for a road-only and give a decent improvement.

edit: out of interest, you guys seen the big thread on civicx? https://www.civicx.com/threads/the-infamous-2nd-gear-crunch.12890/page-86#post-635130
 
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anyone else had this with the "H" badge. this is mine on the rear, looks like it's cracked from underneath (you can't feel it with a fingernail from above). heat damage?

cracked_H.jpeg
 
anyone else had this with the "H" badge. this is mine on the rear, looks like it's cracked from underneath (you can't feel it with a fingernail from above). heat damage?

Mine had a similar crack, I think it's thermal expansion. Made a warranty claim, but sold the car so no clue if Honda will actually replace it, but that is obviously not from a rock or anything...
 
Mine had a similar crack, I think it's thermal expansion. Made a warranty claim, but sold the car so no clue if Honda will actually replace it, but that is obviously not from a rock or anything...

thanks mate, dealer just accepted to put a warranty claim forward for me. will keep you posted how I get on.......doubt they'll give me another new honda but a replacement badge and BTCC VIP tickets again would be nice :) :lol:
 
Speaking of cracks, anyone getting cracks and rust at top of rear quarter panel and roof join near the boot hinge? Dream have seen a few and it's a drill out, re-do and paint job...

Cosmic.
 
It’s been just over a month with the Civic, the knocking noise under hard braking is gone, turns out it was the tyres, they needed changing and I think it messed around with the VSA which caused confusion.

I’ve put a pipercross panel filter in and it’s making just the right about of turbo noise so I’m happy with that.

Fuel consumption is 24 mpg over 2k miles, good or bad? The previous owner before me averaged 29 over 9k miles but he was a lot older with kids.

The Audio, still not over it, my brother just got a brand new A6 with a standard Audi system and it blows mine out of the water, 10 speakers and a sub standard, we have 11 speakers in our Civic’s! What gives! Really made me miss the Harman Kardon in my BM :(. I’ve enquired at a few places for an upgrade but I just don’t have the time at the moment.

Here’s one massive problem for me, the infotainment is SO clumsy and dim witted, the car seems to HATE apple car play and disconnect at least once after you plug and unplug the phone in. If I go to a petrol station, I can’t turn the car off with just the ignition on to carry on playing music and charging phone so I do it anyway hoping my phone would automatically re connect when I get back in...but? No, the screen is blank yet the car is still playing music and you can’t change the song unless you unplug and plug the phone back in again. It’s a proper faff trying to get it all sorted before all of my journeys. The wireless charging is useless as I’m convinced there’s a mouse somewhere in the car running on a treadmill to generate the charge for my phone.

Why are the Japanese so crap with infotainment systems, it’s the same story in my mother’s 2017 RAV!

Other than that, the car is an animal when it wants to be and can be so docile when it needs to. I know every person says a car has 2 personalities but the Civic really does!
 
Fuel consumption is 24 mpg over 2k miles, good or bad? The previous owner before me averaged 29 over 9k miles but he was a lot older with kids.

I had 24-26 mpg over the 16k miles I had the car. Only times I had 28+ was when we were on long motorway journeys. Almost got to 40 mpg on one long A1 run.

Regarding infotainment I had zero issues with Android auto, never used the wireless charger. And you are right, sound system is not amazing, but easily upgradeable, remember, it is not a very expensive car, so they had to cut costs somewhere!!! The important part is to enjoy the ride. You could turn stereo off and just listen the the recirc valve now that you have the pipercross xD
 
Yeah don't forget they put a naff infotainment in the Japanese market one as so many people upgrade anyway, so they were never going to spend loads on the European one....although they should if they truly want to get people out of their golfs

Ive had zero issues with mine though (apart from the clunkyness) but on apple play it fine, and the wireless charger was so good it was cooking my phone. Try a better cable maybe?
 
Apple play is fine for me, I use it daily with Waze and music and WhatsApp.
They added a function in one of the iOS updates that basically stops the phone pairing with usb devices unless it’s been unlocked in so long.
I found out about it when I had my FK2.
Have you disabled this option?

As for sound quality I can’t fault it at all, all I’ve done is put bass to like +2 and treble to +4 and it’s clear.
I don’t go blaring it loud above 14 though and I’ve no EQ set on my phone.
 
has anyone seen fk8 rear disc dimensions available yet?
I'm curious if the FK2 can be converted to FK8 disc & pads. (yes i know the PNs are different between the two models)
 
What with your name on one side and the missus the other? :D

No, because that wouldn’t be tinted.
I’m not talking some daft plastic strip stuck on the outside.
So for example my Porsche had a tinted band in the top of the windscreen which reduced glare.
 
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