Stratified Auto is currently working on my 2018 FK8 to use as a test car to develop base tunes. It's great that Alex works on the philosophy of changing only one variable at a time to ensure data integrity. This is precisely the way I like to mod my vehicles and even perform my own job.
The purpose of this thread is to share content and findings regarding tuning that I'm learning in this process. I've never had a car tuned before so this is a great new experience.
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Baseline Testing - 283whp/281wtq
2018 Honda Civic Type R
97,388 km
Catback Exhaust
Stock intake with K&N drop in filter
Esso 91
Mustang Dyno
Observations:
Fuel
Alex says that the Esso 91 is an issue. Well it's just that it's not optimal. It's usable, but you would (unsurprisingly) get a better result using Shell 91. I chose Esso 91 because this is the gas station that is outside my house. I don't care enough to make as much numbers on the dyno to go out of my way to only use Shell 93. Further to that, there's no way to guarantee quality of gas in interior BC or even the USA.
Fuel Systems/MAF
Stock car runs into limitations with stock MAF and fuel system issues. It looks like max flow the stock MAF can read is around 200-300gpm.
Temperatures
Unsurprisingly, it looks like IATs stock and temps in general are quite high.
OTS vs Custom Tune
Stratified did test Cobb Stage 1 and found that the car wouldn't run properly or well. The Cobb tune turns up boost pressure way too high where it maxes out the MAF sensor. While it made around 300whp, Alex mentioned that with these OTS tunes, it's always hard to replicate their ideal conditions here in Vancouver (it's colder!) as OTS tuners do it Texas or California.
An interesting point of comparison - another FK8 owner had intake, catless downpipe, front pipe, on Hondata OTS 93 tune, and it only did 266whp / 300wtq on AES' mustang dyno.
This is even lower numbers than stock 280whp. Currently the tune that is being developed is showing 326whp/352wtq. The following dyno graph shows Esso 91 Pump Gas Tune vs Stock - both with catback ofc.
The main difference here is when the dyno runs were done.