Thoughts on FL5 vs FK8 (by savagegeese)

[SKINNIE]

How much does it cost to even fix the heatsoak issues versus paying a 10-20k mark up?

1. hood with better venting
2. larger radiator
3. bigger intercooler
4. turbo blanket + wrapped dp + fp
5. grill with bigger opening (varis, j's racing etc)

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[UFO CTR]

1. hood with better venting
2. larger radiator
3. bigger intercooler
4. turbo blanket + wrapped dp + fp
5. grill with bigger opening (varis, j's racing etc)

and still overheat

 

[SKINNIE]

and still overheat

If you still overheat with those mods. You going fast fast around the track

 

[Clark_Kent]

and still overheat

The inadequate cooling system is one of the things that killed the FK8 for me. Why should you have to do all of that just to prevent the car from overheating on the track? That was a huge miss by Honda on a "track ready" car. The same with the GR Corolla. It's a shame that car is overheating on the track.

 

[ValkenDnB]

If you're price sensitive, staying in your local market - especially California, Florida, or portions of the Northeast - will not yield favorable results relative to other areas of the country. And if waiting around for a deal in California is your strategy, I would recalibrate the approach if you really want an FL5.

I’m probably going to end up flying out somewhere and driving it back tbh. I’m not paying a ton of mark up.

 

[Clark_Kent]

I’m probably going to end up flying out somewhere and driving it back tbh. I’m not paying a ton of mark up.

Good for you, sounds like a winning strategy.

 

[albi]

Best I’ve seen is around 8k mark up here in Southern California. Waiting around still.

I'm in Texas and best I found was in BFE California for $8K over in November, pulled the trigger right away. Might be a different story now that it has been out longer

 

[albi]

I’m probably going to end up flying out somewhere and driving it back tbh. I’m not paying a ton of mark up.

Always remember though, not the best idea to drive highway miles for a long distance during the break in period

 

[mbaapk]

Always remember though, not the best idea to drive highway miles for a long distance during the break in period

I did this with my FL1 - AZ to MN and get 46mpg highway now lol.

 

[albi]

I did this with my FL1 - AZ to MN and get 46mpg highway now lol.

"best" is the keyword. you don't want to stay at constant RPM's during the break in period because you are not putting the engine under varying loads for the "best" break in. you aren't going to break it overnight.

 

[Rhorn]

How much does it cost to even fix the heatsoak issues versus paying a 10-20k mark up?

Honestly $0

Removing the AC Unit will fix most most of the heat soak issues and is the one modification you can do that will yield the biggest result. Most people dont want to do that which makes sense.

Ive lurked the FK8 posts about cooling and basically the go-to is this: (I forgot the specific name of the brands)

1. Upgraded oil coolant lines
2. Upgraded radiator lines and new radiator
3. Heating shielding front pipe
4. Installing new hood for different grill design.

All of those parts should cost less than $7,000. Idk about how much it is to get them installed. There are a few other modifications but generally speaking thats what people said to do before you start talking about heatsoaking/overheating. Some people have do that and still suffer issues. Alot of it has to do with skill level and location.

There was alot of arguments in the thread because people claimed that they'd never had problems, and upload a video of their track session and it was clear that there was difference in skill level.

 

[keller]

Honestly $0

Removing the AC Unit will fix most most of the heat soak issues and is the one modification you can do that will yield the biggest result. Most people dont want to do that which makes sense.

Ive lurked the FK8 posts about cooling and basically the go-to is this: (I forgot the specific name of the brands)

1. Upgraded oil coolant lines
2. Upgraded radiator lines and new radiator
3. Heating shielding front pipe
4. Installing new hood for different grill design.

All of those parts should cost less than $7,000. Idk about how much it is to get them installed. There are a few other modifications but generally speaking thats what people said to do before you start talking about heatsoaking/overheating. Some people have do that and still suffer issues. Alot of it has to do with skill level and location.

There was alot of arguments in the thread because people claimed that they'd never had problems, and upload a video of their track session and it was clear that there was difference in skill level.

Yup. Many claim they don't overheat, but it depends heavily on ambient temps and how hard you are pushing the car. It took me a few trackdays to start overheating. Now I can only complete one hot lap before the ECT gauge reaches 80%.

I believe most of you haven't read the old fk8 track threads. It took months of trackdays for people to notice the overheating problems. Last year, people on civicx (me included) were anxious to see what honda did to fix the issue on the FL5. And, honestly, we haven't seen much.

Honda has an FL5 for endurance races. They needed the same cooling mods as in the fk8:

https://www.civicx.com/forum/threads/super-taikyus-type-r-race-car-cooling-setup.83491/

 

[Rhorn]

Yup. Many claim they don't overheat, but it depends heavily on ambient temps and how hard you are pushing the car. It took me a few trackdays to start overheating. Now I can only complete one hot lap before the ECT gauge reaches 80%.

I believe most of you haven't read the old fk8 track threads. It took months of trackdays for people to notice the overheating problems. Last year, people on civicx (me included) were anxious to see what honda did to fix the issue on the FL5. And, honestly, we haven't seen much.

Honda has an FL5 for endurance races. They needed the same cooling mods as in the fk8:

https://www.civicx.com/forum/threads/super-taikyus-type-r-race-car-cooling-setup.83491/

Yeah, I think once you get it dialed in it would be easy to get it overheated, especially in the right temperatures. I followed those threads because I was curious to see what changes Honda would make with the FL5. Lots of good information there. I want to start getting some seat time and experience it myself, I just haven't had the time. I see alot of people focusing on the overall oil temps but with these cars, the ECT is more important.

Yeah, it makes sense considering the engine internals are essentially unchanged, really wished it was packaged differently, like not have all of those hot components so close to the intake tube. The big benefit is probably just that the engine bay is alot bigger now, and aero is better so you probably won't need to cut apart your hood as much.

Thats actually cool, did anyone talk about the FL5 TCR? I saw that it debuted and got pole position back in May at the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge for its class (TCR). I wonder what cooling modifications the FL5 TCR is running. The information so far is pretty sparse but thats probably because its so new and hasn't really been in anything.

 

[geekatthewheel]

If you still overheat with those mods. You going fast fast around the track

Or tracking your car in the south of Spain in summer, I have seen it happen in Jerez to some FK8 and FK2. But people just pause and go for a chat with other drivers!

I love the videos from this journalist, if you are lucky to speak Spanish, enjoy! Otherwise you can set the captions to translate to English when auto-generated if you dont mind not having the audio. He does chassis, steering, engine and pedals assessments separately.

FK8 - He fell in love with it.




FL5 - Better car, nonsense price-tag makes it hard to justify the upgrade from FK8, he wants one.

 

[Estoril4]

Ready to hear about the R and S driving similarities/differences from a certain youtube personality ?

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