Currently looking for the 1.5L 182hp manual Civic Sport from 2017 to 2020.
How is the car in general? I'd like to hear some opinions from people who own/owned it.
I'm looking for a decent car that has some power to it. I know its not a sports car, I just want a car with more power (current one has 85hp which is decent as a super basic daily)
The manual version is super rare here but I know its better than the auto with the CTV transmission.
I'm also planning to put a stage 1 tune on it which adds about 40-50hp and I saw that the manual is far better when it comes to a higher output.
Does anyone have any experience with tunes for this model? Its the L15BA engine.
I drive pretty clam so I won't be going ***** to the wall with it but I'll still half the service mileage anyway to keep the car in pristine mechanical condition at all times.
I'd just like to hear some overall opinions on the car.
Its also pretty expensive here in my country but nothing I can do about it really, especially when the community and market here know how rare the manual 1.5L 182hp model is

@xRiCeBoYx owns one with a CVT and by all accounts, he loves it. I can only imagine that adding a manual would at least match that, personally. His is also tuned if I'm not mistaken and it's holding up nicely.

While I would have loved a manual, I'm content with the CVT. The paddle shifters in the Sport trim make me happy enough if I feel like pretending I have a manual. It's also easier to teach my daughter how to drive in an auto, though I want to teach her how to drive stick at some point in her life.Like you said, it was hard as hell to find a MT (and I wanted a sport hatch), but the one I was looking at online literally sold as I was getting out of my car at the dealership. I will say, putting it at 75% throttle position keeps me in peak torque band and accelerates pretty damn well. Like Sam mentioned, I do have it tuned (KTuner) and I've been using the Phearable tune, almost exclusively Map 3 (24psi tune) for... almost 70k miles now without issue? I think their dyno sheet puts it at 215WHP with (estimated) 245ft-lb torque for the CVT. Hondata estimated max safe working torque limit for the L15 CVT was 250ft-lbs. If you buy the KTuner from Phearable, they toss in their tune for free, other wise it's $199 if you buy separately
Here's the V1 (no screen) : https://www.phearable.net/engine-com...nepackage.html
Here's the V2 (with the screen): https://www.phearable.net/engine-com...nepackage.html
I opted for the V1 because I have a laptop for the initial flash and can use my phone and my head unit (I retrofitted a 2020 touchscreen infotainment in) to re-flash other stored tunes and view whatever telemetry.

I can tell you my 18 hatch CVT is faster than a stock Si coupe, so there's that. Dude wanted to play, I pulled on him on the freeway. He followed me off and, at the light, asked, "bro.. wtf do you have in that thing...? IT'S A CVT?!"

Oh, even if you decide to hold off on a tune, there is a definite difference if you use 87 vs 91 octane. I did an experiment with using both on a road trip and got much better fuel economy and power using 91.

But... to answer your question about how the car is in general, I love it. The tune wakes it waaaay the hell up and makes it a lot more fun, but if I take it easy on the throttle, still get EPA fuel economy numbers. 24psi tune is extremely street-friendly, mellow enough t to granny drive it if you're nice with the throttle, enough to teach my 14 year old how to drive, but also enough power to make her say "oh holy ****" the one time I told her to mash the throttle on an empty backroad.

A couple things to look out for:
1) There was an issue with fuel oil dilution, but it was mostly prevalent in colder climates. I live in Vegas where it gets hot as ***** and have had zero issues.
2) I think there was some recall with some AC compressors. I haven't had any issues there, either, and between like.. March and November, my AC is on at all times.

Some fun fact stuff:

• FK8 rear sway bar is a direct bolt on, and you can probably find some used for cheap. Endlinks are direct bolt on, too, and are beefier than the stock ones. The accord ones are even beefier and are also a direct bolt on.
• There's also a front under-brace that's on the FK8 that's a direct bolt on. Back when I got it, it was a whopping $20 part that made the car feel a bit more planted. Was like a 15 minute install
• Si springs will fit on the OEM suspension and give you a very modest drop (literally like 1cm), but the spring rate (particularly the rear) is much stiffer and will give you a performance boost there. You can find these used for cheap, too. I found a local dude selling his for $20 and took me all of an hour to install.
• If you want a better exhaust sound, a muffler delete is actually pretty damn good. Saves you about 30lb in the rear end, and it's not obnoxious.. at all. It's a nice low rumble. The first time I let someone borrow my car and heard it driving off, I was very impressed with how it sounded from the outside.
• Stay away from blow off valves on this engine, just to be on the safe side. The L15 uses a recirc valve instead of a VTA BOV, and that air is metered. Vent it to atmosphere with a BOV, and you'll end up running a bit rich since you're losing metered air. Best way to get your turbo woosh noises is to get an intake (or make your own on the cheap. I have a DIY guide here, check my signature)
• A 14-17 Honda Odyssey homelink unit is as close to plug and play as you can get if you want an OEM built in garage door opener. DIY guide also in my sig.
• I guess I should list my most recent "mishap" here as a fun fact. I hit a big *** rock (small enough to clear the bumper, large enough to grab the underbelly splash guard and hit my tranny oil pan). Luckily it was sandstone so it didn't cause too much damage, but the underbelly pan was mangled. It also hit my tranny oil pan with enough force that it jostled the entire engine/tranny assembly and snapped the tranny mount. Yes. it freakin snapped a solid chunk of aluminum that's an oval shape of like.. 2.5x1.5" thick. Not sure if it was designed to act like a crumple zone and break before anything else broke, but it sure as **** saved my transmission. After replacing the mount, the remaining damage I'm left with is some eroded plastic under the engine and some scratches/shallow gouges on the tranny oil pan. Zero fluid leaks, zero suspension/steering issues. Engine still runs like she did before I hit the rock. I had a mechanic buddy put it on a lift and take a look and he saw nothing of concern. He took it for a test drive, came back, and said, "I'll be damned dude. Your car is fine."