FL5 and FK8 Civic Type R Comparison Side-by-Side Look

[Toprarnen]

I found @mbaapk's fav color:

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[mbaapk]

I found @mbaapk's fav color:

That rear looks so good i dont care what jeans it’s wearing.

 

[Boostlag]

damn i love that pee white

 

[Robert.C]

That rear looks so good i dont care what jeans it’s wearing.

I love it! I rank the FL5 right up there with the DC2 and EK9 as an instant icon. Honda knocked it out of the park. Couldn't be happier or more excited.

 

[machimself]

I don't know about you guys but I'm for sure paint matching the spoiler. I'll leave the legs black but I just can't reconcile the wing being black. That and the upper mirror caps...

I'd really prefer to delete the spoiler but doesn't seem like there's a good way to deal with the holes in a non-permanent fashion.

 

[TypeSiR]

Quasimodo vs Fabio.

 

[Rhorn]

Here's a few more shots from the king motorsports FB page

This is my favorite shot because you can see the similarities and differences with the hood bulge, because it seems to be a sore point in the design of the FL5 (I've seen alot of people crack jokes about the FL5 for this). It actually looks like the FK8 had the same bulge, but there was some visual trickery. It just had that additional piece of the black grill which broke up the lines so the bulge wasn't that apparent. It looks like with the FL5, Honda removed that black plastic trim piece around the headlights and front grille so that bulge is more noticeable, there is no black to hide it. The center grille opening is also a bit bigger so I wonder with the FL5 if that black trim piece was actually blocking airflow or negatively affecting aerodynamics, so the car should breathe better now. On the side you can see the mandated yellow marker on the body like the FK8, with the FL5 its incorporated into the headlight design. It really looks like they tried to slim down FL5 regardless of what the final weight will be.

The heat extractor is significantly wider and longer.

You can see how dramatically bigger and more open the bottom piece of the grille is, definitely will be getting more airflow.

You can see the complete removal of the fake vents which was a strong criticism of the FK8.

Another interesting design choice I see are the side view mirrors. It looks like now they are mounted onto the doors instead of the corner of the windshield. I wonder if that was done for aerodynamics

Im not a car designer or physics guy so I really can't piece all of this stuff together but it does look like there was a big effort to make the car breathe better and address the cooling which is great.

 

[Shiba Speed]

Yes, the bottom grille is bigger, but in some of the pictures that I've seen, it would seem like the intercooler doesn't fill up the whole space. Rather, it seems more like a duct or shroud. I'm no engineer or physics guy, but a Google search tells me that the velocity increases as air moves from a larger to smaller duct. Sounds like a big brain move to increase cooling without adding weight by brute forcing it with a bigger/thicker intercooler.

I don't think there is a complete removal of the fake vents. Definitely a huge reduction and improvement though. If memory serves me correctly, the vertical vent trim in front of the front tire arches is fake. There is a proper vent in the bottom part of the "L" that gets fresh air to the front brakes and rotors.

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

 

[TrackS]

Yes, the bottom grille is bigger, but in some of the pictures that I've seen, it would seem like the intercooler doesn't fill up the whole space. Rather, it seems more like a duct or shroud. I'm no engineer or physics guy, but a Google search tells me that the velocity increases as air moves from a larger to smaller duct. Sounds like a big brain move to increase cooling without adding weight by brute forcing it with a bigger/thicker intercooler.

I don't think there is a complete removal of the fake vents. Definitely a huge reduction and improvement though. If memory serves me correctly, the vertical vent trim in front of the front tire arches is fake. There is a proper vent in the bottom part of the "L" that gets fresh air to the front brakes and rotors.

Someone please correct me if I'm wrong.

Yes the intercooler shroud does appear to have a funnel design which at least looks nice, but functionally any benefit that compression (velocity that you describe it as) would be partially counter productive regarding the force applied against the car to compress that air. But may still provide some positive benefit overall.

Regarding what you said about the front side slots being fake - I've watched several vids that mention exactly what you said. However there have also been a couple that mentioned it was actually open and passing air through. So i'm not entirely convinced one way or the other and will have to see in person I suppose. Either way it's very minor though.

It matches the rear end as well, so I imagine if one is fake/real the other will be also.

 

[ElpacoSV]

This is my favorite shot because you can see the similarities and differences with the hood bulge, because it seems to be a sore point in the design of the FL5 (I've seen alot of people crack jokes about the FL5 for this). It actually looks like the FK8 had the same bulge, but there was some visual trickery. It just had that additional piece of the black grill which broke up the lines so the bulge wasn't that apparent. It looks like with the FL5, Honda removed that black plastic trim piece around the headlights and front grille so that bulge is more noticeable, there is no black to hide it. The center grille opening is also a bit bigger so I wonder with the FL5 if that black trim piece was actually blocking airflow or negatively affecting aerodynamics, so the car should breathe better now. On the side you can see the mandated yellow marker on the body like the FK8, with the FL5 its incorporated into the headlight design. It really looks like they tried to slim down FL5 regardless of what the final weight will be.

The heat extractor is significantly wider and longer.

You can see how dramatically bigger and more open the bottom piece of the grille is, definitely will be getting more airflow.

You can see the complete removal of the fake vents which was a strong criticism of the FK8.

Another interesting design choice I see are the side view mirrors. It looks like now they are mounted onto the doors instead of the corner of the windshield. I wonder if that was done for aerodynamics

Im not a car designer or physics guy so I really can't piece all of this stuff together but it does look like there was a big effort to make the car breathe better and address the cooling which is great.

Good point you bring about the bulge. I'm sure someone can do a Photoshop and show an FL5 with a black upper trim like an FK8 AND do the reverse on an FK8 : add color to the black front trim.

This will show your observation : the 2 cars are similar in regards to the bulge.

 

[FK7_]

It’s literally the grill that gives the FL5 the beluga look… you are over analyzing it haha. The black piece on the FK8 aka the grill, connects flush to the bumper where the FL5 grill is concave so it gives it the frumpy hood.

 

[type_ramen]

these badge placements oddly feels like afterthoughts...

 

[citrus]

Could've sworn I saw a video where the presenter stuck his hand into the vertical vents in the bumper, but I can't recall which one it was.

Is the FK8 actually bigger and taller? Or are my eyes just being tricked?

 

[TrackS]

Could've sworn I saw a video where the presenter stuck his hand into the vertical vents in the bumper, but I can't recall which one it was.

Is the FK8 actually bigger and taller? Or are my eyes just being tricked?

I actually went and had a look at videos of the standard new hatch vs the previous one. - and Yes, the difference in these shots seems extremely exagerated because in the comparisons I found, it was very similar between the two cars - not like these photos.

 

[citrus]

I actually went and had a look at videos of the standard new hatch vs the previous one. - and Yes, the difference in these shots seems extremely exagerated because in the comparisons I found, it was very similar between the two cars - not like these photos.

Must be just the angles and the lines then. I really like how everything resolves on the FL5.

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