I found this on a google search and it is so wise I wanted to share it - from a person I have never met named Steve Brereton.

[jcb]

This is from a Facebook post by Mr. Brereton. dated 6/3/2025.
Based on my experiences on other platforms and with a lot of prior track time, I think he may be (edited from "is") correct.
The Type R FL5 (what we have) is near perfect. Be mindful that perfect is really hard to achieve...balance is key...with power you need brakes and possibly suspension. Things break if used over specified loads...etc. etc.

And perhaps the most important point - blowing up an engine is very, very expensive.

So what I read - you can tune the car, but be mindful of the needed supporting mods and such...and just maybe get connecting rods if going high hp. (this last sentence is 5/7/2026). Data on what when would be a good thing for the field...sort of if this power then this support....up the food chain...call it stage 1, stage 2, etc. What I am most confused about is the comment about do not wrap the turbo........thoughts?

"Honda Civic Type R FK2 ·
Steven Brereton
·June 3, 2025 ·
Power gains - BEWARE...

Just sharing with you all my thoughts regarding FK2 Type R's and power gains. If this has been done before I apologise in advance, although a bit of refresher knowledge every now and then doesn't do any harm.

Here we go:
1. I've nothing against getting more power out of Type R's K20 C1 engine. Go for it. Done it myself in the past. Have fun and be happy!
2. If you don't, relax as the stock 306 bhp (as much as 330 bhp on some dyno's) is enough for road use and track days. If you can use ALL of that power on the road much of the time, head straight to a track, win races and become rich/famous. You have what it takes you lucky bugger.
3. Honda's engineers who designed the Fk2 Type R are very clever and talented at what they do. They are the masters of engineering balance. So in the FK2 Type R we find the wheels/tyres suit the suspension and intended use, ride quality is a superb compromise for road and track use, the car is stable up to its maximum speed, the braking is appropriate for the speeds the car is capable of, the bodyshell has just the right amount of stiffness for nipping down to the shops with the family or doing a 7 minute 55 seconds lap of the 'Ring (dream on Steve...), etc., etc., etc. It sounds easy to achieve this kind of engineering excellence but it's anything but. Chuck in something like big power to this carefully crafted balance of high end engineering and real world usability, and you are asking for trouble. It's a bit like the human body - works great when everything is nicely balanced and in a steady state as god (I think) intended. But start filling it up with beer every day and...
4. The K20 C1 engine is superb BUT it's not bomb proof like Honda's absolute classics such as the mighty K20 A2. By today's standards, the C1 is pretty rugged, but as we are not in the 1990's for example, that's no great accolade. Thanks to engineers having to chase ever tighter emissions regulations and bolting on turbo chargers onto just about everything, modern engine's are more stressed and just not as tough as they used to be.
More power will compromise the K20 C1's longevity. I know that's a gross over simplification but I hope you can see where I'm coming from. This is not the place to present a thesis on modern engine design.
5. American tuning shops have found that the stock conrods are at their limit around 400 bhp. Go beyond that and sooner or later the rods will let go big time destroying the engine.
6. More power = more heat. No way round that. So avoid wrapping your car's turbo and SIGNIFICANTLY upgrade the cooling system at the same time as you remap/boost airflow, dump the cat, change the cams, fit a bigger turbo, etc.
7. If you don't do any cooling upgrades and wrap the turbo, boost power, etc. be prepared for head gasket failure and/or cracked/warped cylinder head. Or worse... In the K20 C1, the extra heat has to go somewhere and it seems to always make a B-line for the cylinder head. It doesn't help that the K20 C1 engine is a direct injection type so there's no real intake manifold with any heat absorbing capability. Head it is then.
8. The K20 C1 is VERY tuneable with 1000 bhp easily obtainable.
BUT, be prepared to spend a fortune getting the C1 engine and ancillary components into a state where they can survive making anywhere near this kind of power. If you don't have that fortune, forget it as it will only end in tears.
9. When in doubt, cool first power gain later.
10. One way of going faster is by not having to slow down for corners. Try suspension and braking upgrades. They work, are more long lived and cheaper than chasing big power gains. Forget top speed or sub 4 second 0 - 60mph. If you want to be frit senseless, try taking corners you know really well 20 mph faster than you usually do... An hour of doing that - sideways through corners, tyres fighting for grip, suspension flattening corner speeds, etc. - gives you one hell of an adrenalin rush!!!

Hope this helps and saves a few K20 C1 engines along the way."

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[Cueyo]

I feel like a lot of this is typical for any engine, especially factory turbo ones.

I think the only thing I'm kinda iffy about (as with absolutely every Facebook post cuz that place is filled to the brim with dunning-kruger effect folk) is the connecting rods 400bhp number. I've heard quite the opposite with people saying it can handle more on stock safely.

The only reputable article I could find about this was from 2019:

https://www.enginebuildermag.com/2019/02/eotw-civic-type-r-k20c1-engine/

Where it should be noted that this is nearly 7 years ago, and that this is coming explicitly from an engine building company trying to sell engine building services (even if they're right). Again, they never explicitly say that 400bhp is the limit to the internals, instead that they're "bending rods at 400hp" which could be for a plethora of reasons like too much torque or boost at low rpm (which they mention offhand).

Again, this guys not wrong, but I'd take it with a grain of salt since this is the case with absolutely every engine. Just don't be a idiot and try to throw a turbo and e85 tune on your car before considering supporting mods and reliable HP numbers.

 

[HOTCHKIS]

I'm not touching mine. Obviously the engineers knew what they were doing

 

[Adam123]

I agree with the quote and would also add that when considering the “perfect” nature of the car from the perspective of all the R&D that goes into the car, the engineers also have to make some pretty basic compromises to keep costs down and my feeling with a specialist car like this is to try to pick up where the engineers left off as much as possible keeping in mind I’m not an engineer.

This is why I like companies like Spoon because their philosophy is so aligned with Hondas, they have such a huge respect for the Honda engineers and manufacturing process that they are basically polishing off the rough ends. They are basically taking a car that can do 1 lap pf the ring and yes set a record but overheats after that lap, and turn it into a car that can race for 4-24 hours. They understand the k20c limitations are basically heat management and their tune is very conservative because it’s about being able to lap all day rather than get 2-3 fast laps. All their mods need to be seen the context of a system, no one mod by itself is transformative. Their engine mounts, bushing kits, stiffness plates, rigid collars all increase stiffness from factory by about 25-30% and so on their own they don’t feel that important but as a system it transforms the car. They understand that if you have factory bushings at around 50a shure rating and then stick one rear motor mount from say hasport at 88-92 shure rating then you are going to cause huge imbalance leading to notable NVH rather than the whole chassis by 25-30% everywhere. Look it’s expensive I know that but they have a whole philosophy on the car not just individual components.

 

[Two Step Performance]

I'd hesitate to call this "wise". Maybe conservative, but some of the remarks are comical:

"American tuning shops have found that the stock conrods are at their limit around 400 bhp. Go beyond that and sooner or later the rods will let go big time destroying the engine."

A stock K20C1 is a lot of fun in it's own way and they certainly all don't have to be modified for more output but this take seems a bit too far in the other direction.

 

[Cueyo]

I'd hesitate to call this "wise". Maybe conservative, but some of the remarks are comical:

"American tuning shops have found that the stock conrods are at their limit around 400 bhp. Go beyond that and sooner or later the rods will let go big time destroying the engine."

A stock K20C1 is a lot of fun in it's own way and they certainly all don't have to be modified for more output but this take seems a bit too far in the other direction.

That was the biggest thing that stood out to me fully knowing Derek over at imwtuned has safely tuned a ton of type Rs over that number.

Reading it back in a British voice makes it easier to digest though 🫣

 

[zumbooruk]

I don't believe that I want/need more power beyond what I currently have: Cobb intake and Cobb AccessPort with custom tune.

I added bit more heat management with the WOT HPT cooling plate, and added spacers/risers between the under hood water diverter and the hood vent to allow more hot air to exit the engine bay.

And I am thinking of Turbo and downpipe wrapping as a next step in heat management.

But I am very curious about not wrapping the Turbo recommendation

My current understanding was that wrapping the Turbo and downpipe is a "good thing" to do...

6. More power = more heat. No way round that. So avoid wrapping your car's turbo and SIGNIFICANTLY upgrade the cooling system at the same time as you remap/boost airflow, dump the cat, change the cams, fit a bigger turbo, etc.
7. If you don't do any cooling upgrades and wrap the turbo, boost power, etc. be prepared for head gasket failure and/or cracked/warped cylinder head. Or worse... In the K20 C1, the extra heat has to go somewhere and it seems to always make a B-line for the cylinder head. It doesn't help that the K20 C1 engine is a direct injection type so there's no real intake manifold with any heat absorbing capability. Head it is then.

 

[Bald Wonder]

I'm going to agreed with, resummarize, and fully endorse point 10, though: driver mod is best mod.

 

[marcusm86]

i read this as "blah blah blah dont enjoy your car how you want - do what i think is best and im nobody"

everyone's got a professional opinion without the profession now a days. Its a car.

 

[lilDumpsterRat]

Does heat wrapping the turbo create premature failure somewhere else? I have not heard of that. The rest of his post is just drivel you find on every single forum since car forums existed. Watch out don't blow up your engine, it's expensive!!

PAY TO PLAY, and dont ramp up your torque so fast on your maps if you dont want to bend stock rods. HP is not free, yes creating balance with more power is expensive depending on what car you're tuning.

 

[Websitesdown]

I think the person has a good point. Honda pushed the engine to far. We should all tune it down 80whp.

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