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139 Autosport
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Looking at the dyno provided by K&N, there really aren’t that many significant power gains except at the higher RPM ranges, starting at around 4,500 RPM. Even then it’s at a modest gain of around 2-3 HP. Remember that the HP from a dyno is wheel horsepower, which is different than flywheel horsepower. Wheel horsepower is basically the real power that your car is putting onto the pavement. Horsepower from manufactures are rated in flywheel horsepower, which is gathered from the flywheel. The differences in each horsepower rating have many factors, although it’s mainly from drive train lost. The dyno unfortunately doesn’t have any plot for the torque value gains and lost, which is an important aspect that’s constantly being overlooked by many people. So at the end we’ll have to rely on the inaccurate butt dyno, and feedbacks from fellow users. Installation of the FIPK is relatively easy and simple. The level of difficulty is easy, and any person who can turn a wrench should be able to install the FIPK without issues as long as they carefully review the installation instruction and take their time. The installation instruction that was provided with the FIPK was clear and easy to read and it also has plenty of pictures for visual aids. Check it out here. (Or right-click, save as) If you need further help or more pictures on how to remove the stock intake system, you can refer to the How-To here.
So how does the FIPK perform? One thing is for sure, it works without any issues or problems. The construction of the intake system is of high quality; all the parts and materials provided are of the same too. The FIPK has been in my ride for over three years now, and there haven’t been any issues whatsoever. Parts didn't came loose, supports didn't fail, nor did anything snap or break. My butt dyno tells me that it does feel like there’s more power in the high-end, and like many others agreed on the user forums, we don’t feel as much lost in a the low-end torque than compare to other intake systems. (Especially compare to other short-ram intake systems). Still, when you install air intake system like this, and open up the airflow velocity and volume, there’s bound to be some change in the powerband. Generally the power shifts up the powerband, and you trade in your low end for your high end. For these types of aftermarket parts such as intake and exhaust, these rules usually apply (especially for small displacement engine like ours). Horsepower and torque doesn’t magically appear from out of nowhere, there’s a shift in the power, and you usually move it from the low end to the mid-high end. Most of the claims we see from manufactures are from some point in the power band, it doesn’t necessary mean you increased power through out the entire RPM ranges. Things such as throttle response can be felt easily, and like all intake system the FIPK does improve throttle response. It certainly could be the placebo effect, since claiming that we can feel a 4 hp increase is a bit of a stretch. But then again in a small car such as the Civic, and for frequent users that are very aware of how little power we have, maybe it’s not too wild to claim we can feel an increase in power. At the end though, only an independent dyno source can better verify if there’s really any increase in power.
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