"Where's the High Volume Intake System for the 11th Gen Civic 1.5T?"
No, we didn't forget about you - this intake has actually been our highest priority since the release of the 11th Gen Civic 1.5L Turbo, despite keeping it under wraps for such a long period of time. Here's a first look at our Patent Pending HVI 3D printed prototype for the 11th Gen 1.5T.
Given the reputation and successes of our previous intake systems, our engineers already knew they had to hit a homerun with this intake system. During initial 3D scanning and inspection, we collected and analyzed more data than ever before in an effort to make the best intake system possible.
One of the first areas we looked into was the MAF housing. If there's one thing our design team can come up with, it's a proper Mass Air Flow housing. In the past, we prided ourselves on our machining capabilities and chose to machine all of our MAF housings/components out of 6061 billet aluminum. This worked great... until we were machining/selling far too many intake systems to efficiently keep up with demand. After adding numerous CNC machines to our fleet, personnel to keep them running, moving to a larger facility, facing material shortages (aluminum), rapidly rising material costs and labor delays (anodizing) in recent years, we understood that this manufacturing process could use some improvement. The 11th Gen Civic HVI will utilize a Patent Pending injection molded MAF housing that bolts directly to the air box to streamline the manufacturing process and minimize components for installation while speeding up production time. Most importantly, this process still allows us to maintain proper fuel trims and performance with our profiling and smooth surface finishes, just like the factory intake air box. Our MAF housing will be constructed of fiberglass reinforced nylon for strength and deter heat-soak.
Using this Patent Pending design eliminates the need for an air box lid. It also eliminates the hardware, additional velocity stack piece and hassle of aligning all of this to/through the air box. Customers can also access the air filter for maintenance by simply removing the three bolts connecting the MAF housing to the air box and silicone intake hose, all while keeping the air box installed in the car. Like our 10th Gen 1.5T Civic and Accord intake systems, this will use our 4" ID oiled cone filter for optimum performance.
Okay, enough about the MAF housing. What about the air box design?
Like our other High Volume Intake Systems, this air box is also constructed from rotomolded HDPE (High Density Poly Ethylene), which is a thermoplastic polymer. HDPE is perfect for intake systems because of its ability to withstand chemicals and engine bay heat without heat-soak. We used our scan data to design as large of an air box as possible, while still keeping fitment of surrounding factory and aftermarket component upgrades (i.e. charge pipes) in mind.
"Why didn't you design Cobra-style cold air intake like the 10th Gen?"
Unlike the 10th Gen Civic 1.5T chassis, the 11th Gen features a rather large and efficient air duct through the front bumper/grill from the factory. Our team elected to retain the factory air guides, and utilize them in our HVI design. Our engineers decided to take this one step further, though. In an effort to promote maximum airflow volume, our HVI comes standard with it's own injection molded High Volume Inlet Duct that attaches to the air box with OE-style clips and seals against the factory rubber seal/guide on the hood. This piece will be constructed from polypropylene, just like the factory, for its flexibility and resistance to heat, chemicals and outside elements.
We have also integrated provisions to the bottom of our air box to accommodate a possible secondary air source for enthusiasts looking to increase airflow in the future.
This intake system will fit all 2022+ Honda Civic 1.5L Turbo models, including Si & Non-Si. Final test fitment has been approved and production has begun. Customers can expect this intake system to fall into the same price range as our standard HVI systems and can expect intakes to be to market sometime in Q3 of 2022. Stay tuned for more information, testing data, final ETA and pre-orders!
