Improving performance on a diesel Honda Civic

I plan on buying the new Honda Civic diesel. I have tried it and liked the way it handled, but it didn’t feel swift like the older-generation Civics. Is it a good idea to add an ECU kit to the new model or mod the engine to make it faster? Would the latest Honda engines last long like the old ones?

Raahul Suresh, Trichy

You could add a piggyback ECU to drive an aggressive map as per your liking, or better still, get a remap done to extract maximum performance from the 1.6-litre iDTEC engine. However, none of these are recommended on a brand-new car.

You would stand the risk of losing the warranty on the entire vehicle after doing the modifications. Although the all-aluminium Honda diesel engine has robust internals, leaving no undue concerns about its longevity, such core modifications must only be undertaken after the warranty period is over to ensure long-term reliability.

Hence, if performance is your top priority, we would suggest investing elsewhere, but you have fairly limited choices in this car segment.