Connors 400bhp Ultimate Honda Civic Fk2
Posted by Matthew Marks on 19th Feb 2025
This week, we came down to see Conor and his mad Honda Civic FK2 Type R. This is one of the best examples of this car, and it has had some incredible parts fitted, as it was used as a development car in 2015.
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I'll let Conor tell you the story from here!
Tell us about your Civic FK2.
This is a 2015 Civic Type R FK2 GT pack. It was a Hel Performance demo car that was new back in 2015. Hel Performance, the automotive side, bought the car brand new as a development car to get Fk2 brake lines, an oil cooler, and all the Hel Performance catalogue, should we say on to the car.
We were using the car, and my boss let me drive this thing out of the showroom. And to be quite honest, it was pretty cool the first time out in an FK2.
But then, to add the cherry on top, Gordon Sheddon was in the passenger seat for the first test drive of this car with four miles on it.
The first thing he said to me when I dropped it down two cogs from the motorway to give it a boot full was that you're driving it like an old B series, and you shouldn't drive it like that.
Put it in fifth and let the Turbo and torque do their job. We went to Scorpion Exhausts, so this has a full Scorpion exhaust; shortly after, it went to Forge Motorsport and had all the coolers done in it other than the oil cooler, which has been changed since.
Everything red in the engine bay besides the rocker cover and the Eventuri intake was by Forge Motorsport. It's had all the bells and whistles bolted on. It's basically everything bolt-on you can for this car to make it work.
Tell me about the exterior of the FK2
So, for the front of the car, we have a few little items; we have the final Edition painted lip skirt, and we've got the Civic Sport, not the type R, front lower grill because it's black and not white.
It has a different Honda badge on the top because they are usually gel-filled red, and a Lexus decided to throw a stone at it on a track day and destroy it, but it is what it is. We've got yellow-tinted fogs because JDM isn't it.
You can't see it now, but I have a USDM kit on it, which I like to do because I like lights. We've got carbon covers on the mirrors. Do you remember doing the roof? I wrapped the roof, didn't I!
There are a few little niche things that you'll never see, but the factory closes these vents here on the wings. If you take them out you can actually solder the plastic off and make them working vents.
So, in the engine bay, there are two little holes. It doesn't do a lot, but I have noticed it once when I've done the clutch because you can see the clutch smoke come out of it.
When I burn the clutch up, you can see it come out of the vents in the fuel station. I was like, wow, they're definitely working! We've got some Work Emotion CR 2p wheels, which are matte bronze with a really shiny copper lip.
Lovely Wheels took about 6 weeks to get here, and they're wrapped in Yokohama AD08RS Tyres.
What suspension setup are you running?
With the development, we reached out to KW Suspension. There were a few other companies with the FK2 doing the same thing, so Yellow Speed Racing, BC Racing, and a few different companies were already making developments for it, so we contacted KW.
We reached out to KW and said have you got a car? Can we do development work? We waited for the best part of a year, and they returned with a kit.
Now it's fitted to the car, so we've got KW club sports with adjustable top mounts; they also do like a V3 setup, in which you use just standard top mounts.
I opposed that and said, "Look, can we get the club sports?" What's the difference between them? Is it like Pillow Ball versus Rubber or something?
Yeah, so it'll be an OEM top mount, so take your coilover out, take your original top mount out, then swap over to your new coilover, as opposed to this one now where you swap the whole coilover in like you would with BC, yellow speed vice versa.
Put the entire unit in, and then you can adjust it. You've got rebound, bump and Camber adjustment on it. So it's a good kit, especially as a development kit.
It's very good; they even have to give you little boxes because it has adaptive suspension, which it now definitely doesn't (haha), to cancel out the light on the dash. So that was a pain, but now it's done.
Again, it's a development thing. Yeah, correct, so that's all on, and it works lovely.
What about your brake setup?
So we have the stock OEM plus; I did have AP Racing 6pot calipers on there. I had them on very briefly, and I had problems with Machining, and I still have them.
I haven't got around to getting someone to make the brackets, so what I've opted for instead is I've got some FK8 brake discs. I can tell you the difference if we pan to them eventually in the next clip.
These are two-piece rotor discs, so they're not in the FK2 as stock. The FK2 has a standard disc that is drilled and grooved, and when I took it to Castle Combe after two weeks of owning it, I cracked all my discs.
I Hairline cracked all the discs because of the heat. Having drilled discs is your weak spot. I've run them for a few years, not going to lie, but then I decided I needed new pads. I came to you, actually!
I got the PBS Prorace FK2 brake pads, and then I installed the FK8 front discs. I've got Hel Performance braided brake lines, some Motul 660 brake fluid, and Mintex race pads or something in the rear.
I don't know what pads; it's been a while, but I've also got some upgraded pads for the rear.
Thank you for coming down to see us!
I've been in Conor's Civic FK2 before, but it was nothing like that! The car was boost-cutting the last time we went out, and we didn't get the full power delivery.
The way it grips and corners is just crazy; it feels like a 4WD Civic, not a FWD. We enjoyed filming this video, so if you want to watch the full-length video, we have the link at the top of this article.
If you would like your car featured on our YouTube channel, website, or both, please get in touch, as we would love to see your builds.
We've also linked some of the parts Conor has used in this guide, so if you are interested, use the coupon code:
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