Why the L15 turbo engine is the worst engine Honda ever made.

****this is mostly about performance application. for people who plan to just daily the car bone stock there is still good information explaining why it wont last like the old engines***

This is a video break down about why Hondas l15 turbo engine is the worst engine they ever made. horsepower and mpg are only one part of what makes an engine good. With the l15 the reliability is thrown completely out the window. Gone are the days of maintaining a honda and getting 300-400k no issues.

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I'm a race engine builder for primarily Honda engines and these are just my opinions based on the l15 from experience first hand. I've changed countless of these at my shop from stock to built. This is basically a heads up for anyone about to purchase a car with a l15 or that currently owns one to be careful. stock you should be able to clear 100k miles driving normally, if you want to mod it and push this engine you are on you're own. you've been warned!

[-redtango]

The engineer made a killer job on that one. They were asked to do the best mpg 200hp torquey engine that will use the minimum material possible. They really blew it out of the park.. they never had the tuning scene in mind.

[roblastem]

Let’s be honest with ourselves here: this is a 1.5l engine designed for economy. Anyone attempting to make anything more than stock horsepower out of this tiny engine is clearly suffering from a recent stroke.

[igotfiveonit]

problem #1, trying to make 300 hp on a motor that isn't designed to make more than stock. that's it.

[adimlah]

I had a 99 si, and the b16 is a great engine. I had a 22 si, and I could tell right after I broke the motor in that the car wasn't designed to be driven like my 99 si. Not to mention quite a few times, when I was in traffic, I could see wisps of steam hitting the wind shield. The hood was always so damn hot.

The l15 always seemed to be struggling, I absolutely refused to throw a hondata on there. Needless to say, I traded it in for a fl5 type r and couldn't be happier. After a 6 hr. drive home from purchasing my type r, the hood was cold.

I understand this isn't an option for everyone, my suggestion is to get a low mileage older si that has a k-series engine if you plan on tuning it. This will cost less than a brand new si.

The l15 engine is a gas saver, it's not meant for tuning or even hard daily driving. Thanks for the video my guy, you solidified in my mind why I got rid of the car.

[TrackSol]

Wow, I wouldn't have thought the L15 engine would be weaker than the D series. Those connecting rod bolts are unbelievable.

[averyalexander]

It's nice to know that the rod bolts in Honda's new 200HP performance engines are thinner than the rod bolts in my 3HP Harbor Freight water pump. Nice job Honda! 👍

[davez]

My 2016 civic 1.5 turbo touring has 200K miles and I haven’t had any problems . I started using 5w-30 amsoil signature at 36K as soon as my warranty was up instead of using the 0w-20 from Honda which is absolutely silly in my opinion . I didn’t even lose 1 mpg in fuel economy when I switched the oil . I had the oil tested at blackstone labs at 170K and it didn’t have a fuel dilution problem . It is just a stock daily driver though and I don’t drive it hard .

[mxkid]

Damn...as a 10th gen Si owner this hurts to watch lmao. Prior to watching this I had planned on ordering Ktuner v1.2, MAPperformance downpipe, and a PRL intercooler next week. Now, I'm thinking less mods and selling the whole disaster to carmax and buying a 9th gen like I should have initially. So thankful I found this video when I did, thank you for posting this gem.

[winchells]

My 2018 Honda Accord 1.5 Turbo is now 155, 000 miles and I don't have any serious problems. I am a daily commuter of 80 miles for 5 years and still counting. Maybe it all depends on how the drivers use and abuse of the car.

[erichaynes]

I bought a salvage 2017 Si, I had to replace the engine, I put a junkyard L15 in it and it's been fantastic. I won't tune it because replacing the clutch with something satisfactory is so difficult. Several of my friends and I have agreed Honda engineered the 10gen to very small margins..a tune is really pushing the envelope.

[MayhemCanuck]

Your assessment and OPINION as well as your experiences of these engines and there potential failure points when TUNED is pretty on point and great advice. As a 22 year Honda tech I have seen all the failures I think, but the most common on these 1.5's are head gaskets and that's a stock config. These things were over engineered for the least amount of friction and weight as possible to get good fuel economy, that's why when its -30 out they never warm up as there's no friction in these things. I beat the hell out of my B16a and had zero issues, I also have an 18 Si and drive it hard as well and no issues but i suspect i might seeing the current trend, and no I have no intentions of modding it.
The only thing i disagree after watching this is you comparison between the L15, K series and B series... they are three totally different engines in all aspects, so comparing the con rod bolts and head bolts is the same as me comparing con rod bolts from my 01 Insight to my friend 94 Mustang, makes no sense. I never noticed the oil galleys on the cranks as I have not had to pull one yet but that's interesting.
Every Honda engine has its faults that could be considered the worst, but I am getting rich on timing chains in K series that's for sure and I think that's the worst engine IMOP but the best for mods by far like you describe. . Best engine for reliability and lack of any issues of any kind for me would be the 1.8 SOHC(06-15 Civics's ) and the B16 series
:) Thanks for the breakdown

[FrankieDills]

10/10 explication. after watching this theres no way id buy any honda with an L15 in it

[stephenhood]

Not being ideal for racing does not make it "the worst engine Honda ever built". Proper maintenance and conservative driving habits its as reliable as anything Honda has ever built. They did have some issues with fuel dilution, and I'll agree if you want to race something this is not the engine you want to use, but as a stock, daily driver it's a good motor. I have a 2019 CRV with 100, 000 miles on it and have had 0 problems out of it, nothing but standard maintenance. I did see some rising oil levels due to fuel dilution, but switching to super fuel has stopped that. Runs great and gets great gas mileage. The CVT gives me some concerns, but I've saw plenty of these transmissions with 200, 000+ miles. You just have to take care of it. Racing is not taking care of it. Not a knock on your video, just found it a bit misleading.

[FBarrao]

Probably the worst engine ever made by honda for "tuners", maybe, but probably the best engine made by honda for " normal" users, (probably the 98% of them). I have had three honda cars, 4 honda bikes, and my lawnmover is a honda also. I own a 1.5T civic, and i´m very happy with it, very powerfull, and very low consumption for the power. You couldn´t expect in the past to have a 182 CV car with this fuel consumption.
Don´t expect "robust" engines from any manufacturer in the future they can´t comply with the new "rule" that is the fuel economy, low emissions, etc etc... Keep your K20 engines!
Thanks for the video

[Mavstang]

I agree the rotating assembly is pretty tiny. That being said my stock l15a has 318k miles as of this post. No issues other than an alternator failure and bad coil pack.

[erickdriver]

I don't disagree with anything in this video. The comparisons are spot on. Honda obviously wanted to reduce mass and skimped where they could for fuel economy. But... A company I have an interest in does document oriented courier work. There are 6 Honda CR-V's that are 2017 and 2018 models. They will haul 10 to 20 document boxes to and from various places all over the state for legal and financial firms. Each have a custom Hondata tune oriented around fuel economy. They run 93 octane and get synthetic oil changes directly from the dealer. The CVT gets Amsoil every 30k to 40k. No major issues and they range from 150k to 250k miles. Granted, they are almost exclusively highway miles, but for average use, I think the design is fine. But I 100% agree that tuning these engines is a fools errand.

[chasbot]

Damn man coming from a background years ago machining LS one engines, mostly V-8 stuff - the points u are making this video are spot on I’ve honestly been looking at the GR Corolla the WRX 2022 and up and a Honda civic SI just for something with a six speed manual and I tell you the production problems that Subaru is having the problems in general with direct injection motors on all turbos nowadays it’s really hard to get excited about buying a performance car these days that’s not a V-8

[bankieishere]

Needed to hear this. Thank you. Started adding some light mods and a tune for about 1000 miles and the engine is messed up in the bottom end. It JUST broke 40K not to long ago and it's really just sad. Wish i saw this a month ago lol.

[Waxxumus]

I really enjoy it as a daily driver. Ill just stick to efficiency mods. Intercooler, intercooler pipes, maybe a few others.
But its fantastic stock.
Very informative video.
Sounds like they took 4 predator 212 motors and strapped em together with a turbo.

[Beepolarx]

Mines been alive 146k and fbo the longest time tuning is everything but don't expect a monster power house or something that'll run great track times. These engines are more for roll racing and tracks. I definitely wouldn't waste money trying to go over 330whp. All those parts are just made cheap and mass produced