The 2015 and 2016 Honda Civic EX-T and Touring models are powered by one of Honda’s most potent small four-cylinder engines to date. These Civic models move down the road with 174 horsepower from a tiny 1.5 liter engine. Surprisingly, there’s room for improvement. By swapping out the factory intercooler charge pipe with an AEM 26-3003C.

Officially the L15B7, the engine is manufactured with an aluminum block and a DOHC 16-valve cylinder head with water-cooled exhaust passages cast into the head. Other cylinder head features include direct Injection, Dual VTC (variable valve-timing control), and sodium-cooled exhaust valves. Internal features include cavity-shaped pistons with an optimized skirt design, lightweight steel connecting rods that are heat-forged in one piece for higher strength, and a new grinding process known as plateau honing which further lowers friction levels between pistons and cylinders.

The real key to the 1.5 L engine’s performance is the single-scroll turbocharger that produces 16.5 psi of boost. At that level the motor develops 174 horsepower @ 5500 rpm and torque of 162 lb-ft @ 1800-5500 rpm. As air is compressed, it heats up at the rate of about 10° F for every one PSI of boost. Certainly the engine’s intercooler can shed much of that heat, but typically the intercooler can also pass more air than the capacity of the stock intake tubes.

The AEM 26-3003C intercooler charge pipe kit is a free-flowing, mandrel-bent aluminum tube with a durable gunmetal gray powdercoated finish that is designed to replace the restrictive factory intercooler piping on 2016 – 2017 Honda Civic models with the 1.5L engine. The AEM charge pipe has been engineered to reduce turbocharged air pressure loss common with stock plastic pipes as well as dramatically increase air flow from the turbo to the intercooler.

The AEM 26-3003C intercooler charge pipe kit is a relatively inexpensive modification that you install yourself in only a couple of hours with common hand tools. The kit comes with all the necessary hardware for an OEM-type installation. Plus there’s no drilling required as OEM mounting brackets are utilized for a seamless installation.

For more information on this product, please visit AEM.