RunawaySoul

I have been a member here for awhile, so I know there's been a lot of posts concerning internal modifications, such as P&P, cams, etc from www.honda-performance.com or similar. (Just found out I live like 45 minutes from there! )

My question is does that harm the engine? Honda is notorious for being hard to squeeze horsepower out of. If you can squeeze more out of it by getting, say, a stage 2 from honda-performance.com, is that safe for the engine? Why wouldn't Honda squeeze this excess out beforehand? Don't say it's so that older people can drive it. We all see the old folks driving V8 powerhouses such as Cadillacs and Grand Marquis, when a covered wagon is sufficient for their "go-fast" needs. Does Honda leave "a little extra" to provide engine life and a margin of safety? Is it because it would no longer be an economy car, or because it would cost more to produce Civics?

I'm thinking of making a visit to honda-performance.com and see what can be done. I don't want to accidentally kill my car. As far as voiding the warranty, "woops!" is all I gotta say about that. Input from a mechanical standpoint would be great, but any input from fellow Civic owners would be cool. Sorry for a long post!

Gryphin

Well I wonder the kinda the same thing as far as , why they dont get the most out of there engines. But my question was said along these lines " Why do imports have to be detuned , when shiped to the USA " and i got this reply for the most part " because if imports rule over cars made in the US like ford and stuff , more money leaves the states , and they want to keep money here. " as far as your question on hurting your engine, everything hurts your engine somehow, it just somethings kill your engine faster [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG] so why not drive over to honda-performance.com and ask them for some info and maybe they can lead ya in the right direction

WhiteRiceBoi

the d series motors have a long line of being shieetty. The motor itself only produces 127 HP SOHC VTEC and 115 SOHC NON VTEC, The motor itself is not made to be tuned, honda did not make the motor to be tuned, it made it to be a fuel miser, if you want a fast car, buy something besides a civic DX/LX/EX, or swap in a more sporty and tune friendly motor, like the K20A1, or the B18C1, that is the only way to get real horsepower into the civic, in answer to your question of tuning the D17A block thats sitting in our bays right now, it can only handle so much pressure and heat, also even if you bore, sleeve, port/polish, and put in forged pistons with a higher compression ratio, and NA tune the block you will only get marginal gains, and it will SEVERELY hamper the life of your engine. It is not made to sustain the extra combustion pressure. I would go the FI route on the block and get a .5-.7 BAR Turbo/Super charger system, with bigger fuel injectors and lower compression pistons. That will squeeze about 60-70 HP at the crank, which is a pretty nice chunk to get your civic some go, not gonna be a full blown race car, but i think its the most logical and economical way to safely increase your civics power. Of course this too would lower the life of your engine, but not as much.

Part of the answer as to why America sees "De-Tuned" versions of Japanese cars is because the U.S. has higher emissions and safety regulations, not because the US doesnt want to rape tself in car sales, because it already has done so effectively.

silverdevil

iTrader: (5)

Yup, ditto on what WhiterRiceBoi said.

pichon

this question is for White Rice Boi

i'd like to read up on our engine design and you seem to be well versed. where can i look up information like the one you just provided. see in my experience, HONDA's may not be very fast stock, but once tunned they will move very well and sustain the pounding of a harsh driving style. i am well aware that our engine sucks as far as horse power extraction but why is it so weak as far as withstanding internal modifications? (i know you already answered the last part i'd just like to know where to look it up myself).

thanks in advance

SleeperCivic

When you build up the internals of your engine (pistons, rods, deck brace, etc...) that is to prolong the life of your engine at higher power levels. It doesn't kill it faster. That stuff doesn't add horsepower, so why do the race teams do all that? Yes, to keep the rods from shooting out the block. While it is true that the D series engines are not the best choice for tuning, they can still be made to produce big power. You can make a D16 crank out 450 horsepower if you wanted and I have seen this. Just be prepared to make it a race only car and spend a bunch of money on building the internals so it can handle 25 psi of boost, 250 shot of nitrous, whatever... So you can make the engine produce more power and its not that hard. It just takes some money for a turbo, supercharger, or nitrous kit. The D17 could easily make 200 horsepower with a turbokit. It probably won't last 250,000 miles though. It does depend on how you drive and how you take care of it. Most of us probably won't be going above a small turbo, the JRSC when it comes out, or a 60 shot of the bottle, so we really don't have to worry about beefing up the internals. So keep researching and you'll get smart about how to get some power that won't kill your engine.