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Pro's and Con's of a K20A over a K20A2

Old May 22, 2003
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Pro's and Con's of a K20A over a K20A2

K20A
Pros
-LSD
-220 hp
-8,400 red line
-already ported and polished
- Close ratio transmition with lightened flywheel
- The name of "type R"

Con's
-expensive because we have to ship it here (about 5-6,000 bucks)
-hard to turbo from stock

K20A2
Pro's
-Lots of them are here and cheap to replace engine and brakes( about 5,500 for a whole car)
-better to turbo because of lower compression ration

Con's
-no LSD, but you can add one for about 700 bucks
- can't go up to 8,400 rpm but you can buy some pistons for 500 bucks and get them installed for about 150 bucks
- no lightened flywheel but you can buy one for 400 bucks
- transmition is not as good, but you can get one for 2,000 bucks



my point that im trying to make is why are you going to buy a type S when by the time you are finished fixing up the Type S when you can have all that stuff done to it already and in the long run save more money and time installing more stuff.
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Old May 22, 2003
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you also forgot the fact that the k20a has to run on a higher grade gas. And it will be harder to pass state inspection (at least in NJ).

The reason i got a k20a2 is because i got a whole RSX for 5500 bucks, Try to find a complete Type R for that price, if you do amen to you.

I got the brakes, seats, axles, kframe, shifter linkage, and all the miscellaneous parts i'll need. Plus the only k20a parts i plan on purchasing are the intake manifold (300 bucks) and the LSD (about 700 bucks). Rest of it i'm getting after market.

And btw hondata can make the k20a2 run at the k20a's specs for about 500 bucks, 8400 rpm redline, +15-20 whp, +15-20 torque.
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Old May 22, 2003
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K20A2
Pro's
-Lots of them are here and cheap to replace engine and brakes( about 5,500 for a whole car)
-better to turbo because of lower compression ration
Oh yeah... like turbocharging 11:1 is SOOOOOOOO much better than trying to turbocharge 11.5:1
You want a turbo, get an A3... at least thats only 9.8:1. Or you could take the extra displacement and stock torque of a K24 and turbocharge that... thats 9.7:1, and both the A3 and K24 have intake only VTEC, which makes the engine management easier.

Last edited by Boilermaker1; May 22, 2003 at 08:10 AM.
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Old May 22, 2003
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boilermaker1 you know what i mean by turboing, it would be pointless, you would have to lower the comprestion ratio a lot. why would you turbo a high compression engine?

and hawk, the type of gas used over seas is MON, we use RON. which means their 100 grade gas is the same as our 93 octane pump gas... i understand why you got all the whole car for the extras, but do we really need the rsx seats.

In the future i plan to buy a totalled RSX type S and take it apart. Use the the disc brakes and all the stuff i would need for a swap, just sell the type S engine, then buy the type R engine...

i don't know why, but i would love to say that i have a type R than say i have a type S, i don't know im just weird like that...

Last edited by HondaLuver; May 22, 2003 at 09:10 AM.
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Old May 22, 2003
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You're saying the K20A would be harder to turbocharge from stock (your words not mine)... so why would that make me think that you were thinking otherwise for an A2? If you're gonna lower the compression, then who cares which one you pick? You'll be taking the parts that make the difference out anyways, and with either, you're gonna need to change the engine management for the turbo, so by the time you're done with it, all you really needed was a block, head, oil pan and a crankshaft.
Besides that, the imobilizer is different, and if you went with the A2, you *might* get an Acura dealer to fix stuff if needed before you rebuild it for turbo... I think it'd be harder to get a dealer to work on a JDM engine, as well as get parts for it.
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Old May 22, 2003
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I saw going to buy a street bike this summer for like 6000, but insurence is going to cost sooooooooooo much that i might just put the money into my car, can you usualy buy totaled rsx's for 5500, or did you just get a really good deal?
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Old May 22, 2003
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Originally posted by HondaLuver
i don't know why, but i would love to say that i have a type R than say i have a type S, i don't know im just weird like that...
Why dont you save yourself the money of buying a new engine, and put a JDM valve cover on the S motor...you can tell the different unless you are really looking and you find the engine code on the black, or someone redlines your car for you.
Oh, and the Hondata Reflash sets your redline at 8600rpm, and lowers VTEC engage to 5200rpm...but yes it also does add 15-20WHP.
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Old May 22, 2003
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and hawk, the type of gas used over seas is MON, we use RON. which means their 100 grade gas is the same as our 93 octane pump gas... i understand why you got all the whole car for the extras, but do we really need the rsx seats.
Youre close on this part, but we actually run on the PON system and Japan runs on the RON system. Their 100 octane gas out there is equal to about 94.5 octane. Still, Im glad I at least reached someone who is starting to realize this.
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Old May 22, 2003
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Originally posted by bickford05
I saw going to buy a street bike this summer for like 6000, but insurence is going to cost sooooooooooo much that i might just put the money into my car, can you usualy buy totaled rsx's for 5500, or did you just get a really good deal?
they are around that price, but they are hard to find for that price. I was lucky to find mine. Whatever way you look at it, no matter what you buy, k20a or k20a2 its still better than the d17.
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Old May 22, 2003
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Originally posted by Hawk
they are around that price, but they are hard to find for that price. I was lucky to find mine. Whatever way you look at it, no matter what you buy, k20a or k20a2 its still better than the d17.
That's the way I'm looking at it . I like this thread... lots of good info.
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Old May 22, 2003
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hey hawk, how much was it for them to completely remake your car with all of the **** you go from your rsx
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Old May 22, 2003
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in other words, how much was it for them to INSTALL everything, k thx
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Old May 22, 2003
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and sorry. nother question. who does engine swaps? like what kind of mechanic shop
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Old May 22, 2003
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Originally posted by R3DL1N3
and sorry. nother question. who does engine swaps? like what kind of mechanic shop
Any local performance shop should be able to do the motorswap.

For me its costing me nuthing, DIY owns j00. We're doin it at my friends auto repair shop he works at. His boss is a very cool guy and lets us use the bays and all the tools off work hours.
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Old May 22, 2003
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Boilermaker1

Yes it is ture about all that stuff but what about the tranny, LSD, lightened flywheel and the ported head that comes with the DC5, you wouldn't need to do all that stuff. if you are turboing or NA.

NoBottleJustThrottle

Yea if you can get 15-20 torque and hp on a K20A2 imagine how much more you can get from a K20 A

DC5 @ EM2

yes i forgot the exacact names and numbers but i had a idea... people just don't under stand that...

Hawk

Amen to that, any thing is better than a D17

R3DL1N3

can you just put these 3 questions in one post.(post *****) if you would read in the members rides, hawk explains what it took to do the swap.
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Old May 22, 2003
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The K20A is basically the same as the K20A2, except that it has higher compression pistons and a more aggressive camshaft profile. The transmission also has more aggressive gearing in the lower gears and an LSD.

And oh yeah - the red valve cover.
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Old May 22, 2003
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Originally posted by htowncivicEX
The K20A is basically the same as the K20A2, except that it has higher compression pistons and a more aggressive camshaft profile. The transmission also has more aggressive gearing in the lower gears and an LSD.

And oh yeah - the red valve cover.
don't forget the k20a has a better Intake manifold, bigger runners. Which will be my first mod.
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Old May 22, 2003
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Yes it is ture about all that stuff but what about the tranny, LSD, lightened flywheel and the ported head that comes with the DC5, you wouldn't need to do all that stuff. if you are turboing or NA.
Tranny... You can buy them separately, or build one... Spoon makes hardened gears and get the rest of the parts separately.
LSD: also available separately as both an OEM part, Spoon, Mugen, and I'm sure Quafe will have an ATB unit for it
Lightened Flywheel: Pick your favorite clutch company, Toda, Jun
Port and polish: Shop.... might as well get a valve job while you're at it. Due to new manufacturing processes, I don't think the DC5 head is hand ported and polished like the DC2 was, the finish is fine when its made.

Anything you can think of can be bought aftermarket or will be available for it soon. I've already seen billet K-series blocks for sale...
If you're going to build the motor, you don't really need all the OEM parts... you're gonna rip them out anyway.
You're trying to turbocharge a motor that gets all of its power from compression... everything's gotta be changed, so there's no real 'easy' way to do it.
Then comes the fun of getting a turbo between the motor and the firewall, running the piping around the engine, which no one knows if it would fit, and finding a turbo that is effecient through a very wide range of RPMS. Its gonna be a big project to pull off. I wish you luck and I hope it works the way you want it to.

Last edited by Boilermaker1; May 22, 2003 at 03:36 PM.
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Old May 22, 2003
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hey i forgot about the billet block, humm... interesting... well, i have though about it and your right, i can just get a spoon tranny with LSD and a lighten flywheel, buy a billet engine, low compressing pistons, rods, crank, and all the little stuff in a engine, a after market intake manifold, some aftermarket cams, a good head, and a tdo5 turbo with a fat *** intercooler, and all the fun turbo stuff...

too bad i don't have that much money, maby one day when i win the lotto
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Old May 22, 2003
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o yea, how will we fit the turbo piping in the engine bay?


maby DC5@EM2 can tell us if there would be room in the engine bay for this feet...
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Old May 22, 2003
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There is plenty of room on the exhaust side of the engine for a turbo. I haven't taken an exact measurement yet, but I'll estimate that there's a good 8-10 inches of space between the exhaust manifold and the firewall.
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Old May 22, 2003
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Ya, there is lots of room in the bay for a turbo. After looking at the Hasport swap I realized that there was really alot more room than first appeared....This is definately a GO for me!
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Old May 22, 2003
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Why is a billet engine better? What is a billet block, and why is it better than a normal block, aside form maybe wieght reduction.

I want a k20, and I plan on turboing it, but I would think a base rsx, or -s would be better than an si, unless the rsx and si are the same engine, non-s rsx of course.
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Old May 22, 2003
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I think Billet blocks are lighter.
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Old May 22, 2003
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Originally posted by CGodwin3103
I want a k20, and I plan on turboing it, but I would think a base rsx, or -s would be better than an si, unless the rsx and si are the same engine, non-s rsx of course.
Yup, the base engine of the RSX and the Si engine are the same engine.

Last edited by Azure; May 22, 2003 at 07:47 PM.
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Old May 22, 2003
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Someone told me that the only dif between a Civc SiR (EP3) and a Type R is the chip. I'm talking specifically about the engines only.
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Old May 22, 2003
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Originally posted by Pharoh
Someone told me that the only dif between a Civc SiR (EP3) and a Type R is the chip. I'm talking specifically about the engines only.
No sir... the difference is the Civic SIR (Canadian version of the US Si I'm assuming) has a K20A3, the Type R has a K20A2 like the RSX Type S.


Wanna know why billet blocks are better???

They're FORGED!!
They're machined from a forged billet, not cast to shape like a production engine block. That makes them lighter and stronger than their production counterparts.

Last edited by Boilermaker1; May 23, 2003 at 07:04 AM.
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Old May 22, 2003
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can we like use the type r intake manifold, k24 block with the type r cams and type r head and the type r ecu?
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Old May 23, 2003
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Originally posted by Pharoh
Someone told me that the only dif between a Civc SiR (EP3) and a Type R is the chip. I'm talking specifically about the engines only.
The EP3 (K20A3) and DC5R (K20A) have entirely different engines.
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Old May 23, 2003
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"o yea, how will we fit the turbo piping in the engine bay?


maby DC5@EM2 can tell us if there would be room in the engine bay for this feet..."

Piping shouldnt be a problem because with the way car is setup now, I basically have the engine bay of an ep and there are several turbo kits out for the ep's. And besides, piping isnt that big of problem, you can always find some space to do the piping. Might not always be in the ideal spots where you want it, but you can get the job done. Also, like someone else said, theres a good 11-13 inches back there for a turbo, so unless you want a crazy sized turbo back there, I dont think its gonna be a problem.

And as it stands right now, by aug/sept, i hope to be pushing psi. Im probably gonna go with the cybernation stage II turbo kit for the rsx. Nice 8:1 pistons and other engine goodies able to handle around 20 psi. Ah, a 360-370 whp civic sounds nice.
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