Matthew Jackson

So I was thinking I recently did a swap from d17a1 dx on to a lx 05 em2 and I was thinking how much whp can the d17a1 reach. Around 117 stock I threw on a short Ram intake and a magna flow exhaust manifold I would have hope to bring up maybe 2 hp but I was thinking even with a full catback exhaust and even a intake manifold swap such as a maybe d17y8 you may be able to get so much power. Maybe someone can send me a video of a Bada** d17a1 pushing 400+hp 😂but I was just letting my curiousity get the best of me if anyone else can actually tell me how high the d17a1 can get in hp without blowing the motor such as pushing 50 LBS of turbo or anything thanks guys.

mac25

If you have ti ask then you arn't ready.

Physics wise, with unlimited money, custom parts and time 650hp. I'd guess.

500hp has been done.

But were talking about $10,000 on an engine that could be swapped for a better engine, and make more power, for less money.

.....

I'm probably about $6000-$8000 into a d17 build that will probably hit 300hp-400hp.

mac25

The more air you can flow, and the most efficient/coldest fuel, without blowing the block apart or snapping a ride is what you want.

Here's a road map of where to go, with fun power points as you go.

Step 1:
Head swap to an A2 head with a stage 1 cam, also port and polish the head. Make sure to run a larger header! You will feel a lot more power and torque. Somewhere around 140hp.

Step 2:
E85 conversion with tunable stand alone ecu 155+hp.

Step 3: boost. 300+hp

As far as I know there has never been a boosted d17 running e85, that has shown dyno numbers. So 650hp may be possible since 500hp is do able on 96 octane.

gio-dev

From his description:
10psi running e85, with a garrett GT2860RS/GT28RS t3 .63

Dyno result @ 1:10 in the video
237 hp / 208 tq

gio-dev

http://www.dynamotorsports.ca/dynogr...30RAEMFMIC.jpg

401 hp / 304 tq

mac25

Owww nice! Guess I'm behind on my youtube'in.


...237hp though, lol. Needs more boost.

gio-dev

Small turbo to begin with, primarily built for quick spool as a fun daily
He cracked a cylinder wall @ 20psi on an iffy street tune.
Several fb posts about it earlier this year, here’s an ig post for reference

mac25

...that sucks. Is he trying a block guard this time? I've heard mixed thoughts on block guards.

gio-dev

I remember him mentioning no plans on using one if/when he builds his spare motor, and that a good solid tune would have been the key to preventing the damage

Majority consensus on the 7th gen facebook groups is that block guards are worthless.
Mixed overall though because there are always some individuals that feel it's at least good for cheap insurance, and others that feel they are an absolute necessity.

Matthew Jackson

So running a vtec d17a2 head for starters is a good starting point and then getting a small turbo?

Regarding the turbos how are those eBay turbos iwas wondering since this is somewhat a budget build and LBS of boost wouldn't be very high?

mac25

The vtec conversion is relatively easy, there are a few DIYs on this site, and moves you to 127hp right off the bat from the stock d17a1; combined with a stage 1 cam and IHE, you'll notice quite a difference in torque/power.

Blocks are the same, he 1.7L D17

The heads are different though a1 = non vtec
A2= vtec

xRiCeBoYx

iTrader: (22)

Blocks are constructed the same, with minor differences.

D17A1 vs D17A2

• 9.5:1 vs 9.9:1 compression ratio
• Steel vs Aluminum oil pan (-a2 also has a larger oil capacity for extra oil for VTEC use -- 3.4 vs 3.7qts IIRC. They also use different gaskets - fiber gasket vs RTV)

VTEC engagement and the compression ratio of the D17A2 contribute to the 12hp difference.

brags

nice pick of the piston

piano55man

I'm running E85 with a budget ebay turbo.
FYI these cars won't make over 300 hp with a cast manifold.

crazicardi

When you say run larger headers what exactly do you mean?

IReadALot

It’s that hunking piece of medal in front of the engine that connects to the exhaust pipe. Google it.

The basic idea is to remove stock exhaust manifold and have dedicated pipes for each piston.

The larger the pipes the faster the air can leave the combustion chamber.

That being said, pretty sure the non VTec models have headers that are merged with catalytic converters. So you’d have find another place to put your O2 sensors, regardless of a CC delete.

crazicardi

I understand what the exhaust headers are I was just under the assumption that stock headers already had a pipe for each piston/port. Is this like something you're referring to?

D17VTECPOWER

iTrader: (1)

Yes. However, you will need to upgrade your exhaust system to one with bigger pipes if you plan to increase power.

Get an EX exhaust system and a header. You can find header/testpipe (cat delete pipe for the EX) and catback exhaust kits on eBay. I have a Spec D Tuning exhaust system and it's not bad for the $110 that I paid for it, but you will need either a cat or test pipe to use it and an EX header. I found one for $40 on eBay and it's fine.

Definitely worth it, HUGE improvement over my stock LX exhaust system with my cammed VTEC engine. A full list of of all the mods I did is in my profile.

crazicardi

Yeah, your exhaust is efficient as the smallest part. I plan on getting the EX headers & the test pipe for a cat delete.

How does the Spec D exhaust sound in your opinion? How loud is it without the cat? I'll make sure to check your profile for that list of mods since I have an LX as well. I plan on making a forum post here soon detailing all of my plans to see what people think of them.

D17VTECPOWER

iTrader: (1)

In my opinion, too loud. it droned constantly on the highway. The thing never shut up. The Spec D exhaust came with a silencer, which quieted it a bit, but also probably gives up a couple HP because it's a smaller diameter than the pipe and IMO looked stupid in the muffler tip. I ended up cutting off the muffler it came with and having a Flowmaster DBX muffler welded on. The Flowmaster DBX muffler was a bit pricey IMO. It still drones a little on the highway, but it's a lot better than the one it came with.

I am thinking about getting an electronic exhaust cutout and a quieter muffler. Then I can have plenty of noise at full throttle or when I want it, but drive around quietly otherwise.

crazicardi

That's really what I'm afraid of. I don't want something obnoxiously loud with lots of drone noise. I'm looking at the Yonaka exhaust of the Spec-D exhaust but I'm afraid that will be too loud as well.

piano55man

I mean you could always go with the exhaust out the hood like i did....

mac25

Your car is near perfectly balanced as it is, meaning it burns as little fuel as possible while creating as much power as possible, with as little metal as possible to flow air.

Energy and power need to come from somewhere, so you need to burn more fuel to reach higher horsepower figures.

In order to burn more fuel you need more air.

In order to let that air flow you need bigger air control mechanism, which fallow the entire air flow route.

-air filter
-intake tube
-throttle body
-intake manifold
-intake ports/valves
-exhaust ports/valves
-header
-exhaust system

You don't need to increase everything on that list, but each will help and some are necessary for certain horse power targets.

D17VTECPOWER

iTrader: (1)

Be careful if you have an auto! I installed a bigger throttle body and the transmission was very unhappy because a bigger throttle body messes with the way the TPS reads since more air goes through at the same position. It would upshift very early, lug itself, then slam into a low gear when I would give it more gas to try to accelerate and it couldn't decide which gear it wanted to be in. The TCC also wouldn't stay engaged, it engaged and disengaged every couple of seconds while cruising down the highway.

I had a thread on this with a lot of good info, but a moderator deleted it.

D17VTECPOWER

iTrader: (1)

If I put the silencer in, mine wasn't obnoxiously loud (but it was close by my standards). However, like I said, it will probably kill some power and (imo) looks stupid, so I just lived with the noise until had a Flowmaster DBX muffler installed.

Something I forgot to mention was that my Flowmaster muffler has no pipe after the end, which can make it louder than if it had some pipe after it rather than using the muffler as the tip like I did. However, I don't know if it would be possible to put the muffler further upstream on these cars so it could have a tailpipe coming off of it.

crazicardi

Exhaust isn't exactly my area of expertise, but in an effort to combat drone noise, could a resonator be placed somewhere along the exhaust to minimize that effect?

D17VTECPOWER

iTrader: (1)

My exhaust system already has 2 resonators- 1 in the test pipe where the cat would be and 1 built into the Spec D exhaust system. It doesn't get rid of the droning noise on the highway, but I can't say how much worse it would be without them since they are built into the exhaust system this exhaust system. Most test pipes for these cars have a resonator built in, and most exhaust systems do as well.

One option I am looking into and you may want to consider may be getting a cheap exhaust, having a very quiet muffler installed or reusing the stock one if it bolts on on whatever exhaust system you plan to buy, and getting an electric exhaust cutout. An exhaust cutout basically opens the exhaust under the car when you flip a switch so you get maximum performance and lots of noise when desired. I am thinking I may wire mine to a switch under the accelerator pedal so it automatically opens the exhaust a full throttle, but otherwise runs quietly and doesn't drone.

xRiCeBoYx

iTrader: (22)

what size piping you running on that exhaust?

D17VTECPOWER

iTrader: (1)

The test pipe is 2.5 inches, the rest of the exhaust is 2.25 inches.

xRiCeBoYx

iTrader: (22)

Try swapping that straight through N1-style muffler for a high flow chambered muffler.

I ran a ceramic coated header (with runners that were actually larger than stock), 2.25" downpipe with high flow cat, and 2.36" (60mm) A'PEXi WS-II cat back that had a chambered muffler. Zero drone. Friends and fam that hate rice rockets actually liked how my car sounded.