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so, whats everyones thoughts on the k20a3 motor? why is there so much bashing about it? personally i think its a perfectly good motor to swap and boost. any other thoughts?

 
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Why start at 160 h.p. when you can start at 200?

 
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i guess peoplejust see its hp and assume it sucks....but i would rather buy a k20a or a2 becuase i will save some time replacing parts suchs as manifold pistons and other things that are diff from a2 from a3 .... thats how i would see it

 
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+12345

 
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If you're thinking about swapping a K20, You're obviously going for something more powerful then what you have. I'd be looking at horsepower more then the parts that you'd need, though, cause the end result will probably be about the same amount of work needed to swap. Just my two cents, but I'd rather start out higher in the horsepower game

 
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If you are planning to boost, a3 is good motor to start with, because of cheaper price.

 
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I suppose thats like saying why swap in a B16 when you can swap in a B18...

K20A3s are cheaper and more abundant I suppose, not to mention, aren't they a bit lower compression? Making them a bit more boost friendly?

 
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if you boost go with the a3... the a3 has low compression...

all motor go with the a2... it has higher compression


here is how i see it... if you get the a2 and want to boost.. then you would need to put in lower compression pistons.. howeever you can boost on the a2 but you cant boost as much as a a3....

ideally if you are planning to boost use the a2 head with the a3 bottom.. cheap and effective... power of the a2 with the lower compression of the a3...

other than that its just all a matter of preference here on.... how much you want to spend and so forth

 
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Well, what would the hp be on an a3 bottom end with an a2 head? I'm guessing lower than the complete a2 because of the lower compression, but how much lower?

 
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Not to mention tranny. A3 comes with a 5speed tranny where as the A/A2 comes with a 6speed tranny.

 
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There is no reason to bash the K20a3 itself. Its a rock solid motor, has good horsepower, and even is offered with an auto if that is what you want.

Now the a3 as a swap is different. I still feel the a3 makes a great swap. You can get it cheaper and then boost the hell out of it. Getting over 200whp is not a problem from the motor with some work.

I look at it like this: If your new motor has significantly more power than your original (25% more from ex -> k20a3) then it is worth the upgrade.

 
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Lower compression
Pansy VTEC
1 less gear
No Oil squirters

Its only real advantage is its cheap.
An accord motor would be a better boost option given the extra cubes and quantity available, but the A3 seems to be the cheapest, its easier to start with the A, A2, Z1 or Z3 if you're going to not boost it because all the necessary equipment is there.

 
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Look at it like this, if you're going to do all that work, why not get the most out of it?

 
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The a3 would feel a world of a difference compared to our motor. But yeah like everybody says..if your doing all of this work and spending all of this money to swap for a K series..why not shave some more bucks for the a or a2.

 
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i've got buddies with both the ep3 and rsx the vtec on the ep3 is weaksauce, nothin compared to the rsx. if your gonna do the swap why not do it right the first time and get the A2

 
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well... in all honesty if you are gonna spend quite a few money then why dont you just do a k24 block.. more torque and more potential

 
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There's not just a "few bucks" difference between an a3 and an a2 swap, at least around here. It's more like a few THOUSAND dollars. I'm all for people swapping whatever they want, and I'd like to have an a3, but there's a larger problem with it than anyone else has mentioned. It has a notorious issue with crankwalk. Also, going on on ephatch.com and clubrsx.com, someone has managed to swap in a2 cams into a completley stock a3 motor, with a little work done (nothing major).

 
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If you are planning to swap AND boost, a K20a3 motor with a used turbo or supercharger kit is an easy way to make 220-270whp with way more torque then N/A.

.02

 
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[QUOTE=xproductionz][B]

ideally if you are planning to boost use the a2 head with the a3 bottom.. cheap and effective... power of the a2 with the lower compression of the a3...

Thats how i see it too

 
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Just buy a K24A1, you'll find it for cheaper and that b*tch will be ready for a type s head later.

 
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Which k24 engine is best to use, tsx, cr-v, accord?

 
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K24 longblocks go for around a grand here. and about the A2 cams in the a3 you have to swap over the full valve train,, cam caps, plus switch some small things i forgot what they were and you have to have Kpro. there was a member on HT that posted how to do it he made close to 200hp just by switchin all that stuff over

 
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Ya is there a better OR best k24??

 
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here's a link to how to put the a2 cams into the a3 head

http://www.honda-tech.com/zerothread?id=1553082

 
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hell yeah theres a better 24 its a k24a2 from the tsx. back to the subjetct though a k20a3 sux because it hit no vtec. the vtec that it has is the 12 valve to 16 valve gas saving vtec which in my book is by no means vtec at all. vtec to me is something that has a high cam low cam. which only two engine out really have the k20a2 from rsx type s or the tsx k24a2. all other motors marked with VTEC seem to lack the power and high end 8k rpm pull. so swapping an a3 into your vic wouldve been like putting an ls b18a or b in an oldschool teg. yes its true you can swap heads but who wants to do all that extra work when you can just simply put in the motor you desire the first time.

 
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The best value would be from an accord. The best performance tsx, but it is not worth the cost.
Choosing an engine has alot to do with who you know, cause some people have done swaps for pretty damn cheap. You also have to know what you want. Do you want 250whp, or do you wanna push it to over 300whp some day?
You also need to know what kind of power do you want, do you want all motor, turbo, or s/c. You need to figure out what you want and then set a goal.
If you go a cheap route ONLY because of the fact that it is cheap then you will probably not get what you want. You will probably just spend more money in the long run trying to get what you want. If you say that all you want is a faster car, well it aint that easy.

 
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but with the k24a4 accord motors a type s head will not fit... something about piston clearance.. granted you can just fix that with machine work but thats more money to be spent.

 
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Could you run a tsx k24 shortblock(whats the compression btw), with the k20 jdm type r head which makes 220hp? Also is the k24 tsx motor drive by wire only, or can you make it work with the stock throttle system? All you swapper guys are crazy, $8k for a 200 hp engine and tranny? Thats nuts. Don't get me wrong, i think thats bad as hell what a lot of you guys do, and who has a k24 swapped civic by me, let alone a k20 swapped 7thgen. I wish i had $8k for my motor, LOL.

 
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ading drive by wire to a car not so equipped is ALOT of money!
You need new pedal assembly, wiring to pedal and all the extra electronics, new throttle body, not to mention the fact that the electonic for the throttle might go through other parts like the ECU.

 
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yeah you can do that its called a Fankenstein. You just cant do it with k24a4 engines unless you fix the clearance issue.