Rep Power: 258

NOT the Type-S, but the regular Acura Rsx (160hp) motor, is it any good? I know the only way to get gains out of my car is swap and turbo. And the RSX swap can fit into my budget. How would you rate is though? How does it respond to bolt-ons? And if I bought it with a manual tranny, what else would I need to swap trannys on my car(I own an automatic)

 
Rep Power: 331

it's the smae motor that's in the 7thGen Si i believe. The Si is standard trans. You're gonna neeed all the parts that those cars have that you don't.

 
Rep Power: 311

thats great that you stated the OBVIOUS...

 
Rep Power: 331

lol oops.. it's 6:30 AM i'm half asleep. It's hard listing/thinking about this so early in the morning.

 
Rep Power: 254

it's not the same motor as in the new si. first of all, the new si has 197hp, not 160, lots of other small changes. but i wont get into that.

for OP, anything's better then the d17.

 
Rep Power: 331

the 7th gen si has a 160 hp dohc i-VTEC engine.

 
Rep Power: 254

whoops, read wrong. yeah, same motor .

 
Rep Power: 331

any DOHC is better than your SOHC. So even if it isn't the type-s motor you'll still beat any D17 civic.

 
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One thing I found interesting about the base rsx motor was the torque peaked at 139 lb-ft@4000k rpm where the type-s motor's peak torque was 140 lb-ft@7000k rpm (source Acura Website). HP is nice, but I have always been a fan of torque.

 
Rep Power: 0

I think this would be a great upgrade. It has more power and still gets decent MPG. The TQ up grade will be significant (40t and 35hp) If u plan to turbo in the future then it will be even better

 
Rep Power: 281

I know swap costs vary but would that be worth it because I don't think the 7th gen si is that much faster than our 7th gen ex's. 6th gen si is another story though. We could probably go N/A d17 and gain close to the gains of a base rsx swap. Having a real vtec would be fun though. I'd take a K series any day.

 
Rep Power: 403

move this to swaps and FI

 
Rep Power: 0

D17 w/ bolt ons will do nothing at all. And the VTEC on the 7th gen SI is the weak one.

6th gen Si and Type-S and 8th gen Si have real VTEC's

RSX 160 hp > EX 127 hp

 
Rep Power: 331

weak VTEC or not... DOHC>SOHC

 
Rep Power: 287

if your going FI, then its a good option. the comp. ratio is stupid low and is ideal for boost.

 
Rep Power: 300

yeah if FI is in the future, get the a3 (si/rsx base) better for boost.

 
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id rather get the type-s engine, its EVEN better with fi then the base.

 
Rep Power: 280

It depends how you look at it.

With all savings from not going with type-s, you could have regular rsx swap and be 70% into turbocharging it.

 
Rep Power: 403

the base engine head is only a 12 valve compared to the 16 valve type S head, and the internals of a k20a3 arn't as strong as a type S, it can't hold much boost, and the base crank isn't balanced like a type S...

 
Rep Power: 280

I'm sure both these engines have 16 valve design.

 
Rep Power: 265

boosted k20a3 = crankwalk
save for an a2 mang

 
Rep Power: 281

true...but how much longer would it take to save for an a or a2 swap?? all boils down to your preference, money to burn, and amount of patience. choose wisely, you'll have to live with your choice, good or bad

 
Rep Power: 297

if you got a good deal on the BASE RSX get it now...

down the line u can do upgrades piece by piece to get u up to where u want to

swap the heads and put on a type s...
or
build the head then swap it onto ur motor

then u can swap later down the line put in some after market rods and pistons
or
you can get a stroker kit and stroke it to a 2.2L or 2.4L which is equivilent to a K24

 
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Always go for the more horsepower.

 
Rep Power: 403

go big or go back crying to your parents house..... lol..

 
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the k20a is a BETTER engine, you will spend more swaping out the head,building the engine for fi, then JUST buying the k20a and it might not even be that much slower then the boosted k203, due to better gearing, and such.. im sure you would like the k20a stock in your car better then the k20a3, i dont care if its "still" K20, ITS still A MEDEOCORE(sp) engine compared to the REAL vtec k20a. and 160hp isnt THAT much better then our d17's, its still a 15 sec car after you have spent literally thousands JUST for the stock crappy base engine. the internals of the k20 can withstand more abuse/boost. and you might spend more money on the base engine for less hp in the end.. thats just my opinion.

 
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^ we are talking about the K20a3 v. K20a2; not the Type R K20A u idiot! Even if u meant the K20a2 when u said K20A, you really need to be more specific in what you say.

 
Rep Power: 403

a k20a3 with a turbo is faster than a k20a

 
Rep Power: 280

Hell, d17 turbo usualy faster than stock Acura rsx-s.
May be Civic w/stock k20a2 faster than d17-t civic, but this arguable....
Many d17-t on my side, where k20 civics usualy not..

 
Rep Power: 291

I have a turbo K20A3 swap from a base RSX and it was worth every penny. You wont be disipointed.