Air Intake questions

[Guest MegaloManiac]

id love to have more power. but my car is automatic. will doin all that upgrade throw the gear ratios off? what is considered cheap for this? $1k,2k,or..

I dont want to be called a ricer... :'(  .                     

[CompressionFed]

Your gear ratios can NOT be thrown off by any mods to the motor.  Your shift points are set by the computer also.

Throttle body = $250-300

Header = $400-600

Cams = $400-800

BTW, I would never let you be called a ricer bro! ;D

[Guest MegaloManiac]

will the vtec power still be able to kick in?   

[CompressionFed]

Yes, again this is controlled by the ECU.  The three upgrades I mentioned are mechanical changes.  Shift points, VTEC engangement is electrical.

In order for VTEC to engage, you need the following to happen;

1)Oil pressure at the solonoid must be roughly 75psi (this means you have to have adquate oil level)

2)Water tempeture must be at usual driving temp.

3)65-75% throttle position (full throttle)

When all these conditions exist, the VTEC solonoid opens pushing oil into little pins inside the rockers.  This locks the rockers together allowing the middle lobe on the cam (VTEC LOBE) to lift the valves.  If you ever look at a Honda VTEC camshaft, you will see three lobes.  One big one in the middle (VTEC lobe), and two smaller, offset lobes to either side.

The two smaller lobes are offset from one another so that they open the intake valves at slightly different times.  This allows for "swirl" to take place inside the cylinder.  This swirl helps flame propagation from the spark plug to create a very efficient burn inside each cylinder.  ***This is how honda's make great power in such a small displacement motor/ with great fuel economy.

Here's a fun fact for you!

The Honda Civic Type R (only offered in Japan) was a 1.6 liter motor that made 185hp.  It is still recognized as one of the most efficient motors ever to be placed in a OEM/manufactured vehicle.

If Ford could duplicate this technology in a mustang,,, Every 5.0 you see on the road would make roughly 

581 hp in stock trim.

That's 116 hp/per liter!!

[str86diesel]

CompressionFed  - great technical explanation...  I will say, I'm definately not a honda person..but you really hit it on the head..great job.

[Pokey]

That would be absolutly effin sick!!!! [glow=red,2,300]CF[/glow], it kinda seems like you're the import guy arond here, Kev is the new motor guy, and I'll stick to the old carb'd motors...LoL. I'm sure we all know something about all three mentioned, it kinda seems to me that those are our specialties, LoL.

I like the idea of those mods for your car Mir. I'm not an import guy myself, but if it works, then it works...ya know??? Good luck with the car, we'll need pics and before and after dyno numbers if you can. I kow there's a dyno shop in Dallas somewhere. Let's see how those mods really do for a daily driver.

[str86diesel]

Pokey - the only issue that I really see in adding the mentioned mods to MegaloManiac's car, per what CompressionFed suggested is that it sounds like CompressionFed and I really have something in common, and that is spending countless hours on dyno's with a tuning staff on hand. 

When adding something like a cam, it really isn't a plug and play part.  When you go to more aggressive lobes, you have to worry about your rocker spacing..etc.  There is definately a lot of tuning that comes with a cam.  So unless MegaloManiac's got a good mechanic on his side, I'd start with a good intake, throttle bodies..etc.  I would definately spend some time researching what the engine is capable and who can help him with the work.

Kev

[CompressionFed]

CompressionFed  - great technical explanation...  I will say, I'm definately not a honda person..but you really hit it on the head..great job.

Thank you sir, from what I hear you are quite the wiz yourself so I take your comment as a compliment.

[str86diesel]

Anytime my brutha..we are one big family in here.

[CompressionFed]

MegaLow, if you were local, or wanted to take the road trip, I would sponsor the dyno time so you could see the before and after of the mods.  Especially the header and throttle body before/after.