Honda-Tech - Honda Forum Discussion - B20B vs B18B for 8-10 psi?

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B20B vs B18B for 8-10 psi?

First off I searched and didnt really find anything helpful. I'm about to swap a low mileage JDM motor into my DA then start on my turbo project. The car is a daily driver so I'm not doing anything crazy, probably run around 8-10 psi and hope to see around 225-250 to the wheels. I'm wondering what motor I would be better off going with, a JDM B18B or a JDM B20B (99-00, high compression version)? I know B20's arent ideal for boost but my plans are pretty conservative so I'm wondering if a stock B20 would be able to easily hold 8-10 psi with cracking the sleeves? I love the torque of a B20 over a B18, so I'm guessing I would just be that much happier when boosted. Of course I would have a proper tune on it. So taking that all into consideration should I be able to go with a B20 with no problems or am I still better off going with a B18B?

Re: B20B vs B18B for 8-10 psi? (H22CD7)

you'll get 225-250 whp out of both motors easily with a good turbo kit. so now you have to answer this question. you wont crack a sleeve or float them on 8-10 lbs. i wouldn't be worried at all as long as you get it tuned well.

B20 - 2 liters, handles less revs. but i believe like 7 or 800, makes more torque.
b18 - 1.8 liter but more revs.

either way, you are going to get tired of 225-250whp. you'll probably want to go lsvtec later down and both motors would be good. i dont know what i would choose honestly. which one is cheaper?

tough question lol https://honda-tech.com/forums/images...s/emsmilep.gif

I know, I cant decide. Whats even worse is they are both the exact same price, 749$.

And I dont know how I would get bored with 250whp in a 2400lb car for a daily driver. I might get crazy with it after I get another car or something but I'm going to school for now so this car is just my daily beater for the next 4 years. Just looking to add some decent power to it and stay reliable. Anything more than my goals and I'm thinking reliability is going to become a issue.

i'd go with the b18b (ls block) because the sleeves are going to be thicker/stronger than on the b20.

both will hold 250 whp but the b18b is gonna be a safer bet with stock sleeves, especially if you're daily driving the car. plus you'll have some more room to grow power-wise.

just my $0.02...

basically, the B20 will be more fun. It will also be more likely to explode.

the B18 motor is tried and true and loves 12+ psi. I'd go with the LS motor personally stock for stock.

I'm at 245 whp right now, and I can tell you after a few months of driving it, you'll want more power. I hate to tell you that. When I first got it and had it all tuned up and felt the power, I was impressed, but now it feels slow to me. Give yourself room to grow. I'm in the process of trying to build a block that will support 400 whp now.

Re: (Rooftop voter)

then if you want reliablity id go with the b18. did a little research(didn't know much of ls blocks) and the sleeves are little thicker than that of the b20. it will be able to handle a little more power.

trust me. you'll get used to the power. and you wont think its fast anymore. so you'll want more. https://honda-tech.com/forums/images/smilies/emwink.gif

Re: (Fo-Do Fanatic)

wow 749? b20's aint worth that much so id go with the b18... out here in norcal you can get a b20 longblock wit oil pan intakemaniold for 300.... and thats from a shop wit paperwork of less then 50K miles... ive seen good out of both but i seen some nice ls-vtec motors. so choose ls cuz later down the road ur gonna want that vtec

$750 SHIPPED sounds about right..$400 otherwise...

I tuned a b20z (10:1 99+ engine) on 11-12psi on crome, used the step retard to pull .75 degree/per pound of boost. threw some 440s and 255 pump and tuned it, ran for over a year, then the owner spun a bearing..nothing to do with boost though https://honda-tech.com/forums/images/smilies/emthup.gif

he replaced the stock b20z with a stock b18b, running the same setup, just changed engines so he would be down while sleeving a block...the power/torque difference could def. be felt. between the 2.

Re: (darrinbrewer)

You can probably find a b18b shortblock for cheaper. I bought mine for 202.50! Couldn't you just bore out the b18b to make it a 2 liter? I'm not an expert, just asking. I don't know all the differances between the two.Maybe you could do that cheaper.

Re: (Rooftop voter)

you could do it but it will cost more... try to do more research and see if u can get the b20 cheaper den go wit it... but both are excellet motors

Would there be any streanght difffrences, or would boring it out that much make it about as weak as a b20?

Re: (Rooftop voter)

the sleeves are a little bit thicker on the LS motor than that of the CRV motor. go with the b20, you'll be happy. https://honda-tech.com/forums/images/smilies/emthup.gif

Re: (Fo-Do Fanatic)

the problem with b20 sleeves isnt because they're thin, it's because of the one piece casting b20's use. detonation is a sleeve killer.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by doood »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">the problem with b20 sleeves isnt because they're thin, it's because of the one piece casting b20's use. detonation is a sleeve killer.</TD></TR></TABLE>

damnit, beat me to it. https://honda-tech.com/forums/images...s/emsmilep.gif

Re: B20B vs B18B for 8-10 psi? (H22CD7)

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">wow 749? b20's aint worth that much so id go with the b18... out here in norcal you can get a b20 longblock wit oil pan intakemaniold for 300.... and thats from a shop wit paperwork of less then 50K miles... ive seen good out of both but i seen some nice ls-vtec motors. so choose ls cuz later down the road ur gonna want that vtec </TD></TR></TABLE>

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">$750 SHIPPED sounds about right..$400 otherwise... </TD></TR></TABLE>

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You can probably find a b18b shortblock for cheaper. I bought mine for 202.50! Couldn't you just bore out the b18b to make it a 2 liter? I'm not an expert, just asking. I don't know all the differances between the two.Maybe you could do that cheaper. </TD></TR></TABLE>

Both those prices were without shipping from Hmotorsonline, shipping would be another 225$. I dont have a local engine importer and I'm not going to buy a usdm motor, the whole point of geting a jdm motor was for it being low mileage. I know I could find a B18B for 300$ or so in town, but its going to be usdm and probably have atleast 100K. So if anyone knows of a better place than hmotorsonline to to get jdm motors let me know. I'm in the northwest so if it was west coast that would help save on shipping. Must be reputable and a decent savings though, like I'm not going to order from a place Ive never heard of to only save like 100$.

And again, I will not want or need anymore power than that. This is only my daily driver and will just be used to get me to school and work. I dont even need anything more than a stock motor really, but I already have 75% of turbo kit pieced together from a project I sold so I might as well put it to use. Reliability is way more of a priority than power. To tell you the truth 250whp is probably more than I want, I'd be plenty happy with around 225. Thats more than enough power to get from stop light to stop light or merge on to the freeway. I just want something with as much low end torque as possible that reaches full boost quick because it would almost never see anything over 5K. I will probably choose to go crazy with the car after I'm out of school but by then it would be a totally different turbo/motor set-up anyway. The whole point of the car for now is just a reliable daily driver with boost.

Modified by H22CD7 at 5:11 PM 6/18/2007

Re: B20B vs B18B for 8-10 psi? (H22CD7)

If your goal is under 300whp and you choose your turbo properly, you'd be best served with a b18b. A smaller turbo doing 300whp will have more than enough torque for DD'ing, yet be able to run a lot of power. You'll also have the ability to go ls/vtec & bigger turbo w/o having to worry about sleeves if you ever want more power. If you *know* you won't run more ever, and already have the typical 57trim t3/t4 turbo, you may want to go with the B20.

BTW for those living in California - Honda's aren't that cheap elsewhere, nor as easy to find parts for. My local 'import salvage yard' charges nearly $700 for a d16y8 longblock...with 100k miles! https://honda-tech.com/forums/images...s/emthdown.gif

Re: B20B vs B18B for 8-10 psi? (HiProfile)

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by HiProfile »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">BTW for those living in California - Honda's aren't that cheap elsewhere, nor as easy to find parts for. My local 'import salvage yard' charges nearly $700 for a d16y8 longblock...with 100k miles! https://honda-tech.com/forums/images...s/emthdown.gif </TD></TR></TABLE>

ouch https://honda-tech.com/forums/images...s/emsmileo.gif

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If you *know* you won't run more ever, and already have the typical 57trim t3/t4 turbo, you may want to go with the B20. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I know I will want more power eventually but by that point the car wont be a daily driver and I'll be running a B18C with a different completely different turbo set-up.

And your correct on the turbo, t3/t4 turbo 57 trim. I'm thinking 8psi would be a good number. Possibly 10 if I cant get close to the numbers I want with 8, but no more than 10psi ever. The internals will remain 100% stock and it will have a proper tune. I'm mostly trying to figure out how safe my goals would be on a B20B. I know I love the low end grunt the B20 has versus the B18, so in my mind the B20 should still be that much better with boost. So I would like to go with the B20B if it would be okay for my plans, but if it just wont be as reliable or safe as a B18 I wont do it.