b18LS

Hi guys, Ive been a long time honda guy, but I've got to admit, sometimes I doubt their durability when it comes to track use/abuse. Ive got a friend invovled in porsche club lapping days in a 944, and they regularily see N/A 944's with 280+ K still doing HARD lapping/ racing on original engines etc.... BMW as well. I guess what Im asking is, how are our motors holding up? I do some solo 2 events, and the odd track day, but Im always parranoid of running the engine too hard. I've got a B16 in an integra, and theres nothing to make me doubt its reliability, I just thought Id throw this out there. I love honda, and will probably always have one in the driveway, but there is some nice sheetmetal out there. Any thoughts? experiences? Thanks,

kb58

Tough to say. If someone's banging off the rev-limiter all the time, yeah, that's not good for the engine. If you stay under factory redline, don't run out of oil in turns, and don't overheat it, I'd expect it to last for 100s of track days. Common sense, really.

Eyal 951

as a once 944 owner, I have no doubt in my mind that your honda, if properly maintained and built, should hold up far better then any 944. The 10 or so HPDE's I have done, there was only once where we had to cut the day short due to a leaking oil pan gasket, likely due to over torquing the bolts.

Gunns

There was a Type R here in Canada that had well over 400,000 KM with lots of track time. Sure it burned some oil, but 400K +!! Ask around the Type R forum for more details.

b18LS

Thanks guys, thats good to hear.. I guess the grass is always greener, on the german side of the fence styling wise, and even with that damn rear wheel drive! but I still cant say no to a honda. LOL, I think somedays I look for a reason why NOT to drive a honda/Acura and still havent been able to find a viable one. Thanks again.....I just wish I could run the forged BBS 17's he;s running and actually have them work to my advantage.

o-man

1990 CRX Si. Bought used with 166k. Blew original motor at 196K due to MY error. Used half a quart of oil during hpde weekend. Was doing 10-15 events per year. You have nothing to worry about if routine maintenance has been done, and don't let the oil level get low like one of us

Lo-Buck EF

there are plenty of bigh milage honda engines out on track. my old single cam has 250k+ miles on it. i dont track it anymore but asside from an exhaust leak its still fine. only thing i had to replace was a headgasket that was leaking for about a year before it finally gave up. and that motor saw abuse for 100,000 of my miles between tracking it, tons of autocross and daily driving miles. and god knows how many miles from the previous owner.
my b18c has never left me stranded. and it was smoking and using 1qt of oil per session when i got it (came with the car) about 3 years ago. it just recently gave up with low idle oil pressure. but i think a rebuild would give it another 5 years of HARD abuse easily.

Type_RS_59

I've had my Integra since new and since I know I have properly maintained it and not over revved it much. It will probably last forever as long as I keep up with the maintenance. The JDM B16A in my civic leaks oil and has been thru who knows hom many owners. I trust it for light DD work but I would not expect it to survive repeated blasts to redline on a race track.

thawley

I don't think there's any more reliability to the Porsches than the Hondas. The bigger (?) factors may be who you'll be running with, what your friends drive, who'll be doing the service and what resources near you for parts. I run a Honda. All my friends do too. It would be a BIG inconvenience for me to switch over and start running anything else. But if I worked for a German car repair shop and hung out with P-car guys all the time, things might be different.

One thing for sure, the 924/944/968 spec guys are generally in the way of the faster H4 guys whenever they are on the track at the same time. Which is always.

A quick trip to the NASA lap records pages will provide some interesting reading.

Eyal 951

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by thawley &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">One thing for sure, the 924/944/968 spec guys are generally in the way of the faster H4 guys whenever they are on the track at the same time. Which is always.</TD></TR></TABLE>

This is true, but don't ask em about it, they get emotional. I have seen some very fast 944 turbos set up, but the spec guys aren't very fast.

Lets see, McPherson front. rear torsion bars, or double wishbone front and rear. Your choice guys!

I loved my turbo, but the honda is so much more usable. (mostly because it runs more often)

b18LS

Thanks guys, that makes me feel better. I guess Im just being swayed by the darker side lately! We'll see what the future brings.....there will always be at least one honda in the driveway. Ryan

mjfx

great thread! i love it. i was wondering the same exact thing. i am about to swap a b18c into my crx but i wanted to make sure i did everything possible to make it reliable while it was already out of the car. but money is tight and i want to put money towards suspension so i'm still not sure if i should replace all the factory parts for new parts. for example pistons, valves, and get it cleaned out. it will probably cost $1,500 to do what i had in mind. what do you guys think, should i do this or is it a waste of money?

allenp

My GSR had 150k on the clock before I started doing track days.. Now it's done 13 track days and it seems strong as ever. I installed a baffled oil pan, always overfill by 3/4 quart, and check the oil after EACH SESSION. It burns about 1/3 quart each time out.

mjfx

sounds good allen thanks for that. maybe i won't mess with the internals, but instead make sure everything externally is perfect and make sure i get a good oil pan. thanks dude