Calling all JDM H23A Turbo owners!
 

After sticking to the turbo F22 scene for the past 5 years and testing the limits of those time and time again I've decided to move on to a new platform. I'll be making the switch to the JDM H23A blue top very soon and I'm interested in seeing some other setups and power numbers.

My new setup will be as follows:
Stock from valve cover to oil pan JDM H23A.
KSTuned V2 manual tensioner.
Log based turbo setup with a 57 trim or close equivalent.
AEM Water/methanol system.

Planning to run 10-12psi on this setup on a conservative tune to keep the torque manageable.


I know this is not a very common engine to work with and I've often wondered why. Makes torque like an F22 thanks to the 95mm stroke and makes power like an H22.

I would like to know your:
-Turbo setup. Turbo, PSI you're running, et cetera.
-Power numbers, if you've actually been dyno'd.
-Rev limit and head used. (P13 or PDE)
-Any other pertinent info that may help myself or others on their quest for H23A glory.

Re: Calling all JDM H23A Turbo owners!
 

Should be interesting. The nice thing about 2 cams is you have more flexibility in cam timing and profiles. I thought about putting the non vtec h23 head on my A1 but I think I would take a hit in terms of port flow.

What are you doing with your F22 and it's related parts? *hint hint* lol

Re: Calling all JDM H23A Turbo owners!
 

Indeed. I don't plan on doing anything too fancy this time. It's going to be a glorified daily/backroad carver so I can start my next project.

I've blown up 2 F22 bottom ends in the past 3 months lol. First one chunked a rod from an infinite boost situation due to my own stupidity. Second one was a $100 junk motor that chunked a rod after continuously getting raped with a VERY aggressive tune on 18-20psi(I was hanging with a 600whp turbo Chevelle lmao). Motor had a lazy cylinder from the get go so I can't be too upset. Was cruising down the highway one day doing like 35, just chillin, and it puked it's guts all over the place at random. Took out my good head with it. Oh well.

I have a fresh OEM rebuild F22 bottom end with a KS balance shaft delete kit that I'll be selling, as well as other stuff like catch can/vented valve cover setup, ported F23 intake manifold package, etc. It's all F22B1/2 stuff so not sure if you would be interested. I can PM you a link to the for sale thread I create eventually if you would like.

Re: Calling all JDM H23A Turbo owners!
 

Come on fellas, I know these things are rare but I didn't realize nobody at all had one. I'm going to pick up my motor tomorrow.

Re: Calling all JDM H23A Turbo owners!
 

H series engines hate log manifolds. Way too much pre-turbo exhaust pressure which tends to result in an early demise. You'll find that most long-living stock H setups run larger tubular manifolds

Re: Calling all JDM H23A Turbo owners!
 

I'm aware they're not ideal. It'll work for now though. I do intend to switch to a nice tubular in the near future.

Re: Calling all JDM H23A Turbo owners!
 

The main problem is the lack of commercial turbo manifolds.

You could always go the 4g63 mani route and just slot holes. It's what I'm doing on the A1

Re: Calling all JDM H23A Turbo owners!
 

There are plenty. SPoolin, BRM, BWR, Go-autoworks, PLM...All ~$800 or below

Coming from a guy who popped his stock H22 on a similar setup...Then the next owner blew two engines with it. Just food for thought...

Re: Calling all JDM H23A Turbo owners!
 

H23a uses a different exhaust flange. Those won't work.

Calling all JDM H23A Turbo owners!
 

The H23a bluetop uses the same mani as the h22 does. I had a turbo'd h23a that lasted about 7 months before it thru a rod. Brms twisted ramhorn manifold. Borg warner gm3 turbo @15psi. P13 head. Ported euro r manifold. 1000cc injectors. 3" turbo back exhaust. Water/meth. Car made 465whp/382tq. Revved to 7200-7500 daily

Re: Calling all JDM H23A Turbo owners!
 

Oh the blue top... Derp lol yea it uses the h22 flange.

Re: Calling all JDM H23A Turbo owners!
 

I've seen your setup around here before and on youtube. That thing ripped. What are you doing with the car now?

Re: Calling all JDM H23A Turbo owners!
 

Bumping this. Still want to see more setups. Mine is in the car and done for now. It's a rocket on only 9psi. Revving it to only 7500, PDE head. Will eventually turn it up down the road to 14-15psi.

Calling all JDM H23A Turbo owners!
 

Recently picked up another h23a. At some point I'm proly gonna tear it apart and replace the rods and pistons and have the bottom end balanced. Until then its just sitting on an engine stand for now. The civic now has an old worn h22 back in it so i can at least drive the car

Re: Calling all JDM H23A Turbo owners!
 

In for details as well.

Re: Calling all JDM H23A Turbo owners!
 

don't use a log manifold. don't skimp on exhaust A/R. let the engine breathe and use modern equipment, not the ebay equivalent.

Re: Calling all JDM H23A Turbo owners!
 

It's already got a log on it. I'm not a fan of it so it'll be going sooner rather than later. Probably gonna pick up something from SpoolinPerformance, either the Quick4 or Streetpower with a 3" downpipe.

I'm using 55% of my Precision 680cc injectors at only 9 psi, with a steady 11.8 AFR in boost. With the 500cc jet from my AEM water/meth kit factored in that, puts me around 310-320whp. Of course I don't have a dyno locally so that's technically just educated speculation. Another 1-2psi or whatever it takes to hit 60% IDC should be ~350whp which is about where I want to stop.

I was using ~70% of my Precisions with the AEM water/meth kit factored in on my previous F22 on 18-20psi which should have been just a hair under 400whp. No wonder it spit a rod out lol. Strangely enough the H23 seems faster as it sits now. Possibly because it has more power up top and can pull longer, instead of peaking low and then falling off like the F22s do. Where the F22 was running out of steam, this thing is just waking up.

Re: Calling all JDM H23A Turbo owners!
 

<p>Sometimes I wonder if the F22A1 is worth all of this trouble or if I should just say screw it and grab a JDM F20B lol.&nbsp;</p>

Re: Calling all JDM H23A Turbo owners!
 

It's all in what you want. I still have a soft spot for the single cams. They're durable, torquey little things. I would say no to the F20B personally, as I had that option when I went to the importer and you see where I ended up lol. The F20B just doesn't make enough torque to lug around a heavy Accord IMO.

My buddy is going the other way. He recently destroyed his JDM H23A because he was running around on a "premium basemap". Tore it down the other day to find #3 piston completely eat up with pitting and the intake side of the ring lands completely destroyed from detonation. There was another piston that was on it's way out too but it wasn't as bad. The car is currently in my shop about to get a turbo F23A swap that I pretty much sold him on. The same importer I got my H23A from has F23As for $250 out the door. He'll likely have less than $1200 in the whole setup since I've got a bunch of turbo F series stuff laying around that he's gonna get off me.

Re: Calling all JDM H23A Turbo owners!
 

I'll sell him that fancy miniram style manifold I picked up.

I'm so indecisive with this damn car.

Re: Calling all JDM H23A Turbo owners!
 

why dont you post up your goals and what you currently have. so we can help you make a good decision.

Re: Calling all JDM H23A Turbo owners!
 

Quick 4/Mini ram be best budget flowing mani... Don't expect the rings to last too long... have popped them even NA.

Heres my experience:
H23AV Blue Top fully built 50 trim t3/t4 411 whp n like 330 trq at 15 psi - Crx - Dynapack
H23AV Blue Top fully built SC6176e 473 whp and 373 trq at 15 psi - Crx - Dynapack
H23AV Blue Top fully built T46266 475 whp and 373 trq at 15 psi - DC2 -Dynojet reads lower

From my experience... they make good torque... for a daily car and stock internals and low boost 10-12 psi... I would go with a smaller turbo... more fun... less lag... the 50 trim spooled up super quick and made the car pretty darn fun on the street and right off the throttle...

5858 precision would be good choice... gives you a little room up top... but most start with the 6262 t3 it will give you the power to 500++ whp (when built) but will give you slightly more lag......

Re: Calling all JDM H23A Turbo owners!
 

Good info. The Quick4 is the manifold I'm considering. As for the rings/ringlands, I'm running quite a bit of water/meth so that should ease the stress on them with the cooler combustion temps. I never had an issue with ringlands on the stock bottom end F22s I was running. It was always the rods that went first. I did compare the stock H23A rods to the stock F22 rods and the H23A rods are actually a little thinner just under the pin area which is kind of alarming.

They do make for a fun street car. They make a ton of torque and are very responsive thanks to the compression ratio and cams. Spools quite a bit faster than what I'm used to on a 57 trim while only being .1L difference than the old F22s I played around with.

It's my daily and I'm not nearly as hard on things as I used to be so I'm hoping it'll last long enough to be worth the trouble of swapping it. I deliberately tuned out some power around peak torque and lowered my rev limiter to 7200rpm to keep everything happy and hopefully in one piece. I ended up with another H23A bottom end here recently so that's probably going to get built over the next couple of years.

Re: Calling all JDM H23A Turbo owners!
 

I don't know about you but everytime I look at my A1 I can't help but think about doing a compound turbo setup. It would be the perfect platform for it and running my VGT HE351VE Holset as the atmospheric turbo would definitely make it a torque monster. Possibly too much torque lol but I think it would be an interesting experiment.

Especially since I could control the vane position/housing size based on turbo manifold backpressure which would mean I only need to wastegate the small turbo.

If I had an H23 I'd probably be thinking the same thing lol.