My Term Paper on D series Engines. (from previous post)
06-19-2003, 09:23 AM
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My Term Paper on D series Engines. (from previous post)
I said I would post it and here it is. Thanks for all your help.
Older Honda d series engines are one of the most versatile engines of our time. By ‘older’ I specifically mean 1988 to 1990 US model engines. The engines I will be speaking of can be found in the civic sedan/hatch/wagon and CRX. The CRX uses the same engine because it is based of off the civic. CRX literally stands for Civic Renaissance Model-X. In the year 1988, Honda converted from mostly carbureted to mainly fuel injected. Fuel injection is where my interest picks up. Carburetors worked for what needed to be done and that’s it, fuel injection has so many more opportunities for fine tweaking and high performance tuning. The engines have proven numerous times that they are reliable and can be ran past 200,000 miles with no major problems. They are also reliable for street and race performance needs.
The engines found in these cars are labeled: d16a6, d15b2, and d15b6. Explaining the engine code is actually quite simple. The first letter in the code stands for the engine series, the engine/motor mounts, and the chassis (engine bay) it sits in. The second two numbers stands for the size/displacement of the engine: 1.5-liter and 1.6-liter. The last two, number/letter combo denotes the cylinder head and fuel injection style. In short, you can tell a good amount of information about the engine, just from knowing or reading the engine code.
Three simple performance pluses these cars have are as follows. The first aspect of performance that these cars hold is the vehicle weight. None of these cars weigh over 2800 pounds in factory form. For an example the 1988-1989 CRX HF weighs in at only 1819 pounds. Already being lighter than most other cars produced, it doesn’t take much horsepower and torque to make these cars quick. The second aspect of performance is the d16a6, which is the ‘performance engine’ found in the civic hatchback Si, civic sedan Ex, and the civic wagon rt4wd. I use the term ‘performance engine’ loosely, if you would like to consider 108 horsepower and 100ft-lb of torque performance. I’m sure that back in the late 80’s early 90’s it was a lot more than it is now, but still 108 horsepower isn’t going to make a car fast. The main reason the d16a6 can be called a performance engine is because of its multi-port fuel injection system, compared to the economy styles of dual point and throttle body fuel injection. And the third aspect of performance on these engines is the amount of money that you could put into them to make them go fast, for whatever your purposes. Parts are cheap and universal, and there has been an extensive amount of research and development already done on these cars and engines, since they have been around for 14 years.
The first style or method of increasing performance I will introduce is ‘All Motor’, or naturally/normally aspirated (NA). This means the engine breathes how most of your standard economic production cars do; it ‘sucks’ in the normal atmospheric air (measured in inches of Mercury) and mixes it with the fuel. I will keep this basic, since a book could be written on the concepts of ‘all motor’. The main idea is to keep the engine compression ratio fairly high, which is how much the piston compresses the air/fuel mixture in the cylinder. The more it compresses the air/fuel mixture the more powerful of an explosion the spark plugs will create. This more powerful explosion will push the piston down with more force, thus creating more horsepower and torque (performance increased). Now with our d16a6 engine, the pistons out of a dual overhead cam (DOHC) d16a1 engine found in the US 1st generation Acura Integra’s and also the pistons from a DOCH Japanese ZC engine (closely related to the US Integra’s engine) will increase the compression ratio on the d16a6 from 9.1:1 (which is fairly low) to 10.78:1. The reason Honda keeps the stock compression ratio fairly low is for a few reasons. The first reason is that a lower compression means the engine will create less heat, and in turn be able to run lower octane gas (87/Regular) and retain the excellent gas mileage that Hondas are known for. Also engine clearances will be much greater, so there is more room for error; i.e. if the timing belt would break and the engine would go out of sync, valves would hit the pistons, etc… causing total engine failure, but with more clearance it reduces the risk of complete engine failure. Keeping this in mind, a higher performance engine also means higher risks and the engine life will also be reduced. So with all this compression there needs to be a better way for air and fuel to enter the engine and exhaust to exit.
I’ll start with simple exhaust upgrades. There are many brands of headers available, such as: DC Sports, Airmass (Holley), Borla, Chickara, plus many other custom and small name companies. The idea of a header is to let the exhaust gases be pushed further away from the cylinder head, before the exhaust system drops rapidly to travel under the engine and continue out the back of the car. Now, after the exhaust exits the header, it goes into the down pipe, which carries the exhaust under the engine and back to the catalytic converter. There are many different styles of high flow catalytic converters, which pretty much describe themselves. They allow more flow, so the exhaust can flow freely out of the rest of the exhaust system. After the catalytic converter there is what is normally called a cat-back system. Since it runs from the ‘cat’ back. These cat back systems usually use 2 ¼” piping instead of the 1 7/8 “ factory size piping. The reason these Hondas, and most cars don’t come from the factory with larger exhaust and a performance-designed header is because of noise, emissions and fuel economy. Changing the exhaust system to a performance-based system will decrease your fuel economy (not greatly) and make the vehicle less likely to pass emissions, and it almost always makes the engine louder. Now with this better flowing exhaust system there is always a need for a better flowing intake system.
There is generally two parts to an intake system; the intake piping with a filter and the intake manifold. The intake manifold is where the fuel and air is injected into the cylinder head, and the intake piping and filter is where the engine pulls or sucks the air in, to be sent to the intake manifold. For the intake piping and air filter there is one main concept, cooler air is better and higher flowing filters are better. K&N makes one of the highest flowing air filters around and AEM produces a very nice cold-air intake (both are carb legal and will pass emissions, same with the DC Sports header). There is also a lot more that can be talked about for intake design and filter location, the same applies for the exhaust system, but again, I am only describing the basics.
To wrap things up, we’ve got a higher compression engine, with a better flowing intake system that increases the air/fuel mixture and a better flowing exhaust system, which in turn will always increase performance. Depending on all the components and other modifications done to the d16a6 anywhere from 108 to 150 horsepower is possible and sometimes more than 150.
The next method of performance common to most d15b2s and d16a6s is a turbo. Commonly referred to as a turbocharger. Turbo’s are mainly found on diesel engines and are in almost every eighteen-wheeler on the road today. The idea of a turbo is to use the exhaust gases to produce and intake charge or pressure. When the spark plug ignites and the explosion happens, the valves open up and let the exhaust gases escape, these gases are usually traveling at about 3600 inches per second. Now you put a fan in its path, and it will turn it pretty damn quickly. If you include another fan connected by a shaft you can create a mini air compressor, a.k.a. a turbo. A turbo has an intake side and exhaust side. Two different wheels that are constantly turning while the engine is running. Different size turbo’s will ‘spool up’ or start building pressure at different RPM for different engine sizes (liters/displacement). This is nice because, depending on the size turbo, you can make the engine good for high end/high RPM power or low end/low RPM power. Generally you’re not running around at 5-8 thousand RMP on the street, so a smaller turbo with a faster spool time would be ideal for street performance on the d16a6 or d15b2 and great for autocross performance. With all this compressed air it’s going to make the air/fuel mixture “unstable” or lean. This is why just a turbo does not complete the entire “turbo kit” and there are many other parts needed. Since the d16a6/d15b2 is not a factory turbo engine and was not designed to be a turbo engine, there are parts that will need to be upgraded. Such as the fuel pump, providing more fuel pressure to help richen (more fuel) the fuel mixture. You will also need something called an FMU, it’s like a fuel pressure regulator, only it is designed for boost, rather than vacuum. With an FMU you run the risk of burning out your fuel pump, because its pressure (boost) dependant, for every 1psi (pounds per square inch) of boost the FMU will raise the fuel pressure 8psi or 10psi or whatever the FMU is set for. The FMU is not always the best way; since the fuel system will be running close to 100psi depending on how much boost the engine is pushing. 100psi is a lot considering that factory fuel pressure is somewhere around 30-34psi. A safer and more tunable route would be upgrading the fuel injectors. Again the size of fuel injectors depends on what boost levels you will be running. After the fuel injectors are upgraded, something will be needed to control them. They can actually be controlled by the factory computer, which I will discus later in the paper. And depending on how much boost the engine will be running the ignition timing will need to be retarded. This can be done with the stock computer also, discussed later. Other mechanical parts that are common are a waste gate and BOV (blow off valve). The waste gate is what limits the boost, when the turbo reaches the boost limit set by the waste gate, the waste gate actuates and then bypasses the turbo exhaust wheel, so it cannot continue to spin and build boost. As for the BOV, when there is a sudden fluctuation in the throttle, such as the clutch being pressed down and the driver leaving off the gas the throttle will close for a split second, during normal gear shifting. When the throttle closes the built pressure or boost has nowhere to go, so the BOV releases it into the air or re-circulates it into the intake of the turbo (before the compression). Also a common piece of equipment that people use is an intercooler. An intercooler cools the air down, since the exhaust is compressing the air, it has a tendency to get hot, and hot air is never desired. So the air is sent into the intercooler after it is compressed and is then cooled off inside the intercooler. Depending on the size of the intercooler the air can be cooled from 20-50%, which is a large increase in performance, and it will also allow the engine to handle more boost (air pressure/psi). With a decently tuned turbo setup the engine is going to produce anywhere from 140 to 180 horsepower, and again it is always possible to make more or less, but these are just average numbers.
The only supercharger produced for the d16a6 engine is made by Jackson Racing. A supercharger is the same idea as a turbo, only belt driven. Since it is belt driven it has no spool up time or turbo lag. Because it takes a couple hundred RPM for the turbo to spool up, it’s considered lag or time wasted for power to be produced. The JRSC runs off of the crankshaft pulley. Instead of changing the waste gate spring or settings there are different supercharger pulleys that change the amount of boost that is created. The JRSC is actually a unit that replaces the factory intake manifold; it bolts directly to the cylinder head. Since there is still boost being created (compressed air) there still needs to be fuel system upgrades and ignition tuning, same as the turbo. When you buy the JRSC, it comes as a kit. Including a new crankshaft pulley with an extra belt groove, for the supercharger, it also includes a Jackson Racking style FMU and boost timing master (BTM). A **** mounted inside the car controls the BTM; it can be adjusted to retard the ignition timing, 1 degree per 1psi. The reason behind retarding the ignition is that running a more compressed air/fuel mixture and a hotter and more powerful explosion causes engine detonation or pinging. Sometimes pinging can be resolved with a higher-octane fuel. But when the engine is running on the highest-octane fuel available (usually 93 or 94 octane), the ignition timing will need to be retarded. So with Jackson Racings BTM you can retard the ignition timing when detonation or pining is detected. It can usually be heard, but even before you can hear detonation there can be some, and enough to ruin the engine. The 1988-1991 computers do not use knock sensors, so the factory computer won’t retard the ignition timing if it senses knock or pinging, because the computer can’t sense knock. Also with a supercharger the engine will be able to run a factory exhaust manifold or a header rather than a custom turbo manifold. Superchargers and turbos are both considered forced induction, since they are both forcing more air than what is available in the normal atmosphere into the engine. Jackson Racing says that with their kit you should expect a 40% increase in horsepower, which is roughly 146 horsepower. This is with their basic kit, so with some professional tuning and a larger boost pulley, these engines can easily be producing up to 200 horsepower with the JRSC.
Now with these three basic performance-orientated setups, NA, Turbo and a Supercharger there is always computer-tuning necessary. The ECU I research and am most familiar with is the PM6 ECU (Electronic Control Unit or computer). These ECUs are only found in 1990 to 1991 civics, equipped with the d16a6 engine. Inside this computer is a 28 pin Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory chip (EPROM). Within this chip in contains data like, fuel tables/curves, ignition tables/maps, rev limiters, injector recalibration, idle RPM and it allows for the use of a 2 or 3 bar map sensor. To program the chips you need to have a friend with an EPROM chip programmer or a programmer yourself. They should run about $100 for most of the cheaper ones. There is also a program that codes the binary file for you in a simple user friend interface. It is called “Ghetto Dyne”, the newest version of Ghetto Dyne allows programming under boost. Ghetto Dyne allows you to edit the previous list of information that is stored in the 28-pin chip. Then you use the chip programmer and “send” the binary file that Ghetto Dyne saves, to the chip, much like a floppy disk drive. After the chip has been programmed, you simple open the ECU up and replace the factory chip with the newly tuned chip. Now you are wondering how you can tell those small differences that the chip actually made in the performance or better engine management of the car. Well, the ECU can also be modified for a serial port connection for under 15 dollars. This serial port will allow you to connect the ECU to a laptop. Once the ECU is connected to a laptop there is a program called “ECU Control For OBD0.” This program reads all the sensors from the ECU, it can display speed, RPM, air intake temperature, water temperature, air/fuel ratio, map sensor voltages, barometric pressure (taken from the map sensor) and has a few other extra options, like 0-100, 0-60 and ¼ mile performance tests. With all this software it makes it very simple to tune your engines computer system. Plus, all the software is free. So you just need to have a laptop available for reading the ECU. Using the laptop to check the ECU signals is referred to as data logging. ECU Control also has that option, where you can save certain “runs” or tests with the car, they can be saved into a file and then played back in real time, so you can check every value and make sure the car is running properly. During my research I’ve found that one of the most expensive things you can do to a car is changing the cars computer settings and data logging. But here on the PM6 ECU it will hardly cost over 115 dollars in parts.
So in conclusion, I have discussed NA or ‘All Motor’, and two forced induction style performance setups: Turbo and Superchargers. I have also covered simple data logging and altering the computer system of the d16a6 engine. I’ve covered some of the prices, showing that most things can be done within a reasonable budget. No spending thousands of dollars on Hondas, especially the d16a6 engine. Since most research has already been done to these cars most things if not free are very cheap, but still retain good quality in workmanship. The engines also retain there reliability in the performance field and get the job done, for whatever the purpose be; street, drag racing, autocross, rally, road racing, etc… Even if you’re not into performance, a Honda engine is built with reliability and will get you from A to B with no problem as long as routine maintenance is kept up. And like I have stated before thought out the paper, each topic was a brief introduction and a book could be written on some of the smallest items I talked about. This paper was written to give a simple, understandable introduction to d16a6 Honda performance and hopefully can sway some of those close-minded V8 enthusiasts into having an open mind when it comes to small single overhead cam four cylinder economy cars.
A+ ?
Older Honda d series engines are one of the most versatile engines of our time. By ‘older’ I specifically mean 1988 to 1990 US model engines. The engines I will be speaking of can be found in the civic sedan/hatch/wagon and CRX. The CRX uses the same engine because it is based of off the civic. CRX literally stands for Civic Renaissance Model-X. In the year 1988, Honda converted from mostly carbureted to mainly fuel injected. Fuel injection is where my interest picks up. Carburetors worked for what needed to be done and that’s it, fuel injection has so many more opportunities for fine tweaking and high performance tuning. The engines have proven numerous times that they are reliable and can be ran past 200,000 miles with no major problems. They are also reliable for street and race performance needs.
The engines found in these cars are labeled: d16a6, d15b2, and d15b6. Explaining the engine code is actually quite simple. The first letter in the code stands for the engine series, the engine/motor mounts, and the chassis (engine bay) it sits in. The second two numbers stands for the size/displacement of the engine: 1.5-liter and 1.6-liter. The last two, number/letter combo denotes the cylinder head and fuel injection style. In short, you can tell a good amount of information about the engine, just from knowing or reading the engine code.
Three simple performance pluses these cars have are as follows. The first aspect of performance that these cars hold is the vehicle weight. None of these cars weigh over 2800 pounds in factory form. For an example the 1988-1989 CRX HF weighs in at only 1819 pounds. Already being lighter than most other cars produced, it doesn’t take much horsepower and torque to make these cars quick. The second aspect of performance is the d16a6, which is the ‘performance engine’ found in the civic hatchback Si, civic sedan Ex, and the civic wagon rt4wd. I use the term ‘performance engine’ loosely, if you would like to consider 108 horsepower and 100ft-lb of torque performance. I’m sure that back in the late 80’s early 90’s it was a lot more than it is now, but still 108 horsepower isn’t going to make a car fast. The main reason the d16a6 can be called a performance engine is because of its multi-port fuel injection system, compared to the economy styles of dual point and throttle body fuel injection. And the third aspect of performance on these engines is the amount of money that you could put into them to make them go fast, for whatever your purposes. Parts are cheap and universal, and there has been an extensive amount of research and development already done on these cars and engines, since they have been around for 14 years.
The first style or method of increasing performance I will introduce is ‘All Motor’, or naturally/normally aspirated (NA). This means the engine breathes how most of your standard economic production cars do; it ‘sucks’ in the normal atmospheric air (measured in inches of Mercury) and mixes it with the fuel. I will keep this basic, since a book could be written on the concepts of ‘all motor’. The main idea is to keep the engine compression ratio fairly high, which is how much the piston compresses the air/fuel mixture in the cylinder. The more it compresses the air/fuel mixture the more powerful of an explosion the spark plugs will create. This more powerful explosion will push the piston down with more force, thus creating more horsepower and torque (performance increased). Now with our d16a6 engine, the pistons out of a dual overhead cam (DOHC) d16a1 engine found in the US 1st generation Acura Integra’s and also the pistons from a DOCH Japanese ZC engine (closely related to the US Integra’s engine) will increase the compression ratio on the d16a6 from 9.1:1 (which is fairly low) to 10.78:1. The reason Honda keeps the stock compression ratio fairly low is for a few reasons. The first reason is that a lower compression means the engine will create less heat, and in turn be able to run lower octane gas (87/Regular) and retain the excellent gas mileage that Hondas are known for. Also engine clearances will be much greater, so there is more room for error; i.e. if the timing belt would break and the engine would go out of sync, valves would hit the pistons, etc… causing total engine failure, but with more clearance it reduces the risk of complete engine failure. Keeping this in mind, a higher performance engine also means higher risks and the engine life will also be reduced. So with all this compression there needs to be a better way for air and fuel to enter the engine and exhaust to exit.
I’ll start with simple exhaust upgrades. There are many brands of headers available, such as: DC Sports, Airmass (Holley), Borla, Chickara, plus many other custom and small name companies. The idea of a header is to let the exhaust gases be pushed further away from the cylinder head, before the exhaust system drops rapidly to travel under the engine and continue out the back of the car. Now, after the exhaust exits the header, it goes into the down pipe, which carries the exhaust under the engine and back to the catalytic converter. There are many different styles of high flow catalytic converters, which pretty much describe themselves. They allow more flow, so the exhaust can flow freely out of the rest of the exhaust system. After the catalytic converter there is what is normally called a cat-back system. Since it runs from the ‘cat’ back. These cat back systems usually use 2 ¼” piping instead of the 1 7/8 “ factory size piping. The reason these Hondas, and most cars don’t come from the factory with larger exhaust and a performance-designed header is because of noise, emissions and fuel economy. Changing the exhaust system to a performance-based system will decrease your fuel economy (not greatly) and make the vehicle less likely to pass emissions, and it almost always makes the engine louder. Now with this better flowing exhaust system there is always a need for a better flowing intake system.
There is generally two parts to an intake system; the intake piping with a filter and the intake manifold. The intake manifold is where the fuel and air is injected into the cylinder head, and the intake piping and filter is where the engine pulls or sucks the air in, to be sent to the intake manifold. For the intake piping and air filter there is one main concept, cooler air is better and higher flowing filters are better. K&N makes one of the highest flowing air filters around and AEM produces a very nice cold-air intake (both are carb legal and will pass emissions, same with the DC Sports header). There is also a lot more that can be talked about for intake design and filter location, the same applies for the exhaust system, but again, I am only describing the basics.
To wrap things up, we’ve got a higher compression engine, with a better flowing intake system that increases the air/fuel mixture and a better flowing exhaust system, which in turn will always increase performance. Depending on all the components and other modifications done to the d16a6 anywhere from 108 to 150 horsepower is possible and sometimes more than 150.
The next method of performance common to most d15b2s and d16a6s is a turbo. Commonly referred to as a turbocharger. Turbo’s are mainly found on diesel engines and are in almost every eighteen-wheeler on the road today. The idea of a turbo is to use the exhaust gases to produce and intake charge or pressure. When the spark plug ignites and the explosion happens, the valves open up and let the exhaust gases escape, these gases are usually traveling at about 3600 inches per second. Now you put a fan in its path, and it will turn it pretty damn quickly. If you include another fan connected by a shaft you can create a mini air compressor, a.k.a. a turbo. A turbo has an intake side and exhaust side. Two different wheels that are constantly turning while the engine is running. Different size turbo’s will ‘spool up’ or start building pressure at different RPM for different engine sizes (liters/displacement). This is nice because, depending on the size turbo, you can make the engine good for high end/high RPM power or low end/low RPM power. Generally you’re not running around at 5-8 thousand RMP on the street, so a smaller turbo with a faster spool time would be ideal for street performance on the d16a6 or d15b2 and great for autocross performance. With all this compressed air it’s going to make the air/fuel mixture “unstable” or lean. This is why just a turbo does not complete the entire “turbo kit” and there are many other parts needed. Since the d16a6/d15b2 is not a factory turbo engine and was not designed to be a turbo engine, there are parts that will need to be upgraded. Such as the fuel pump, providing more fuel pressure to help richen (more fuel) the fuel mixture. You will also need something called an FMU, it’s like a fuel pressure regulator, only it is designed for boost, rather than vacuum. With an FMU you run the risk of burning out your fuel pump, because its pressure (boost) dependant, for every 1psi (pounds per square inch) of boost the FMU will raise the fuel pressure 8psi or 10psi or whatever the FMU is set for. The FMU is not always the best way; since the fuel system will be running close to 100psi depending on how much boost the engine is pushing. 100psi is a lot considering that factory fuel pressure is somewhere around 30-34psi. A safer and more tunable route would be upgrading the fuel injectors. Again the size of fuel injectors depends on what boost levels you will be running. After the fuel injectors are upgraded, something will be needed to control them. They can actually be controlled by the factory computer, which I will discus later in the paper. And depending on how much boost the engine will be running the ignition timing will need to be retarded. This can be done with the stock computer also, discussed later. Other mechanical parts that are common are a waste gate and BOV (blow off valve). The waste gate is what limits the boost, when the turbo reaches the boost limit set by the waste gate, the waste gate actuates and then bypasses the turbo exhaust wheel, so it cannot continue to spin and build boost. As for the BOV, when there is a sudden fluctuation in the throttle, such as the clutch being pressed down and the driver leaving off the gas the throttle will close for a split second, during normal gear shifting. When the throttle closes the built pressure or boost has nowhere to go, so the BOV releases it into the air or re-circulates it into the intake of the turbo (before the compression). Also a common piece of equipment that people use is an intercooler. An intercooler cools the air down, since the exhaust is compressing the air, it has a tendency to get hot, and hot air is never desired. So the air is sent into the intercooler after it is compressed and is then cooled off inside the intercooler. Depending on the size of the intercooler the air can be cooled from 20-50%, which is a large increase in performance, and it will also allow the engine to handle more boost (air pressure/psi). With a decently tuned turbo setup the engine is going to produce anywhere from 140 to 180 horsepower, and again it is always possible to make more or less, but these are just average numbers.
The only supercharger produced for the d16a6 engine is made by Jackson Racing. A supercharger is the same idea as a turbo, only belt driven. Since it is belt driven it has no spool up time or turbo lag. Because it takes a couple hundred RPM for the turbo to spool up, it’s considered lag or time wasted for power to be produced. The JRSC runs off of the crankshaft pulley. Instead of changing the waste gate spring or settings there are different supercharger pulleys that change the amount of boost that is created. The JRSC is actually a unit that replaces the factory intake manifold; it bolts directly to the cylinder head. Since there is still boost being created (compressed air) there still needs to be fuel system upgrades and ignition tuning, same as the turbo. When you buy the JRSC, it comes as a kit. Including a new crankshaft pulley with an extra belt groove, for the supercharger, it also includes a Jackson Racking style FMU and boost timing master (BTM). A **** mounted inside the car controls the BTM; it can be adjusted to retard the ignition timing, 1 degree per 1psi. The reason behind retarding the ignition is that running a more compressed air/fuel mixture and a hotter and more powerful explosion causes engine detonation or pinging. Sometimes pinging can be resolved with a higher-octane fuel. But when the engine is running on the highest-octane fuel available (usually 93 or 94 octane), the ignition timing will need to be retarded. So with Jackson Racings BTM you can retard the ignition timing when detonation or pining is detected. It can usually be heard, but even before you can hear detonation there can be some, and enough to ruin the engine. The 1988-1991 computers do not use knock sensors, so the factory computer won’t retard the ignition timing if it senses knock or pinging, because the computer can’t sense knock. Also with a supercharger the engine will be able to run a factory exhaust manifold or a header rather than a custom turbo manifold. Superchargers and turbos are both considered forced induction, since they are both forcing more air than what is available in the normal atmosphere into the engine. Jackson Racing says that with their kit you should expect a 40% increase in horsepower, which is roughly 146 horsepower. This is with their basic kit, so with some professional tuning and a larger boost pulley, these engines can easily be producing up to 200 horsepower with the JRSC.
Now with these three basic performance-orientated setups, NA, Turbo and a Supercharger there is always computer-tuning necessary. The ECU I research and am most familiar with is the PM6 ECU (Electronic Control Unit or computer). These ECUs are only found in 1990 to 1991 civics, equipped with the d16a6 engine. Inside this computer is a 28 pin Erasable Programmable Read-Only Memory chip (EPROM). Within this chip in contains data like, fuel tables/curves, ignition tables/maps, rev limiters, injector recalibration, idle RPM and it allows for the use of a 2 or 3 bar map sensor. To program the chips you need to have a friend with an EPROM chip programmer or a programmer yourself. They should run about $100 for most of the cheaper ones. There is also a program that codes the binary file for you in a simple user friend interface. It is called “Ghetto Dyne”, the newest version of Ghetto Dyne allows programming under boost. Ghetto Dyne allows you to edit the previous list of information that is stored in the 28-pin chip. Then you use the chip programmer and “send” the binary file that Ghetto Dyne saves, to the chip, much like a floppy disk drive. After the chip has been programmed, you simple open the ECU up and replace the factory chip with the newly tuned chip. Now you are wondering how you can tell those small differences that the chip actually made in the performance or better engine management of the car. Well, the ECU can also be modified for a serial port connection for under 15 dollars. This serial port will allow you to connect the ECU to a laptop. Once the ECU is connected to a laptop there is a program called “ECU Control For OBD0.” This program reads all the sensors from the ECU, it can display speed, RPM, air intake temperature, water temperature, air/fuel ratio, map sensor voltages, barometric pressure (taken from the map sensor) and has a few other extra options, like 0-100, 0-60 and ¼ mile performance tests. With all this software it makes it very simple to tune your engines computer system. Plus, all the software is free. So you just need to have a laptop available for reading the ECU. Using the laptop to check the ECU signals is referred to as data logging. ECU Control also has that option, where you can save certain “runs” or tests with the car, they can be saved into a file and then played back in real time, so you can check every value and make sure the car is running properly. During my research I’ve found that one of the most expensive things you can do to a car is changing the cars computer settings and data logging. But here on the PM6 ECU it will hardly cost over 115 dollars in parts.
So in conclusion, I have discussed NA or ‘All Motor’, and two forced induction style performance setups: Turbo and Superchargers. I have also covered simple data logging and altering the computer system of the d16a6 engine. I’ve covered some of the prices, showing that most things can be done within a reasonable budget. No spending thousands of dollars on Hondas, especially the d16a6 engine. Since most research has already been done to these cars most things if not free are very cheap, but still retain good quality in workmanship. The engines also retain there reliability in the performance field and get the job done, for whatever the purpose be; street, drag racing, autocross, rally, road racing, etc… Even if you’re not into performance, a Honda engine is built with reliability and will get you from A to B with no problem as long as routine maintenance is kept up. And like I have stated before thought out the paper, each topic was a brief introduction and a book could be written on some of the smallest items I talked about. This paper was written to give a simple, understandable introduction to d16a6 Honda performance and hopefully can sway some of those close-minded V8 enthusiasts into having an open mind when it comes to small single overhead cam four cylinder economy cars.
A+ ?
06-19-2003, 09:52 AM
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Re: My Term Paper on D series Engines. (altoid)
how old are you and if this is a term paper where the heck do you go to school?
I mean it's good but for a TERM paper... way too short bro. That's more of a new paper article to mee. But none the less very well up. I'll read it agian for technical errors if any.
I mean it's good but for a TERM paper... way too short bro. That's more of a new paper article to mee. But none the less very well up. I'll read it agian for technical errors if any.
06-19-2003, 10:06 AM
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Re: My Term Paper on D series Engines. (Charlie Moua)
im 18. It was for DeVry in Fortwashington, PA. Course is called Advanced Writing (ENG 135) it only had to be 8-10 pages, double spaced. So it fit perfect.
I'm sorry it did not fit your qualifications for a term paper.
I'm sorry it did not fit your qualifications for a term paper.
06-19-2003, 10:16 AM
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Re: My Term Paper on D series Engines. (Charlie Moua)
So I take it that you didnt turn it in yet? Cause I was going to ask what grade you did get on it.
Well even though there are a couple of errors (dont feel like going through it again to find them) it was a pretty good paper.
And while you did explain a lot you also did leave a lot of questions to be asked for someone that doesnt knwo much about motors......I.E. Like when talking about the ECU and talking about using a 2 or 3 bar map sensor the question could very easily be asked...Why? You dont give a reason on the point of swapping stuff out. You could have given advantages and disadvantages from using a turbo over a supercharger or vice versa. While you have a lot of good info you do lkeave some info out as well.
Not trying to rag on your paper but you have to think the teacher is probably going to be harder on you than we are!!
Well even though there are a couple of errors (dont feel like going through it again to find them) it was a pretty good paper.
And while you did explain a lot you also did leave a lot of questions to be asked for someone that doesnt knwo much about motors......I.E. Like when talking about the ECU and talking about using a 2 or 3 bar map sensor the question could very easily be asked...Why? You dont give a reason on the point of swapping stuff out. You could have given advantages and disadvantages from using a turbo over a supercharger or vice versa. While you have a lot of good info you do lkeave some info out as well.
Not trying to rag on your paper but you have to think the teacher is probably going to be harder on you than we are!!
06-19-2003, 10:23 AM
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Re: My Term Paper on D series Engines. (kyle h.)
Not bad, but I agree it was a little vague in it's purpose. There were some inconsistencies in tense paragraph definition, such as the section describing turbocharging -- it kind of jumps around. Also, you should never use "to wrap things up..." in the middle of your composition as it would make your reader think that your are bringing the paper to a close. If you took your paper and outlined it, you may be able to see how it the flow is kind of jerky. I can see your intent in trying to cover all the bases, but if you consider your audience may not know anything about engines, sometimes less is more. Thanks for sharing with us and good luck with your next paper.
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06-19-2003, 10:33 AM
#9
I said I don't want a title!
Re: My Term Paper on D series Engines. (kyle h.)
I see your thesis sentence, but your intro paragraph sucks.
Sorry to be so direct, but having worked in a writing lab with freshman English students 4 years in college, I saw this issue all the time.
I only read the first few paragraphs and skimmed the rest, but you need to clarify and make your intro paragraph support your thesis. Why do you tell us what CRX stands for in the intro? One would assume (if they had glossed your thesis) that the paper might be about this to an extent. It isn't, so lose the definition. You could pout it somewhere else, but is it really that important? Outside of telling us about what cars the motor came in, you don't need so much detail about the CRX because you are just writing about the D series *motor*, correct?
In short, don't give details in the intro--only tell us what you will be talking about and support your thesis statement.
Oh, watch the sentence fragments too. And please don't say "In conclusion." We know it's a conclusion--it's your last paragraph.
Sorry to be so direct, but having worked in a writing lab with freshman English students 4 years in college, I saw this issue all the time.
I only read the first few paragraphs and skimmed the rest, but you need to clarify and make your intro paragraph support your thesis. Why do you tell us what CRX stands for in the intro? One would assume (if they had glossed your thesis) that the paper might be about this to an extent. It isn't, so lose the definition. You could pout it somewhere else, but is it really that important? Outside of telling us about what cars the motor came in, you don't need so much detail about the CRX because you are just writing about the D series *motor*, correct?
In short, don't give details in the intro--only tell us what you will be talking about and support your thesis statement.
Oh, watch the sentence fragments too. And please don't say "In conclusion." We know it's a conclusion--it's your last paragraph.
06-19-2003, 10:46 AM
#10
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Re: My Term Paper on D series Engines. (Todd00)
Actually now commenting on what Todd00 said you only said things about the CRX very slightly. You said that you could only get the D16A6 motor from a civic, you could only get a pm6 ecu from 90-91 civics so none of your paper really has much to deal with the crx as he stated. And also like he asked the paper is about the motor and not the car right? You may update it and say that the CRX is the lightest chassis to deal with if your going to put any info on it in there at all. Plus like he said no need to put what the CRX stands for since its about the motor and not the car.
06-19-2003, 11:08 AM
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Re: My Term Paper on D series Engines. (Vinceg99)
Just check over the flow of the whole thing. And watch your transitions too they are all over the place where they are not needed. And sorry but I agree you need a new Topic Paragraph. You should NEVER go on tangents on a topic paragraph because that can detract the reader from what he is actually reading about. Just focus on one thing at a time and keep the flow steady. Also keep in mind whoever is grading this might not know anything about engines so you might want to avoid putting tough complicated wording and engine terms in the paper, if for one moment your reader loses interest because he doesnt understand something in your content you have lost the battle already. THROW MORE ATTENTIONS GRABBERS in the topic paragraph! Make that paragraph so pleasing that it would be foolish not to read the rest!
Good luck
Good luck
06-20-2003, 03:54 AM
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Re: My Term Paper on D series Engines. (kyle h.)
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by kyle h. »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">im 18. It was for DeVry in Fortwashington, PA. Course is called Advanced Writing (ENG 135) it only had to be 8-10 pages, double spaced. So it fit perfect.
I'm sorry it did not fit your qualifications for a term paper.</TD></TR></TABLE>
LOL hope you didn't take that the wrong way. But I personally concider myself an very expressive and well composed writer, so i just view things differently.
BTW listen to "TODD" he gave some very accurate infromational writing tips in what he stated. I also see that you seem to like to "quote" things throughout your entire paper..... honestly it gets tacky for the reader after the 2nd-3rd time. Use it to your advantage and only when needed.
What is the title of your term paper?
-proven routes to make a D16a6 powerful?
-history of the D16a6
-or a very open & relaxed paper about CRX, D16 and ways to add addition power.
If i were you I would honestly only focus on ONE topic such as:
*How to make a D16a6 more powerful with the use of FI
*D16a6: how to fully use the motor in NA form.
*D16a6 and a long history of applications, series, specs, ect (nothing aftermarket)
The thesis is what teachers will really evaluate and determine if the entire paper is bogus or not. But it really depends on the teacher too. If you want to get a good grade work on these KEY items:
a) intro-thesis
b) pick a smaller detailed topic and expand withing inself
c) conclude with attaching small examples from the body of the essay to lock/& ensure that you have match what your body was to what the prime directive of the thesis was.
HTH
LOL too
I'm sorry it did not fit your qualifications for a term paper.</TD></TR></TABLE>
LOL hope you didn't take that the wrong way. But I personally concider myself an very expressive and well composed writer, so i just view things differently.
BTW listen to "TODD" he gave some very accurate infromational writing tips in what he stated. I also see that you seem to like to "quote" things throughout your entire paper..... honestly it gets tacky for the reader after the 2nd-3rd time. Use it to your advantage and only when needed.
What is the title of your term paper?
-proven routes to make a D16a6 powerful?
-history of the D16a6
-or a very open & relaxed paper about CRX, D16 and ways to add addition power.
If i were you I would honestly only focus on ONE topic such as:
*How to make a D16a6 more powerful with the use of FI
*D16a6: how to fully use the motor in NA form.
*D16a6 and a long history of applications, series, specs, ect (nothing aftermarket)
The thesis is what teachers will really evaluate and determine if the entire paper is bogus or not. But it really depends on the teacher too. If you want to get a good grade work on these KEY items:
a) intro-thesis
b) pick a smaller detailed topic and expand withing inself
c) conclude with attaching small examples from the body of the essay to lock/& ensure that you have match what your body was to what the prime directive of the thesis was.
HTH
LOL too
06-20-2003, 08:09 AM
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Re: My Term Paper on D series Engines. (Charlie Moua)
I would say more focus is definitely needed throughout the paper.
The intro is fairly vague. You should definitely start with a very general sentence about the topic, and then QUICKLY relate it to what you are going to be writing about.
The thing with this topic is that you could expand soooooo much more on either of the two basic topics: FI or NA. There are a few items that I noticed that were put it without much explanation behind them or any noticeable connections to any other topics around them (ex - the definition of CRX).
"In conclusion", from what I have learned, is about the worst thing you can say at the end of the paper - from my past teachers at least. I don't know how yours will grade it though. Maybe you've used it before without any problems.
I also saw the word "damn" in there - not to nitpick, but usually cuss words don't add too much to a term paper unless the teacher stated it would be a very informal term paper (which they usually aren't).
Just a couple touches here and there and you'll be good to go!!
Other than the stuff I mentioned, the content that you do have on both topics is fairly well organized and pretty well worded for the laymen who will be reading it.
Alex
The intro is fairly vague. You should definitely start with a very general sentence about the topic, and then QUICKLY relate it to what you are going to be writing about.
The thing with this topic is that you could expand soooooo much more on either of the two basic topics: FI or NA. There are a few items that I noticed that were put it without much explanation behind them or any noticeable connections to any other topics around them (ex - the definition of CRX).
"In conclusion", from what I have learned, is about the worst thing you can say at the end of the paper - from my past teachers at least. I don't know how yours will grade it though. Maybe you've used it before without any problems.
I also saw the word "damn" in there - not to nitpick, but usually cuss words don't add too much to a term paper unless the teacher stated it would be a very informal term paper (which they usually aren't).
Just a couple touches here and there and you'll be good to go!!
Other than the stuff I mentioned, the content that you do have on both topics is fairly well organized and pretty well worded for the laymen who will be reading it.
Alex
06-20-2003, 03:38 PM
#18
I said I don't want a title!
Re: (Zeppelin)
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Zeppelin »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Give the guy a break. Half of your responses are filled with misspelled words and bad grammar.</TD></TR></TABLE>
He wanted feedback, so were giving him feedback. There is always room to improve on an english paper--no since in blowing smoke up his bum if the paper really isn't that good.
He wanted feedback, so were giving him feedback. There is always room to improve on an english paper--no since in blowing smoke up his bum if the paper really isn't that good.
06-21-2003, 05:42 AM
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Re: (Todd00)
not sure what my grade on it yet is. but a lot of you understand what i am writing about, while my teacher reading the paper has no idea as to what i am discussing. so i didnt want to get into some details. also, like every other paper i have written it was last minute...I know its a B...i dont think i ever have gotten an A in his class. I wassnt so aware that so many people on this forum were writers. I am not, and i dont enjoy writting, im sure it reflects in my essay.
06-21-2003, 07:08 AM
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Re: (kyle h.)
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by kyle h. »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">not sure what my grade on it yet is. but a lot of you understand what i am writing about, while my teacher reading the paper has no idea as to what i am discussing. so i didnt want to get into some details. also, like every other paper i have written it was last minute...I know its a B...i dont think i ever have gotten an A in his class. I wassnt so aware that so many people on this forum were writers. I am not, and i dont enjoy writting, im sure it reflects in my essay. </TD></TR></TABLE>
Yeah buts its a lot easier to write a paper when its on a subject that you really enjoy!!
</TD></TR></TABLE>Yeah buts its a lot easier to write a paper when its on a subject that you really enjoy!!
06-21-2003, 03:22 PM
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Re: (Todd00)
<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Todd00 »</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
He wanted feedback, so were giving him feedback. There is always room to improve on an english paper--no since in blowing smoke up his bum if the paper really isn't that good.
</TD></TR></TABLE>
Not sure if you noticed, but since you are correcting someone, try to make some sense.
lol, I just had to do it, I seen the oppurtunity too. Im just BS'ing, we all make mistakes, but personally I thought the paper was good, im not an english major and barely passed the class so it gets an A+ to me.
He wanted feedback, so were giving him feedback. There is always room to improve on an english paper--no since in blowing smoke up his bum if the paper really isn't that good.
</TD></TR></TABLE>
Not sure if you noticed, but since you are correcting someone, try to make some sense.
lol, I just had to do it, I seen the oppurtunity too. Im just BS'ing, we all make mistakes, but personally I thought the paper was good, im not an english major and barely passed the class so it gets an A+ to me.
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