I know the K20 out of the Type-S reacts to mods really well like intake, exhaust and ECU upgrades.
My question is does the K20A3 out of the base RSX or Civic SI react to mods in similar ways as the Type-S?
What kind of gains could I expect to find from similar mods on one of the A3 motors?

 

you will see gains on basic bolt ons just like the K20A2 that's in the typeS. intake, exhaust, race header.

 

an A3 with i/h/e, hondata is just as quick as a stock A2. throw in some es mm inserts and nice tires and the A2 won't stand a chance. so for 1500 bucks you can be quicker than a A2. this is why a lot of chose the A3 over the A2. plus with the lower compression ratio, the A3 is usually a better FI motor.

 

i would do an a2 head swap for like 800-900$ you can have real vtec and gives much better potential for cams and valvetrain...my a3 reacted well to i/h/e but with the a2 it was a huge increase in power. The 8k redline is also a plus

 

Doesnt the A3 lack oil squirters??

 

yea because there is no need with "I" vtec because only one of the cams has two lobes.... so with the a2 you get real vtec

 

you also get the lack of protection with the oil when you're at higher revs. the a2 block has special oil orifices for the oil squirters for a reason.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by thabends &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">an A3 with i/h/e, hondata is just as quick as a stock A2. throw in some es mm inserts and nice tires and the A2 won't stand a chance. so for 1500 bucks you can be quicker than a A2. this is why a lot of chose the A3 over the A2. plus with the lower compression ratio, the A3 is usually a better FI motor.</TD></TR></TABLE>

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by thabends &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">an A3 with i/h/e, hondata is just as quick as a stock A2. throw in some es mm inserts and nice tires and the A2 won't stand a chance. so for 1500 bucks you can be quicker than a A2. this is why a lot of chose the A3 over the A2. plus with the lower compression ratio, the A3 is usually a better FI motor.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Sure with $1500 your just as good as a stock type S but when the the type S spends $1500 also, your **** out of luck.

Your best bet would be to do a head swap from an A3 to an A2. This way you'd have real VTEC and still have lower compression for FI later. It'll probably cost around $1000-1200 for the swap depending on the shop and condition of the head. Hondata K-pro would be a smart choice to keep tabs on the new VTEC and A/F ratio for another $9xx.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by thabends &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">an A3 with i/h/e, hondata is just as quick as a stock A2. throw in some es mm inserts and nice tires and the A2 won't stand a chance. so for 1500 bucks you can be quicker than a A2. this is why a lot of chose the A3 over the A2. plus with the lower compression ratio, the A3 is usually a better FI motor.</TD></TR></TABLE>


weird you say that, because among ep k20a3 owners, there seems to be an understanding that the motor has no real potential... And I am not talking about a few people but more like a whole community like ephatch.com

The crank is weaker than the k20a2. The rods are too. Noone offers cams for it yet and the ep3 weighs aroun 3000 lbs if I am not mistaken.

The only thing that people give credit to the a3 is the block because it is very similar to the k20a2 with the exception of the smaller water passages and no oil squirters that can be taken care of by suing forged pistons.

In my opinion the best mod for a ep3 is a k24a longblock. TQ will show up as soon as 2000 rpm and get that thing moving.. Even a type s head will do the trick.

I hope that my opinion will not offend you.

Nikos

 

yes, you are mistaken. the ep weighs 4 pounds more than the rsx. for a lot of us it was a matter of 24,000 for the rsx, or 15,000 for the si. the lowest i've seen a new rsx-s go for in here(richmond, va) is 22,500.

 

Although I would agree with Nikos the engine in its stock form is fairly lackluster, it does have some potential, the potential just lies in f/i instead of n/a. I see the Jackson race SC with good tuning and intake and full exhaust is putting down something like 220 whp, with a nice power curve. This is the direction I see myself going in, with the current low compression and forged crank I think the a3 will take to a little f/i very nicely. 220 whp with a well tuned suspension and some good tires would make any dc5 or ep3 a lot of fun to drive as a DD.

 

EP3 main potentail lies in forced induction, however with no aftermarket support like the A2 will this motor be developed in the aftermarket world to its full potentail?
only time will tell.

Just a side note EPhatch.com is a junk site with no real technical merit behind it.

 

lol

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Gerhard_001 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
Just a side note EPhatch.com is a junk site with no real technical merit behind it.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Ouch!

And yes, I agree, the A3 lacks a lot and is the main reason why I won't be doing any more with my EP3.


Steve

 

Where are people getting the type s heads? Most of the salvage yards around here say they'll only sell the a2 as a whole and I don't have that kinda cash right now. Is there anywhere online or anyone that has one for sell? What's a good price for a complete head?

 

bump

 

Expect to pay anywhere from 800 to a grand for a head and ECU from an A2.


Steve

 

damn, thats not bad. where do most people find them in good shape?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by k-series &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">
And yes, I agree, the A3 lacks a lot and is the main reason why I won't be doing any more with my EP3.

Steve</TD></TR></TABLE>

...Coming from a guy who's already putting down &gt;250whp or something ridiculous like that. Yeah, I think I'd be done, too.

My K20A3 put down 159whp on a balmy day here in FL in Sept or so. Not too shabby for having an intake, race header and ECU flash. Fast enough for me (for now).

 

Where are people getting the heads from? Is it possible for Acura to flash my si ecu with the type s map?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by KseriesSLUG &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Where are people getting the heads from? Is it possible for Acura to flash my si ecu with the type s map?</TD></TR></TABLE>

There are a few for sale in the classifieds on clubrsx.com, k-series.com and even ephatch.com.

As for power, I'm actually at 276whp at 231ft lbs.


Steve

 

swaping a a2 head to a a3 block is reliable. most similar to the ls-vtec or b20-vtec. but i say k20a2 is a better motor because there are more parts n things that you can do to it and its real vtec. as for the k20a3 the only good thing about is the low compresion great for boosting.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by S-fiend &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

Sure with $1500 your just as good as a stock type S but when the the type S spends $1500 also, your **** out of luck.

Your best bet would be to do a head swap from an A3 to an A2. This way you'd have real VTEC and still have lower compression for FI later. It'll probably cost around $1000-1200 for the swap depending on the shop and condition of the head. Hondata K-pro would be a smart choice to keep tabs on the new VTEC and A/F ratio for another $9xx.</TD></TR></TABLE>

do a head swap cool deal, unfortunately you still dont have the 11.0:1 pistons and you don't have the ugpraded rods or crank. a simple headswap isn't going to get you 200hp. I'm not sure if you know this but the civic si does have ivtec, and it is REAL. the a3 is just setup for better fuel economy and better lower end power. if i had a ep i would do bolt ons, k pro, and maybe even TURBO kit, people have shown tremendous power gains up to 100whp with the basic GReddy kit. If you got the money to buy a A2 then cool, but I wouldnt try and make a ghetto K20A2. If you want the read deal, buy an A2, or just build what you got for NA, but just don't think a simple head swap is gonna do the trick.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by CR-XSiRacer7 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

I'm not sure if you know this but the civic si does have ivtec, and it is REAL.</TD></TR></TABLE>

The Civic has iVTEC which is fake VTEC.