I must say, in my endless search to create a bad *** EP3 (american), I find myself wanting to drive the car off of a very high cliff knowing that the euro version (type R) is that much better. I'm at the point where I'm now doing some internal engine work like cams, valve springs, pistons, that sort of stuff...and i notice every time i search the net all i find is parts for the DC5 or the si type R which both of these use the k20a2's for engines. If Honda was one actual person, I would like to punch Honda in the face! There is really nothing made for this car! Seriously! If there is, show me! I already have turbos and all the goodies, and stand alone systems....but none of it is good enough in my mind unless i can strengthen my engine to withstand the abuse of taking it to tracks!

anyone else find it hard to get parts for the k20a3 engine because everything is made for the k20a2?!

 

How many turbos do you have?

There are many turbo kit available for ep3, stop complaning.
You can always do a2 motor swap.

 

Interesting...you have turbos and stand alone systems? Neat.

Anyways...i know quite a few people that are quite happy with their K20 in their EP and the power they are making with various modifications (one boosted, the others n/a)...i'd have to ask just what exactly your expecting out of the thing? If you had all these things you'd be outperforming (atleast in straight line aspect) the Civic Type-R, which makes me question what exactly you've actually done to your engine.

I see what your saying, that your frustrated with the usdm EP K20...but something seems fishy about your story sorry to say, the K20 has to be one of the best platforms honda ever created (yes, all of them, not just the CTR, ITR and Type-S platforms)...i could understand if you jumped into a Civic Si and an RSX Type-S and compared the 2 stock for stock...but yeah...lol, just seems strange that you having all those modifications, that your worried about the performance out of a stock Civic Type-R or RSX Type-S.

 

Honestly IMHO there is no point in building the A3. The block is the same as the A2 so if you are going to go as far as swapping out internal, get an A2 crank, and A2 head while you are at it.

Keep in mind, this is the ECONOMY version of the K series engine. Same deal with the older engines. While there is some stuff out for D series engines, the vast majority of performance parts is for the B series. Same deal. D-series is economy and B Series is performance.

 

^^^ I dont know that i could agree with that comparison though...the Dseries was an anemic SOHC motor that even WITH the VTEC head, was still barely exceeding 100hp to the wheels and lacked torque like you wouldnt believe...atleast with the K20A3 you have a DOHC i-VTEC platform...i'd say this is more along the lines of the B18b vs B18C1 type comparison.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by nos4a2si &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">all i find is parts for the DC5 or the si type R which both of these use the k20a2's for engines.</TD></TR></TABLE>

SiR-g, SiR... Si type R???i need one of those. neato!

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">If Honda was one actual person, I would like to punch Honda in the face! </TD></TR></TABLE>

as a matter of fact, there was a Mr. Honda(RIP). God bless his soul.

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">There is really nothing made for this car! Seriously! but none of it is good enough in my mind unless i can strengthen my engine to withstand the abuse of taking it to tracks!</TD></TR></TABLE>

who told you this crap?! i haven't had anyone complaining over bad internals on an Si for having turbo on their set-up.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hypnosisracing &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i'd have to ask just what exactly your expecting out of the thing? </TD></TR></TABLE>

I'm with him.

 

there are many turbo kits available that can outperform the k20a in the type R and most def. whoop up on a rsx type S k20a2. you can safetly boost 6 or 7psi on a stock si motor(k20a3). greddy, rev hard, and cybernation make great kits and most people are getting near 250-300 hp from that on a stock block. u can swap your A3 head for an A2 to get the "Real" v-tec but i wouldnt recommend reving to 8000rpm cuz the rods in A3 cant handle that high. u can get a jackson racing supercharger,...street or race kit and still whoop on a type r. give it another year and the aftermarket will be where u want it to be i think.

 

My 2004 Ep3 is stock and im still loving it.
Cant imagine what it would feel like if i added bolt ons.
Just saying the Ep3 is an awesome car.


I &lt;3 my EP3.

 

Just to add my 2 cents worth. I really enjoy the ep3 and I havent had the chance to go SC yet or add any bolt ons. Not to mention you knew what you were getting when you bought it, did you expect it to become an a2 overnight in your garage?

 

I have owned my EP3 for almost a year and my observation so far is that it is heavy, underpowered, overpriced and the suspension design is utterly stupid..other than that it is a great car

 

there are parts you can get to strenghten your internals. how much power are you building for and what type of track racing are you talking about? strip or road racing? there's a guy running mid 12's with built internals.

 

I dont see how you can complain about owning and EP3... Try owning an EM2 and then you can talk about dissappointment ... Its the Honda Slush Box unless you swap for a k-series or turbo (turbo for me soon) it has no power even with all the bolt ons.......

 

im not really complaining, i was just hoping to see who i could get to tell me where i could buy some parts and some answers. it mostly worked. o, i got a rev hard kit, and also dont get me wrong i love my car, and i love Honda (still punch someone in the face there) i just think its a pain in the ***.

yeah, i already know about the head swap...im thinking about it...someone said 800 bucks? that aint bad if thats true? i dont need a new one, used would do fine, we could get it to work good.

a couple of reply's i have no clue what they were talking about, they kind of came from left field. maybe they read somthing wrong....it happens, lol. as for "should of thought about it before i bought it", well, duh, already did thats why i bought it, dont see how that really even relates to what im talking about. im not expecting it to magically turn into an a2....im just expecting some company;s to get off there ***'s and make me the damn parts i want! if you dont agree you full of crap, everyone wants to have parts for there car to make it perform better, if you dont.....then i have no clue. but i dont know about you guys, but speed, handling, performance is top priority! all i want are some camshafts, cam gears, valve springs and valves, and some pistons (which by the way im having some made for 495! good deal if any of you want the places number)

o, and one more thing...right now im only running 7psi....i want to go to 10, but no higher, anyone think this would be safe? this is kind of why i want to do internal work so my engine will handle that amount of boost. some dude said he had 18 psi on his 2002 si.....thats kinda of hard to believe. someone said they had 14psi and they blew their engine.....i dont want that to happen to my EP3!!!!

 

Aftermarket support comes with demand...because the EP3 was not quite as popular as the previous gen civic Si (or any of the civics for that matter) the aftermarket is slowly becoming more vast...go back and look at the 99-00 Civic Si coupe, that car has every company in the WORLD behind it just about...but do you think it just magically happened? The coupe Si was released in late 1998...it wasnt until about early 2002 that the aftermarket was really booming for it...(maybe late 2001), and even then, you were having to hunt for your stuff, and that was nearly 4 years after it hit showroom floors.

Give it time...also, send interest to the companies out there, if they dont know there's a market for some things you want, they'll just go by what their 40-50 year old marketing managers tell them...trust me, the world of tuning is not as vast as you think, and just because its a honda, it doesnt mean the companies are just fighting tooth and nail to make parts for you.

Hell...im having to basically pester DAILY mastergrade to get my CF lip spoiler for my wife's AP2...they surely make it, but its not in stock from what i understand hardly EVER, i thought it was very popular but they said that they've almost come to a point of just "made to order" stand point...because people WANT them but arnt actually BUYING them...im sure it will get better in a couple of years, but for now its kind of a pain, so is looking for parts for the new 2.2 platform.

Supply and demand...you gotta get a whole lot of demand before they'll supply.

 

valve springs & retainers = use the f20c or try skunk 2.

cam gears = for what? won't help because our engines retard themselves. (hahaha)

pistons and etc = you can use the k20 internals and aftermarket internals for the k20a & a2. you're just going to need to tune.

golden eagle makes head studs

a guy ran 12.6 on stock internals & a low compression head gasket, k-pro tuned at 1 bar.

there's some stuff off the top of my head. the stuffs out there.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ecsahs3 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">valve springs & retainers = use the f20c or try skunk 2.

a guy ran 12.6 on stock internals & a low compression head gasket, k-pro tuned at 1 bar.</TD></TR></TABLE>

those! s2k retainers. better.

12.6?! good lord!

turbo kits? a handful of companies. blowers? JR... there are rumors comptech is building an SC for the ep, still going through prototypes.

 

cool man, yeah i have been pestering crower for a week, lol. 12psi is awesome, i dont know if i will go that high just yet, but one day maybe! As for the cam gears, i think i forgot to add camshaft, im more concerned about that, i must of made a typo, my bad. but speaking of cam gears someone told me unorthodox is making some for the a3. but i really want to look into some stage 2 or 3 camshafts.

 

i still don't see how cam gears are going to benefit the A3. pulleys are a different story. last i heard about camshafts are that skunk 2 have been working on them. and they've been working on them for a while.
if you're going to dish all that money on building the internals, just put that money towards a K24A2 and boost that ****.

 

well, I would like to swap an a2 head onto my car. from what i hear, thats where most of the difference between the two engines is. i also hear its a pretty easy swap too. get most of the benefits of the a2 just from the head. But here is what i dont know, maybe one of you know.....if i did a head swap.....would this effect my turbo setup? you know, like would i have to take it out and get a new one, or just leave it right how it is, and the head swap wouldnt effect it? because if the head swap will let me keep what i already have (besides having to re-tune the k-pro) then i might do that. the other problem is i have no clue where to find just a head. i can find the whole engine, but i dont the whole engine. i have looked on ebay, but nothing was there....i really have no clue where i would even begin to look for that stuff! it doesnt haev to be new, just used and in good condition. i would definetly drop 800 bucks or so if thats the price (someone told me thats how much used ones run for). not to mention i could turn around an sell the a3 head for a bit of money back, or atleast pay for some of the swap itself.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hypnosisracing &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> The coupe Si was released in late 1998...it wasnt until about early 2002 that the aftermarket was really booming for it</TD></TR></TABLE>


Even earlier if you count the Del Sol DOHC, but for whatever reason that car was considered crap and the Civic was considered gold. However the big, big deal was that the B-Series platform (and even the B16 itself) had already established some foothold in the market by the time the 99-00 SI's came out...the platform had already been in production for almost 10 years at that point. So this new SI really does have to start from scratch sorta.


But ya I think your turbos should more than make the car better than any stock RSX. It would give it the much needed torque, and the high revving would do the rest.

 

yes, you are right... The new Civic that is coming out next year is not going to help either since it will have a k20a2 style motor...

 

do you know how much just a head swap is? also if i get that done is it going to effect my turbo? as in having to take it off?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Even earlier if you count the Del Sol DOHC, but for whatever reason that car was considered crap and the Civic was considered gold. However the big, big deal was that the B-Series platform (and even the B16 itself) had already established some foothold in the market by the time the 99-00 SI's came out...the platform had already been in production for almost 10 years at that point. So this new SI really does have to start from scratch sorta.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Yes...the Del Sol did have the B16 platform a good bit earlier, my point was more to do with the tuning world and aftermarket "Support" of such engine, which didnt start really coming into play until after the 99-00 Si. I remember my friend in high school had a Del Sol VTEC and i changed his oil and stuff for pocket money a few times, i remember wondering about the motor, and why it was different than the girls we worked on in auto-trans in high school...because back then, it was low riders or systems...little imports were JUST starting to come into the scene, and as far as aftermarket goes, it was really non existant as it is today or even as it was in 2001/2002.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by nos4a2si &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">cool man, yeah i have been pestering crower for a week, lol. 12psi is awesome, i dont know if i will go that high just yet, but one day maybe! As for the cam gears, i think i forgot to add camshaft, im more concerned about that, i must of made a typo, my bad. but speaking of cam gears someone told me unorthodox is making some for the a3. but i really want to look into some stage 2 or 3 camshafts.</TD></TR></TABLE>


So ur goin to buy stage 2 or 3 cams with a turbo setup?