ok....i have a bone stock 94 ex coupe. currently has 116k. which motor would be the better bang and for reliability?

1) keep the stock d16 and slap a drag turbo kit. (reliable enough to daily drive?)
2) swap for a b16a + basic bolt ons
3) spend more for a b18c1 swap +basic bolt ons
4) buy a b20 +vtec head +basic bolt ons (reliable enough to daily drive?)

any suggestions? which setup would save more gas? which one eats more gas?

next question is...

if swapping the motor out for either the b16, b18, or b20, which tranny would be better?

1) get a ls tranny
2) get a gsr tranny w/lsd
2) buy the complete swap for b16a or b18c1

buy reading thru some forums here, i thought the ls tranny had shorter gears? some are saying the gsr has shorter gears? can someone please clarify for me?

any info is greatly apperciated! thank you!!!!

 

b20 VTEC

Buddy of mine got one, swapped it lastyear but it was runnin really rich, then my other buddy found him a stock map for his ecu now its a little rocket.. its in a 93 Civic Si Hatch.

 

from shortest to longest for b-series trannies it is:

b16/b18c5, b18c1, b18a/b, and dont even try the b20 tranny.

 

Depends what you want. You're talking about ranging from a 16 second car all the way down to in the 13's/14's. Purpose of car? Budget (although it seems like it isn't a problem since you're mentioning a B18C)?

And the LS tranny has longer gears. Great for boost. B16/gsr tranny's have shorter gears.

I personally would like a 99+ B18B swap with a B16A tranny.

-----------------

1)The boost'd D will still be reliable civic still getting 25+MPG with plenty of power to the wheels. As long as you take the necessary precautions to ensure your motor is ready to handle boost, even at 6-7psi
2) Don't even think about a B16A. It'll be like driving your D16 before 6000RPM's and you'll regret it.
3) You could save yourself tons of money by boosting the D and being just as quick, if not quicker, than a gsr swap with bolt-ons.
4) LS/VTEC's are reliable but it takes more than just an ls block and vtec head to make it reliable. Takes a lot of work to make it fully reliable.

For boost, I'd say LS tranny. For N/A, obviously something shorter like B16A or GSR.

 

https://honda-tech.com/zerothread/878010

 

thanks for the reply.

i thought the b16 was "king"??? per http://www.importbuilders.com.

as for the d16 turbo, what kind of top end power an i expecting to get? top mph?

and you said for boost the ls tranny is better. is it even possible to make that fit with the d16? i never heard of that before. if so, kool. thanks for the response.

 

here's the link of it...

Pick your Engine When you have a street car, you need to pick the motor that is going to make your car the fastest in the quarter mile with street tires. With all factors being equal (drive, tires, car, etc) nothing is going to beat a 1.6-1.8 liter B16A in a car that weighs under about 2500 lbs. Huh? Yes, snap out of it, bigger is WORSE not better. Street tires here, remember? We want the highest horsepower, lowest torque motor we can get for the job. We want the motor with the best power band as HIGH as possible in the RPM. With a B16A, you have considerable less torque in the launch RPM’s as you do a GSR motor, LS/VTEC or any 2+ Liter motor. For example, at 10 PSI in our B16A turbo motor that was 1.74 liters, it made 322 WHP and 199 lbs of torque. In a stock GSR long block with the same turbo kit, it made the same WHP, 322, but with 214 lbs of torque. And at low boost, while the GSR was making 160 lbs of torque, the B16A was making 149 lbs. That’s HUGE. And that’s 1.74 liters VS a Stock GSR that’s at almost 1.8 liters. A B20/VTEC would have 15 lbs of torque more than THAT and would get lit up and left behind by both motors in the quarter mile with street tires. Let us look at this grid:

Comparison
B16A 1.74 liters
GSR 1.797 liters
B20 1.997 liters

Low boost torque
149 lbs
160 lbs
175 lbs

High boost torque
197 lbs
214 lbs
238 lbs


Which one will hook up the best; have the least amount of wheel spin and the best power band? Look at these charts… B16A flat out dominates. Undisputed. King. The thing is, nobody wants it. They all insist on building 2 liter turbo motors. And those motors are great in 3rd, 4th or 5th gear for sure, keeping up with bikes in some cases. But its going to get worked by any domestic V8 on any freeway onramp, and from any stop. Versus the B16A turbo I can actually launch very MEAN from a dead stop with less than 150 lbs of torque and when it hits 2nd gear, its going strong. I shift the GSR into second gear I get a big stripe on the floor, I shift the B20 into second gear and I hit the rev limiter from massive wheel spin (of course all of first gear was wheel spin too). Also, with a b16A motor you don’t get peak HP until very high in the RPM which is another advantage because you will be going a higher MPH when you hit the most power. AND you will have the least amount of torque! Versus a 2 liter where you will peak at about 7600 RPM or so, and have the most amount of torque. On that motor, you will have less MPH, more HP and more torque. Not a good combination. You want the tires to reach more MPH before more power touches the ground. It’s as simple as that. That’s why people buy longer gears for first gear, so they can get 10 more MPH out of first gear before they hit maximum power. This creates more traction. Ever wonder why all motor cars that weigh about the same just KILL turbo cars that have up to 300 horsepower more? Or even 50 HP more. Because the more horsepower, the less the car is going to hook, and the all motor car is GONE, with you catching up. Before you know it, you run out of track. And then you always hear the almost “guaranteed” excuse from the super high HP turbo guy. “I didn’t hook up, I was just spinning, and if I didn’t spin I would have killed you”. LOL that’s a laugh, when you hear that line just say “want to race again, double or nothing??” And kill him again, and again, and again. All day. What a joke! People actually expect their 400 wheel horsepower car to hook up and be neck and neck with all motor cars! And some cars I hear have 600 + WHP and want to race all motor cars for money. Can I borrow 10 grand to bet on the all motor car? No 600+ WHP cars or even 500+ WHP cars is going to hook for crap on the street without wheelie bars, and some HUGE slicks and $1000 dollar axles. On top of that, the more HP you have, the more skill and harder the car is to drive. So consistency is very, very difficult to achieve without the utmost practice and conditions. This is why the fast domestics go with power glide trannies. That is a 2 speed, automatic tranny. All they have to do is floor it and steer and they run fast, and consistent. If they had to shift gears 4 times like a Honda they would have a 20x harder time at it. Driving an all motor car that runs low 13’s compared to a turbo car that “can” run 11’s is like slow motion. I feel like I can sip a coke between shifts on the all motor car, while the turbo car is just: shift, bam, bam, bam, it’s over…very hard, or harder I should say.

 

I was saying the b18b tranny is longer and there is already a good hp:trq ratio so it'd be ideal to boost that motor instead of the d16. You'd get higher power output, etc. Sorry I didn't mean that clear.

I'd say if you want boost, boost a B18B with b18b tranny. If you want all motor, go for a GSR with built internals. If you want something that isn't all powerful just as a DD, get a b18b motor with b16a tranny.