Hello,
Finally got my vehicle dynoed. I had to tune the VAFC myself because the shop was not experienced with it, or imports for that matter. With the help of H-T, I was able to get 174hp. It was 168 before the tuning, so the VAFC was real helpful. Thanks for you guys input!
I wasn't able to figure out the low high thing.
Any advice?

Also, I was talking to the shop about further mods such as cams, cam gears, retainers, etc., He told me if I went that route the engine would have to be rebuilt every year or 20k miles. Is this true? He suggested I go turbo with mild boost (6lbs) as a more reliable way of achieving more horsepower???
What do you guys think?


[Modified by tc, 10:26 AM 6/12/2002]

 

It sounds to me like you need to go to another shop. They seem to know diddly about imports.

 

What mods did you have to achieve 174whp? stock with only V-AFC? That's pretty good!

 

they sound like idiots

 

Which high and low thing? There are three.

If you're talking about high and low throttle, those are seperate fuel corrections based on throttle position. You can set what's a high throttle and what's a low throttle at the setup screen.

There's also the high and low VTEC tables on each of the throttle position tables. The line dividing the screen is your VTEC crossover. If you make a correction on the HVt table below the vertical line it has no effect because you're not in VTEC. Corrections below VTEC crossover need to be made on the LVt tables.

There's also the high-low and low-high VTEC settings. Those simple mean where you want your VTEC to switch from low to high and when you want it to go back. I've got my high-low set at about 400rpm below the low-high crossover which allows me to short shift and stay on the cam.

Hope that helps.



[Modified by newt2, 10:44 AM 6/12/2002]

 

Thanks!
I was referring to the high and low throttle positions. What do I adjust that to? Does that mean I have to redyno the vehicle with a low throttle???

 

I believe high throttle is WOT and low throttle is anything else.

 

It's kind of something you need to play with. I set mine to match the throttle position where boost from the blower comes on. Right around 25%.

If you're NA, I don't know where you'd want to set it. But here's a suggestion:

Pay attention to your driving habits, particularly when you're just cruising and shifting normally. Look at what your max throttle position is for normal driving. I'm guessing it's in the 30% - 40% range. That max throttle position you normally use for slow driving would be a good place to make that setting.

I wouldn't worry about retuning it to change that setting. Dyno pulls are made at 100% throttle, which going to be much higher than you'll set the high/low setting. With a good low throttle setting and some tuning on the low end can help drivability and gas milage. My car was real lurchy at low throttle because it was so rich. I've leaned it down some and now it drives much better and I'm back to near stock gas milage (I was only getting about 18-20mpg after installing the blower).

 

That sounds like good results, I was only able to get 169whp with my R and Im running all comptech I/H/E, Fuel rail&reg, and the V-AFC. I'm starting to wonder if I should have been able to get better #s

 

I should tune with the VAFC. I have it one but have not tuned it, last time I hit the Dyno I got 168, maybe I can get 174 as well.

 

That guy is on crack.. if you do those mods it woudl give you HP and as long as u got good stuff it would protect your engine when you in the high revs, assumign you redid your valvetrain... if you turbo an ITR and keep everythign else stock you gonna pop something.. u need to laugh at that guy and run cus he's a moron I think... however if you redid bottom end plus valvetrain then turboed it, it woudl probably be pretty reliable... but then thats a waste of an ITR motor IMO


[Modified by scmdl26, 9:26 PM 6/12/2002]

 

No offense dude but it seems to me that he knows as much about modding an NA ITR as you do about turboing one. Putting forced induction on an ITR doesn't automatically mean you're going to blow your motor. I've had FI for 18 months on a stock engine and haven't had even a hint of a problem. Proper tuning is the key no matter which way you go.

And while it'll last more than 20k, putting stiffer valve springs and retainers in any engine does shorten the life considerably. Heck any time you mod an engine past the point of basic bolt ons you're going to hurt the reliability curve no matter what path you choose. That's just common sense, you don't need to know word one about cars to know that.

 

well I know.. 2 peeps with turboed ITR's that have poppe dthem and they were tuned running bone stock... and of the peeps that I know runnign all motor apps.. they have had no probs... I'm basically saying.. redoing your valvetrain/ cams... IMO is a lot more reliable then putting a turbo on it... and how much are u boosting? also.. nobody I knwo would redo a valvetrain without doign at least cams and other stuff.. I dunno if soley redoing ur valvetrain woudl mess with it's lifespan it's the other mods that are gonna mess with the lifespan. Redoing your valvetrain and cams as long as you don;t get some crazy *** cams.. is proly a lot more reliable then turboing it.. now if u just did cams and dind't redo the VT it'd prolly be less reliable.. unless u got some cams that don;t deviate from stock much


[Modified by scmdl26, 9:40 PM 6/12/2002]

 

5.5 psi is all I'm running right now, but there's a guy here in town running 9 and has been for over a year.

As far as more reliable, to a certain point sure. But there's been quite a few people with a ton of NA mods that have blown thier engines too on this site too. One of Club Si's ITR owners blew his up more than once and it was a complete JUN setup.

People say tuning is everything but it's not. Maintenance and treating the car well are big factors too. I think your friends probably got too boost happy or were thrashing on the car entirely too much. Plus if they were VAFC tuned that could explain a lot too. VAFC tuning is not the most accurate thing in the world and it's probably not as safe as it could be unless they tuned it on an extremely hot day with pump gas in the car. IMO, a full blown standalone is the only way to go when boosting any Honda.

 

one was boosting 6 the other I dunno....the guy is runnin 9 on stock set up? and wut kinda gains are u getting from 5.5?.. I dunno I sorta see using a turbo for 5.5 as kinda a waste orf a turbo.. unless u've got the lag down to a minimal?

 

Here's two potential setups I was thinking about doing. Let me know what you think.

Option 1: Endyne 11:5 Pistons, Eagle Rods, ITR Head, Jun or Toda Retainers, Crower or Toda Springs, Titainium Valves, Today B's or Skunk Stage 2 Camshafts, Programmable ECU

Option 2: ITR head, ITR Intake manifold, JDM ITR Pistons (11.1:1), Skunk2 cam gears, Toda A or Skunk 1 camshafts, JDM ITR ECU,

What would be the most reliable?
Obviously, option 1 would give more power, but this is my only car and I need it to maintain it's reliability, and cannot afford for yearly rebuilds.
Thanks again for everyone's help!!!

 

I'm not using a turbo (see sig), but boost is boost.

No lag on a blower, that's one of the reasons I chose it.

Edit: Yeah this guy's been running 9psi for over a year. It's a 98 ITR. The car runs 13's at a mile above sea level.


[Modified by newt2, 1:55 PM 6/12/2002]

 

#2 is going to be more reliable by quite a bit. It also won't be nearly as fast, in fact it may not be much faster than where you are now.

 

wut motor is this for? I sorta assumed it was an ITR but I guess not?

 

yea I was gonan say I'd use a SC instead.. I dind't see ur sig...at a mile up is 9 PSi still 9si.. I knwo the air is thinner but I guess if the turbo knows it woudl still be 9psi unless its like 9psi at sea level? then that woudl proyll explain why running 9 ata mile up is ok.


[Modified by scmdl26, 10:18 PM 6/12/2002]

 

What can I do to make #2 more reliable?

 

As long as it's tuned good and you take care of it, it's not going to be unreliable. Just don't expect 200,000 miles out of the engine like a stock Honda.

I'd be suprised if it made it to 100k, but I'd also be suprised if it quit before 50k.

 

So, do you mean I'd have to do a complete rebuild? I'm trying to get an idea of what to expect, or the extent of the maintenance precautions.
Thanks for all your advice!!!

 

It's impossible to guess accurately, but stiffer valve springs do wear on the head more quickly than stock...

 

A friend of mine locally hit 175 with just an exhaust and intake (No header). I hit 176 with just an exhaust and intake as well. I hit 185 with some Toda Spec B tuning but my motor took a crap (I'm replacing damn near everything with stock ITR parts for now. Brand new head, valve train, cams etc). The reason why is anything can happen in staying stock but the realibility of a stock setup is better then anything else and I can afford another expensive rebuild right now.

Those are good numbers. Like Newt2 said, with tuning good or bad andything can happen (Good or bad).