OK, I've got a delimma on what to do next with my weekend track toy crx. Its daily driven when the weather is good, and its flogged at HPDEs and Autox at least once a month.

I currently have a fresh-built A6 head and block with around 7000 miles on it. The intake ports are ported to match a z6 IM (which is on it), Header, Intake, Exhaust, and a bypassed PCV system. That's pretty much it for power. It runs great, idles like stock (because it is) and gets good mileage when driven sensibly.

I've put most of the time and money into developing the suspension on the car, but lately I've been trying to figure out what to do next for more power, and the next step would be a bigger one than usual. I want to stay with the D-series, since the block and transmission I have are both in a like-new state. To complicate matters, I already have a free Y8 head and IM with fuel rail, injectors and harness sitting in my garage.

So my delimma is this, should I:

1.) Go with the Y8 head, converted to OBD1 with a P28, and keep the Z6 intake manifold since the conversion work is done there.

2.) Go with the Y8 head, converted to OBD1 with P28, and try to make the Y8 IM and fuel/injectors work.

3.) Go with 1 or 2, but use the latest and greatest OBD0 TurboEdit to add vtec control to a chipped PM6 via the AC switch.

4.) Sell all the Y8 stuff, and buy a SR909 cam, wideband, and try to self-tune my A6 head with TurboEdit.

I think I can achieve about the same gain-per-dollar from going either way, but what really concerns me is which one can I get the best idle and mileage from?

I hope there are some folks out there who can help me decide between the two (essentially a stock Y8 head on an A6, vs a mildly cammed A6) with good idle and mileage kept in mind as well as power gains.

InB4: k-series, b-series, h-series, turbo, sc, stage 10 grenade cam, nos

 

i'am wondering the same thing.....but my thing is should i spend anbout $800 on a dohc ZC swap......or buy a y8 head for $150 from a guy that lives by me on ft. rucker.....and put that on my d16a6 block.......we need some advice!!!!!!!!

come on guys!

 

well, in my opinion, turboedit and obd0 tuning are dead. I should know because i use turboedit + ecucontrol currently, and there are no updates being done by anyone anymore on either of them, or if there are, i havent seen them in one logical location. The pgmfi wiki is only up because i am hosting a mirror, and the admin of the pgmfi.org forum portion of pgmfi.org that is still up is no longer accepting new users mainly because of an administration problem, but admin on that site seems to be absent. All the development on turbo-edit and ecucontrol rely on the proper functioning of forum.pgmfi.org, and right now that site is not functioning. By that i mean new users cannot join, and it is constantly crashing, which is driving people away from that site. The whole obd0 tuning movement has moved on to obd1 + at this point, so i say stay away if you can help it. Additionally, the obd0 + ac line vtec was only ever a hack. It was not ever really true vtec. It was a way of getting around having to buy an rpm switch, and there aren't 2 ignition and timing maps for vtec/non-vtec with the AC switch. There was talk about getting it working for real, but it never happened. The moral of the story is if you want to go vtec reliably and stock like, then obd1 is your only option at this point.

Crome is a good free tool that is sufficiently well developed that you can do everything you might need reliably, and even that is no longer being developed, but it was so far ahead of everything else that it is the route i would go at this point. I have heard ectune and neptune are both in good shape for obd1 tuning as well, and those ARE being actively developed. I am about to do a hardcore mini-me build coming up here, with a z6 head and a6 bottom end, and i fully intend to run it via crome on a p06 chipped to p28 codebase compatibility. The reason i am going that route is because it is the cheapest and most reliable free setup there is at this point, which will run vtec with dual maps, like it is supposed to be run.

anyway, thats my 2 cents. if you have any questions or need some more convincing, you can always pm me about it. lastly, i would go with #1. no doubt.

 

Thanks sanimailp for your input, and I am leaning towards doing an OBD1 setup with a stock P28 for simplicity and reliability, with the option to tune it later.

As for TurboEdit, the only reason I've been considering it is that its recently been picked up and advanced pretty far over the last year, with tons of features added. The latest build (v3.1.10) was March 29, I think... find it here:

http://forum.pgmfi.org/viewtopic.php?f=60&t=15233

(I dont know if the forum is active for new members now, I signed up years ago, but now that the Hondata legal business is resolved, it might be allowing new users).

But like I said, I'm kinda leaning towards OBD1, but keeping my options open for OBD0, since its being developed currently....If I could get a stock P28 map working on my PM6 (the new TurboEdit does dual maps) then it'd be nice.

 

I am running a Y8 head with an a6 bottom end, everything went really smooth and its fast as hell, only thing i did was adj. cam gear, but putting in a cam tomorrow. Only thing I can say is get a decent wiring harness cause It is a pain to do home made, but its great, I have been getting 40 mpg highway (75-80 mph) and around 35 city, with the SI tranny

 

Thanks, Cambmx.

Anyone else?

 

I dont know how i missed that thread, i am on PGMFI.org off and on a lot, and must have skipped over it or something. I see the has a plugin going for ecucontrol and the innovate wideband through turboedit which is a godsend for me.. I heard that FastCrx was developing some of that but never heard if he finished it.

I can't wait to get home and try some of this stuff out now..

 

Keep me updated on anything you find I should know about.

 

almost forgot, make sure you get a shorter head bolt by the vtec selonoid, otherwise you will get head lift and have overheating cause the bolt bottoms out, this happens only with the y8, with a z6 its fine, because it sits up higher anyways.

 

Thanks for the reminder. I currently have ARPs so I think I can just order that one by itself.

 

bisi level 2 cam, non vtec sohc ftmfw.

sohc vtec is made for girls.

 

And hows the idle and mileage with that one?

 

X2, I think obd1 is the way to go dave. Sell that Y8 head, stay non vtec and get that cam . That's my 2 cents.

 

I have a y8 head on my d15 in my crx. I run the stock p28 (at the moment, have a chip from pheriabletuning.net on the way) and did all the wiring myself. I have an Si tranny with a ZXi 4.43 final drive. Also have a ported Z6 intake mani with b16 throttle body, port matched to the tb and head. The y8 is just stock but do have an adjustable cam gear and arp studs (solves that issue of the one bolt being too long).

My car gets 30+ mpg in town (I'm not easy on it, ever), and 35+hwy (with the 4.43 and Si gears I'm at 3500 at 70mph, do have an hf 5th gear ready to go in soon). The car idles beautifully and runs smooth all throughout the powerband. I haven't dyno'd it yet, but may do that soon. It runs WAY stronger than any a6/ZC I've had and I love the vtec. It's not much like a B series crossover, but it's just a good time.

I occasionally drag race my car (though I don't have any times with this set up yet) and autox it once a month. This car is very quick off the line and out of the corners, I don't know why you wouldn't go vtec and obd1. The tuneability of the p28 with just chips or actual dyno tuning with hondata is great.

I say do the y8 head, p28, and keep the z6 mani. Sell the y8 intake mani and harness to make some cash for the p28 you'll need and a chip or cam for it. If you're looking for an ecu I have a friend selling one. PM me and we'll talk.

GOOD LUCK!