Had a quick look around on the forum and came up with some basic details:

"Here are the details of the Spoon "engine" / longblock once again:

- it is a new 98 spec R longblock
- internal components are JDM OE Honda with the following exceptions
- it is fully balanced and blueprinted
- it uses the Spoon 2 piece headgasket for a compression ratio of 11.3:1
- it uses the Spoon oil pump which is stronger and more effective than the OE Honda one
- it should put out around 180hp at the wheel

what is 'balanced and blueprinted by Spoon'?
- all engine components are weighed to 0.01grams precision
- engine components such as pistons and rods are balanced, they all weigh within 0.01gram of each other
- Spoon is able to balance these components because they order/weigh/sort hundreds of pistons, rods, etc. from Honda and sort them into balanced sets
- bolts are torqued within 0.01N/M of Honda specs
- what does balancing and blueprinting do? it makes the engine run incredibly smooth, reduces power lost to inefficiency, power delivery is extremely smooth, power is higher across the entire rpm band compared to a Honda assembled engine, engine/throttle response is much better, the engine revs smoother/faster and is able to withstand high rpm better, engine life is improved considerably especially in race environments

why does Spoon offer this engine?
- Spoon's core philosophy is in balance: good power, good driving feel, and long life. this engine offers all
- circuit racing requirements differ from drag racing: an engine with the aforementioned characteristics is preferred in circuit racing over a high power, less reliable engine which might be favored in drag racing
- these engines are frequently bought by pro race teams competing according to FIA Group N regulations which require stock internal motors. hence they need an engine which has maximum effectiveness and efficiency using stock parts

who should consider a Spoon engine?
- pro/amateur racers requiring a motor in stock trim (FIA Group N)
- circuit racers/enthusiasts who want an optimized stock motor for circuit use
- people who want a new stock or reliable motor with decent power

who shouldn't consider a Spoon engine?
- drag racers
- people on tight budget or DIY
- people who want a high power setup, N/A or Turbo
- people who don't care about or aren't sensitive to subjective intangibles such as driving feel or engine response

what is the price of a Spoon engine or block?
- it is priced comparably to the price of a new b18c5 longblock/shortblock from Acura considering the work Spoon has put into it
- remember it is a NEW longblock/shortblock
- price fluctuates with supply and demand, although spoon engines aren't common here, remember that they are very common and popular in Japan and Asia
- expect price to increase over time as the supply of b18c components dwindles
- contact an authorized Spoon dealer such as IPS, R&D, A&J for a price quote

does/why doesn't Spoon offer a high power engine?
- again, Spoon's philosophy is balance. to Spoon, high power is only worthwhile if the engine can endure the stress of a 24 hour race. to Spoon, a street tuned engine needs to be comfortable and reliable while delivering improved power and driving feel
- Spoon has built and sold high power engines with 200+whp... high compression kits and stroker kits including a 2L kit for the 18C. However, the reliability and engine life of these engines still aren't good enough for Spoon's standards and hence Spoon does not offer them anymore
- Spoon doesn't drag race

Been speaking to Spoon Europe and they wont tell me the actual specifications of the engine, they said they dont even know themselves (supposedly).

Now oviously Im not gonna go spend £4000 on a Spoon Engine (exc shipping) but undoutably, you could create a block to an equivalent standard?

I know of a few engine tuners around my way (one of them does K20 Forged Engines for racing teams around here) who could blueprint/balance the block, and balance all engine components as per the spoon engine, install a decent gasket and you have a good compression ratio.

I mean it is unrealistic to spend £4k on a motor, dont get me wrong its done very well and professionally.. but then you could get the majority of the work done by other engine specialists..

I mean im after a decent motor, that will last a long time and can be used for the odd daily drive and bit of action/track time. That produces a decent amount of power (aint looking for anything stupid) but with right combination of block work and few other parts, then something decent that will also last a long time.

Any opinions/views/comments on this?

 

ttt, anyone?

 

Ya, contact King motorsports and buy an engine from them, or you can select from other reputable engine builders around as well. Spoon isn't "the benchmark" for Honda performance, they are good at what they do, but so are many others. You don't need a Spoon engine (or anything that similar) for what you want to do with it.

 

would never personally buy spoon engine myself but its all oem components simply balanced and blueprinted assembled in clean environment and with nice attention to detail (i use term simply very broadly but any "good" builder knows time, effort, knowledge and experience involved)

in terms of £ no matter who you go to for that kinda level of work, it wont be cheap

ive never seen mention of spoon reboring/honing the new block they use that they sell although i imagine they must do this for high level stuff and clientele


one thing not many understand from above though is following statement which i really liked

" people who don't care about or aren't sensitive to subjective intangibles such as driving feel or engine response"

 

if you read thru all of that, you would see that you dont need to "hire" someone to duplicate it for you. you just need a very expensive scale, torque wrench, micrometer set, and a honda parts department that doesnt mind you returning mass quantities of parts.

 

When I spoke with spoon about a motor, they required a re-buildable core.

Anyways, you can buy spoon balanced pistons. you can also balance your own bottom end. Spoon = precision. find a builder who is interested in doing it.

 

Where in europe are you? The only dealers from what i heard were in holland, and the uk. And one other spot, not sure.

 

talking to opak, is not talking to spoon. bear in mind that opak are the same people who started that "spoon certified" scam where you send them the "specs" of your car, and for 80 bucks they send you a metal plate with the spoon logo and a 4 digit number.

i often wonder if spoon knows about half the stuff opak does.

 

Care to explain/expand upon this Conan? Myself being a person of little engine building knowledge/experience?

Didnt realise you could buy spoon pistons, balance my own bottom end?

Sorry didnt specify in first post, Im UK, about 30mins from Spoon Europe to be exact.

 

yea ill elaborate a little.

as mentioned, spoon buys hundreds of b18c pistons and weighs them and puts them in 4 pistons sets. they weigh rods and do the same. they then put the entire reciprocating assembly to include the flywheel and crank pulley on a balancing machine. there is probably not anything special about the head at all.

they use a super expensive torque wrench that has a wire which displays a digital read out on a box sitting on top of the work bench. not a handle-twist-click deal from home depot. the bearings are all oem spec, probably dead center.

thats it. its just a well built stock motor for about the price of.....a long block from honda. its nothing that cant be done by any joe in a garage, granted he has the right tools.

i went to Spoon 2 months ago while i was on a business trip in the area. after seeing their shop, a lot of this is probably outsourced.

 

Where at in Europe? I knew of a spoon dealer over there in Holland and they had closed shop up.

 

conan is right, spoon doesnt even hide any of what conan said they clearly have it said in there details that this is infact almost a 100% oem parts just put together with spoon HG and a spoon o-pump thats all.

But I think you guys are just underestimating there abbilities a little, I mean which shop is able to carry hundreds of sets of itr-ctr pistons to weigh them all into such exact balances? not only that but which joe has the tools they have? or do you think its fair to even compare the two shortblocks?

you have a motor thats already built super reliable and fast and turned into even a more reliable and stronger motor which is also brand new and your comparing it to some gsr block thats been frankensteined with several parts,built with poor tools + brain and had already gone through several miles of torture before its rebuild?

dont know you guys but I would rather get the spoon crate motor.besides I know of a track member who has a spoon engine whom has raced that thing for the longest time with no problems and won several races which shows that you get what you pay for! just because its oem parts doesnt mean its weak or slow,the dodge viper was built off a set of oem dodge parts too back in the day, it even had a set of cube van spindles for gods sake!

 

So to acheive the same, like you said you are going to be buying parts/returning them, etc. What about aftermarket parts? can you get them within the same weight range straight from the shop?

Interesting too..

Cheers mate, thanks for explaining!