so im swapping a b18c into my ek coupe..After researching about this, I need a direct answer from current or former Gsr owners..this arguement concerning the "IAB's" on the intake manifold, I've seen some say get rid of the stock Gsr Im and get Skunk,blox, etc but I've heard you sacrifice Tq in the lower end..

Some say To keep the stock mani to keep the 4400 & 5700(dont quote me on that) crossover..
I would like to hear people who have actually owned a gsr whether in a civic or integra and what their personal experience is..I have the motor in storage and after I send the head out to get resurfaced, I'll be putting it in.

Im looking for experienced advice, not personal opinion btw

 

Well, Although I've never had a GSR Motor, I have had a b20Vtec with a GSR head, and let me tell you, it was worth the $350 i spent to ditch the OEM intake mai. for a Skunk 2 IM and throttle body. I would keep the vtec crossover around 5500... of course, to be changing all of that you'll have to have a chipped ECU or Hondata or some other sort of tuning. Hope u get all the info u need bro!

 

I have a JDM GSR in my EK. For my particular goals, I enjoy the stock setup. I'm not looking to make massive amounts of power nor be the fastest kid on the block. I've thought about swapping IM's for Skunk2 or the like but then realized that I would want to swap out the cams and header as well to take advantage of the manifold's potential. Also, you will want to get it tuned after you install all of the said parts. That requires me to switch over to OBD1 ECU with a tuning program. Now I can do all of these things but I'm pretty big about staying legal in SoCal as my motor is BAR'd. To sum it up, if you're going to swap IM's then expect to change out a bunch of other things to and get it tuned. Do it right the first time and you'll never have to do it again. Good luck!

 

wise words!

 

See that's exactly the situation I'm In. I like having a decent fast car but really not into the whole racing to be the fastest. Im located in S. Fla so the bar situation doesnt apply but thanks for the info..another question what do u have done to your b18c swap and how does it run in your coupe??

 

thank u man..I appreciate it, Im planning on running it w/ a p28 and a tune after I put on the rmf rep. headers I have and my Ws2 exhaust. Just wanna have everything situated while the motor is still out to save money and time in the long run

 

Keep the Reply's coming people!!Looking for more Input!

 

It's completely stock except for having an Exedy lightweight flywheel and Exedy stage 1 clutch. That thing kicks pretty hard when I gotta "get on it." My brother drives an Acura RSX Type S Aspec but swears my car kicks harder than his. I suggest you play around with the stock setup as is first, then figure out which direction you want to go into. I've seen many people installing mods just for the hell of it and the outcome is almost never satisfactory to the driver and this is simply due to lack of planning and research. Don't be one of these guys....

 

Oh no, I def. Go hard on my reasearch..I just want to put my money where it's most useful, and this mani issue is one I've been needing a direct answer on..Also, I hear for some ppl it's an issue to wire the IAB's correctly,and I hear if it's not, it's a decent loss in power..why is it so difficult(if it really is)??

 

It's really no issue to wire in the IABs. It's two wires one goes to the ECU, one goes to ground. Those who say it's an "issue" really shouldn't work on cars. This is coming from an amateur mechanic. On a scale of 1 - 10 in difficulty, I'd say it's a 1-2. If you can change your oil, you can wire in IABs. There are plenty of "how-tos" on the interwebs.

 

Word. When I had my old ek with a gsr. the shop left the iab's disconnected and it was a turtle. He said they sucked. Went online and figured how to wire them up and night and day diffirence as far as response. I'm more of a torque guy though. Not hp. My suggestion is keep the iabs unless I plan on upgrading camshafts then maybe you should switch manifold for a junk2.

 

Im the same way..Im coming from having two B20's..a B & a Z. Even with no vtec, for a dd, B20's pull decent. And im not trying to sacrifice the small amnt of tq I will have w/ the b18c. But thanks man, I appreciate it.

Also another question, What are the biggest differences you guys have seen between the skunk, blox, and edlebrock mani's beside price obviously??

 

Yea I've seen the write up's..that's kinda why I was wondering b/c it doesn't seem that difficult. Are you running the stock mani or aftermarket on your ek??and why did u choose..

 

I have a stock GSR in a 00 EJ8 coupe.

Every dyno sheet that I've seen shows that an aftermarket IM on a gsr will give you a few extra horses on the extreme high end... like 2-5 around 8100 RPM.

Every dyno sheet that I've seen also shows that you lose several horsepower between 4400 and 5500-6000 from lacking the IABs.

I've always been a proponent of the IABs. There are guys in the drag forum running OE gsr manifolds on 5-600HP turbo cars, and if it's good enough for them, it's good enough for me. On a daily driven street car, they give a much smoother power curve without a noticeable vtec crossover. This is a good thing. On a GSR with IABs, there should be a definite feeling of more and more power linearly as the RPMs rise.

If you see dyno sheets between a B16 and a gsr side by side, you'll notice that almost all B16s have a little jog down right around the vtec crossover. A properly functioning gsr shouldn't have that (or at least, it's not very pronounced).

In my opinion, it's worth sacrificing a few horses at the top in order to not have to rev the **** out of the thing all the time. I find that they make it a much more enjoyable car to drive. And they're really not that hard to wire in.

If you really want to find out what the midrange is like without them, do your swap and unplug them. Then plug them in. You should definitely notice a difference.

 

My man, thank you..you pretty much reassured me that Im going to keep my stock Mani. Im one of those Honda Owners that rarely races but still need a decent fast car and your post pretty much answered my question. So if keeping the stock mani, will it really make a noticable difference to change TB???and anyone had expereince or recommend any brand that works well w/ the stock mani???

 

Hey i have a question. im finishing up my b18c swap into my Ej this weekend and i was wondering if i would be able to use the stock wiring harness on the b18c?

 

Skunk2 intake manifold with a hondata gasket makes a big difference.. I remember telling myself that I would stay with the stock intake manifold for the iab's and the low end torque. But after switching over to a skunk2 manifold, it felt so much better. Dont know how to tell you but you just have to experience it. You might or might not like it. I personally liked it. It was a stock gsr with bolt ons and stock ecu.

 

i'v got a 98 with a jdm gsr swap. unfortunately my manifold came with broken solenoids and missing parts(butterflies) so i just opted to go for the skunk2. honestly i like the extra hp i get at the top end but i'm sacrificing a ridiculous amount of fuel for it. and i've been trying to get a complete gsr manifold for the longest without having to pay a ridiculous amount of money for it to no avail. unfortunately. so all in all i'd like to go back to the OE gsr manifold but i'm in no huge rush cuz i use my car every day.

 

Hmm..I think thats the next thing I need to Do is try and find someone with a setup similiar to what im going for(I/H/E/poss. cams/& a tune)

 

So is the skunk mani your main reason for your fuel loss..or attributing a lot to it??Are skunk manifolds known to do that?

 

I dont know about him but I didnt lose that much fuel when I swapped over to the skunk2.

 

He/She is probably losing fuel because he didn't have his car tuned after the IM install. Getting a tune makes a huge difference after apply such modifications to your engine.

 

I was thinking the same thing..SO the question I have now is the Throttle Body..should I leave that oem or Look into Aftermarket?? And with going aftermarket has anyone run any certain brands with the Oem Manifold??(Sorry for dragging this thread on, jus trying to get more informed)

 

I don't think you're going to get much out of a throttle body upgrade without a valvetrain upgrade. I could be wrong, but I don't think they don't do that much over stock.

 

You will not be able to run the IAB's with a P28, so the point is moot unless you get a P72 ECU. Anyway, when I first dropped my B18C into my EK, I didn't connect the IAB's because I heard that you lose top end power with the the stock manifold. I just had ITR intake, JDM 4-1 header, and ITR exhaust, so my setup was fairly stock. Eventually I connected the the IAB's and they definitely made a difference. There is more usuable power(torque?) around 4000 RPMs, and the driving around town, the just car feels faster in every way. The VTEC crossover in a stock P72 is at a very low 4400 RPMs, so I think Honda Engineers programed the ECU to work with the stock manifold. Personally, I wouldn't swap the intake manifold unless u have cams and an upgraded throttle body, in addition to bolt-ons and a good tune.