Hi guys-

I recently swapped out the B16A in my EK for a B16B. I also installed a Toda rep header, a Tanabe Hyper Medalion exhaust (w/o a cat), and an CT-Engineering Icebox intake. I had the car dyno-tuned on Wednesday with some interesting results. Here are my takeaways:

- Power delivery was very rough
- The mid-range was very soft (possibly because my tuner has VTEC set at 4700)
- Power was still climbing before the run was stopped
- My tuner mentioned that he didn't feel comfortable taking the motor any higher due to how it was running

I was very curious as to why my motor was behaving the way it was so I started digging into it a little bit. I discovered that the owner of the engine before me had installed B16A plugs (BKR6E-11) instead of the colder B16B plugs (PFR7G-11). After some late night Googling I learned that running a plug that is too hot can cause pre-ignition and/or detonation. What is everyones opinion on how this could be affecting my dyno pulls? I'm going back to have the car retuned with the appropriate spark plugs in a week so this more of a thought exercise. Thanks!

 

If you make a pull on the same dyno with the "7"s installed instead of the "6"s... it should make literally no difference in performance. It will likely be within dyno error (+/- 1%). Your numbers are right on time for an average JDM B16B. Also keep in mind that you are running P/S and A/C... the CTR is rated with the small "alternator only" crank pulley, so the additional power loss with the other two accessories has to be factored in. The graph looks slightly choppy... so there may be a few degrees if ignition timing available to make a few more HP. If your VTEC is set at 4700 RPM, and the graph looks that smooth at the transition, keep it because it is working. Lastly, it is not uncommon for a DynoJet to graph a little late... so unless your redline is set at 8300 RPM, I wouldn't move it up just because you think you can. It is more likely that the electronic limiter in your S300 is set at 85-8600 and the dyno graph shows 8300 ish.

Good luck.

 

Wow! Thank you for the response. It was very intuitive and awesome.

 

Happy to help.

 

Any other thoughts? Is it unusual for such a low VTEC crossover point to work so well on a 1.6?

 

This is the nature of the B16B. This actually very good dyno. Torqueband is still solid and right on par to what it's supposed to be. A slightly lower VTEC point works well with that specific camshaft.

Don't worry about the power numbers so much. You've got a good thing going here.. Keep it up.

 

Hi Shodan! Thank you for the encouragement. I can't wait to continue fine tuning this one.

 

Yah 160 wheel for a basically stock B16B is damn good. What about the run made you think it wasnt running right?

 

The tuner said that he was hesitant to rev the motor any higher than 8200 for some reason (I wasn't actually there to question him about it in the moment). Its possible he didn't understand that the B16B has the same valvetrain as the B18C Type-R motors. To my untrained eye it looks like the power curve was still going up when the run was stopped.

The tuner also mentioned that the curve wasn't as smooth as he was used to seeing.

And finally, the tuner thought that my intake (Comptech Icebox w/ ITR arm) and muffler (60.5mm Tanabe) could be holding me back.

Oh, I also forgot to mention that the car has a Tanabe Hyper Medalion exhaust!

 

IF the tuner is looking specifically at power, and doesn't understand Honda engines in-depth, he may simply be conservative from his point of view. As much as people believe tuners are objective (and they are, to a point) they only can also go in the direction of their own experiences. Those experiences may not included understanding Honda B-series nuances. It happens..

 

Thank you for the additional insight, guys.