i havent spent numerous hours researching on all the engines, and it has become mind boggling for me after reading and learning so much. the engine will be going into a eg civic hatch. the engine swaps in mind are the usual:

b16a
b18b
b18c1
b20b/z ls or gsr tranny? is lsd a must? is it as reliable and long lasting as the other Honda engines? what's the b20's top speed?

i do not plan on going ls/vtec or crvtec due to the mass amounts of money needed and plus reliability issues. this car will me my daily driver and possibly the only source of transportation. i do a lot of stop and go and freeway driving. fuel economy is a must. only mods ill do is the usual i/h/e and nothing too out of hand where i'd have to spend an arm and a leg. TIA

 

B18C1 hands down.. in a sense you pay more for that engine than either a b16a or a b18b... but you get best of both worlds to a sense.. the B18C1 produces more torque than a b16a.. and out revs a b18b anyday .. the b18b sucks at high end unless you get cams and build it..b16a sucks just due to lack of low end performance... just my .02 cents

oh yeah I did drive a B18B with a gsr tranny for a while.. it was fun.. but it sucked on the hwy with the stock rev limiter.. since u can't downshift into 4th @ higher speeds of 80mph


[Modified by IM ALL BOB, 12:04 AM 2/19/2003]

 

chipped ecu

 

Keep dreamin'...

 

BDC, I'm not sure what you mean...

but it's better to have something to work towards

 

Sorry for being so enigmatic, but let me put it this way - if you want the horses, you have to feed them. Another way of putting it is - there's no such thing as a free lunch.

If you want performance, you aren't going to get good fuel economy. That's 'blue sky' thinking. I'm afraid you're going to have to pick one or the other IMHO...

 

BDC, I totally agree with you and thanks for clearing that up. I'm not searching for an all out performance engine, just something that'll satisfy me. After some more thought, I've narrowed my choices to the B20 and the GSR. I've never driven in or ridden in a B20 equipped car so the B20 is and all new experience for me.

I need some more clarification on the B20b/z. Between the b and z, wouldn't I be better off getting the z since it puts out more hp than the b? What differences are there between the b and z? The only one I know of is the compression ratio which gives the z a bump in hp and moving the max power curve slightly higher in the RPM range. Also is the longevity of this motor like any other honda motor? The reason I asked is because I've read about the sleeves cracking where they are saimesed. Would It crack overtime even though you're not revving the **** out of it? Also, I know that the b18b sleeves are 2mm thicker than the b20 and built differently. [edit] Isn't the b20 is pretty much just an overbored b18b?



[Modified by Cuong-nutz, 8:23 AM 2/19/2003]

 

bump

 

Okay! You asked for it! Here's the extended version

Well, this is a hard one for me to answer 'cause I love Frankenstein motors. Why? Because of a video I saw called "CiViC vs. Ferrari". Don't know if you have seen it, but it shows a LS/VTEC CiViC kicking a Ferrari F355's *** in a street race, blah, blah, blah...

Anyway, what you have to remember is - (horse)power is nothing more than the product of torque and RPM. Hondas make power through high-RPM's, not torque. It's the ol' joke, you know? H-o-n-d-a = Hold-On-Not-Done-Accelerating

The problem with tuning ANY B20 is:

1) They have a sh!tty rod angle, and...
2) ...it limits their redline.

I can hear it now - "WTF are you talking about BDC? I got a dyno chart showing a LS/VTEC doing 9500-RPM on rollers!"

Yes, I've seen those too, but here's the deal - A LS/VTEC will screech like a banshee, but they don't have the correct rod angle to do this for very long. So, I think that negates consideration by you because of your need for reliability.

Thinking this through... with a B20-whatever, you're damned if you do and damned if you don't. The reason to go with a B20 is because it has more torque, but it won't rev. Fine! You stick a f*cking VTEC head on it, and it'll rev, but the sh!tty rod angle won't support high-revs for very long. It's like a time bomb - I revved it this time - hee, hee, got away with it again - one more time, YES - whoops!

See where I'm going with this???

Look, if you want to build a B-series monster motor - and you don't give a **** if it grenades or not while you're kicking Ferrari bootie - then go LS/VTEC. However, if all you want to do is go I/H/E on an otherwise stock motor, then a B20 is going to be a BIG disappointment for you. After all, it's a damn CR-V motor, you know?

Personally, I think you should go with a GSR motor, for resale value if nothing else. B20 swaps aren't worth a damn unless you feel like going the Frankenstein route, and all that's going to do is prove you're crazy in most ppl's minds.

There's no bragging rights driving a CiViC with a underpowered SUV motor, bro. The B20 has the potential of being the baddest B-series motor of them all, but unless you're willing to do it right, I'd forget the idea...

 

i'd go with a GSR block...if you can find one that is. comes with a crank girdle and has a lot of potential for either NA or boost...depending on which route you choose...

 

b18b then boost