This topic was originally started by DixieH22a and 93preludevtec. But I wanted to get some advice beyond maintenance.
My Prelude is fast approaching the 100,000 mile mark (99,825) and it runs great! The car is well taken care of and all maintenance is done in a timely matter (oil, belts, etc.) My question is what to do with a car with high miles? I purchased the car at 60,000 and I have done the basic mods that my slim budget would allow. For a while I wanted to go turbo, but now that the miles are beginning to add up I'm not so sure. Would turbo be a wise choice for an engine with high miles? I know that I would have to practically rebuild the engine before it would handle any kind of forced induction. Then, I tossed around the idea about going NA. Replacing the internals with stronger aftermarket parts. Essentially doing the rebuild minus turbo. I have read the NA thread multiple times as well as the turbo thread and it seems that with an engine like mine, NA would be the way to go. This is my daily driver so I need to keep it reliable but fun at the same time. Any advice would be great!
Thanks!

 

Turbo engines are not reliable. You can fine tune them all you want, but they will never be as reliable as a stock motor. I know from 3 years of experience.

If you do decide to go turbo, do a compression test on your motor or better yet a cylinder leakdown test. If you yield good numbers, then your motor is fine for boost. I recommend only boosting 7-8 psi on a stock motor, you can go up to 9 but thats pushing it just a little bit. Make sure you tune your motor and you should be ok, but always expect the unexpected with a turbo motor.

If you care more about reliability, maybe you should try a jackson racing supercharger. They will put you in the low 14s and possibly high 13s if you run slicks, a few other basic mods, and are a decent driver.

If you have the money, go for the NA rebuild. All motor is very nice and with the right internals, upgraded valve train, nice cams and EMS, you can very easily have a 13sec car as well.

It's your call.

 

Thanks for the reply!

I think that I want to go NA but that will be dictated by my budget. Would the NA rebuild essentially be a new engine? Though the block will still be worn.

What are your thoughts on the JDM H22? I think that the rebuild and a "new" engine would be in the same price range.

 

What car/motor do you currently have? There's a few options available...

 

I have a 5th gen Prelude (H22). I just went over 100,000 miles this weekend. Kinda scary. I know that Honda engines are reliable but I don't know the life span of a high mileage/modified engine.

 

i have 130,000 well maintained miles on mine and will be boosting soon. Low boost though, for now...

 

How has your motor been doing after 100,000 mi? I take it that you will be running stock internals? I wanted to go turbo for a while (and still might) but I'm wondering if the N/A setup would be better.