Hello everyone,

I am new to this forum. I just acquired a Grand Am Spec Acura Integra LS race car from Nonnamaker racing. The car has a modified LS engine but eventually I want to go the VTEC route.

Sorry if this seems like a painfully obvious question but I have no experience whatsoever with Acura/Hondas and come from a BMW background.

What are the pros and cons of turning my current motor into a VTEC vs. just buying one of the JDM motors or hundreds of other used VTEC motors I see on Ebay and the rest of the internet.

My VTEC motor will need to be very close to a stock production VTEC motor as I am racing it in a class that allows minimal modifications.

I am looking for about 195-200 hp out of the engine.

Costwise is there a big difference between rebuilding vs. buying one. I also assume I would need to change the wiring harness and a few other items to make it work.

My LS motor is in good shape having been refreshed 4000 miles ago by a professional race shop.

Thanks for any input. This is a great forum!

Regards,

Jon P. Kofod
97 Acura Integra Grand Am Spec LS
http://www.nonnamakerracing.co...cat=1

 

I like the teg...do a search. You'll get more then enough info

 

get a B18C1 gsr motor and throw some high compression pistons and cams in it

 

go with an LsVtec setup. You'll find plenty of information on this sight and on the web on building one properly.

 

Going the LS/VTEC route should get you the 200whp your looking for with little modications...

 

I would say nay to the LS/VTEC, I am guessing this is a car that will be at high rpms through out a race. An LS/VTEC would't do so well at a constant 6k+ RPM IMO. Relyability speaking, go with the GSR.
Also to be in your class of car, can you even do a LS?VTEC and pass tech?

 

hey first off welcome to the board.

it all depends on what your budget is, if you have the abily to spend the 4500 dollars on a B18C5 (integra type R engine) then i would say go with that. Decent boltons i.e nice header, intake, exhaust and a few others should get you to right around 200 hp with the factory reliabilty.

If you dont wanna o that then you could get a real nice DOHC Vtec head and put that on over a freshened block and you could make some decent power.

good luck whatever you decide to do, what kind of bimmers did you have before

 

i don't know what class you'll be racing in and so i don't know what is allowed to modified and what isn't. but if you need to stay very close to stock (maybe no internal mods?) then the ITR motor would obviously be the best to drop in there.
195-200 HP stock and simple bolt-ons will increase that a bit.

also i'm not sure if you meant 195+ WHP or at the crank?

the B18C1/GSR motor is normally the best motor for the $$, considerably cheaper than the B18C5/ITR motor. i personally would stick with just the DOHC VTEC motor, not an LS block and SI/GSR head (LSVTEC).

 

Thanks everyone for all the info. After ckecking into all the rules it seems my options are somehwat limited.

To run in SCCA ITS class it appears I can only use a LS or GRS engine and that means it has to be a production based stock motor.

If you run in ITE class it seems I can do anything to the engine including crazy stuff like turbos and such.

I will likely keep the LS motor until end of next season and then get a Type R motor. I am searching through the archives to see what I may modifiy.

The engine will need to last 2 seasons. And yes it will spend all it's time at the upper rev range.

Looking for 195-200 + hp at the wheels and hoping this can be done reliably on a Type R with some modifications.

Thanks again for all the info.

My BMW is a 1988 M5 that has been converted into a fully prepped BMWCCA Club Racer. Pictures of the car can be seen at http://www.flatoutracing.net along with the rest of our racing cars.

Regards,

Jon P. Kofod

 

what kind of mods can you do, any internal works or just bolt ons and such. If you can do i would definitely say go with the GSR engine with a nice port and polish and some higher compression pistons with some nasty cams and youd be looking at 200 wheel horsepower. for headporting look at alaniztechnologies.com ive heard tons of good stuff about them as well as endyn (theoldone.com)

i hope you do well this season with the car, what kind of cars will you be competing against?

 

To run in ITS I can't do anything to the engine if it's a GSR or a LS motor. The car would compete against E36 BMW 3 series with either 2.5 or 2.8 liter engines, Porsche 944's (non-Turbos), and the older E30 BMW's (non-M3's). There are other priduction based cars from Nissan and Honda but the E36 BMW's are the fastest cars.

In ITE it's "run whatcha' brung" so anything goes. I wouldn't be competitive in that class but it would be fun to build a 220+ hp motor.

 

I am still in the review process for the East Coast Honda Challenge. Seems like I might have more leeway in that series to mix and match engines.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by ITSRACER &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I am still in the review process for the East Coast Honda Challenge. Seems like I might have more leeway in that series to mix and match engines.</TD></TR></TABLE>

You go LS/VTEC and you are in H1 with the Hatches a.k.a. no chance.

 

lol yeah a 220 hp engine would be fun but not when your up against supercharged M3's haha. i would have to say the GSR engine though, you can get really good power out of a test pipe exhaust, nice header (AN-R, Header tech or DTR just to name a few as well as a nice intake.

Lots of luck with this project man, let me know what you decide to do