I have a 1994 civic cx that I use for HPDE for now. Its fully gutted except for dash, and has the stock cx engine w175,000 miles on it. I tow this car to the track and its not driven on the streets. Im not interested in the 1/4 just road racing/course experience with these engines.

Which engine would be better for road racing b16 or b18 (NOT GSR) I narrowed it down to either the 1.6 or LS engine. I do not want to go turbo later on, andn gsr is just too much.

I searched and I couldnt find much on which engine was better for road racing.


My stock cx is good for now till it dies then i want to swap it out.
Other mods to the car. ground control /koni yellow/rota slip/toyo ra -1 tires/ strut bars. Its really fast entering corners but i get killed after that or any inclines.

My future plans are of course to build the engine but thats much later on.
Anyone with experience with these motors on courses, pros/cons?


thanks

 

i had a ls motor in my car and i ran it at the road course it was fun, i moved on to a different motor though.

most in here will say save your money and just buy a race car and don't bother with an egine swap.

i don't agree with that, i love working and doing things my self, yes sometimes its very fusterating, but i love to wrench on a car as much as a i love to race it, ill probably end up spending more money than some one who bought a car already prepped but that to me wouldn't be fun.


either motor is good, just make sure its in good shape

 

This civic will be my race car, i dont drive it on the street. i have an accord for a daily driver

i dont have any friends with civics but my other friend had a ls integra and he did fine on the course, ive done all the work on my car my self, suspension, etc.. i even did the timing belt which was a good experience.
keep the inputs coming thanks

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by slammed_93_hatch &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">most in here will say save your money and just buy a race car and don't bother with an egine swap.</TD></TR></TABLE>

Thats probably the best idea.

But none of us are very smart, and building a car is fun

A d16z6 for H4 (along with the other changes to make it an Si) would be fun.

 

and another question which b16 engine would be best the SI?

 

The LS engine would be a nice power boost, but the gearing is so tall that you may find yourself swapping in a closer ratio B16 tranny as well. I would go with a complete B16 swap personally, though an ITR engine would be ideal for what you're talking about.

As for which B16, JDM CTR would be the best, but you're talking a big price difference. All US B16s are the same specs. An older one (B16A3 from Del Sol) will give you fewer OBD conversion problems, but a newer one, of course, will likely have fewer miles.

Either way, you can't go wrong with any B-series.

 

When you say "race car," do you mean head-to-head competition or just track days and time trials? If you want to run sanctioned road races, the rules are going to be a little bit of a PITA - particularly if you really have your heart set on a swap.

1. NASA Honda Challeng H1 - if you put any B-series lump in it, you will end up here. It is very expensive and competitive.

2. NASA H4 - As RJ mentioned, you can take advantage of the NASA update/backdate rules (as I understand them) and turn it into an Si. This would be a pretty darned good answer. You would NOT technically be legal to compete in SCCA ITA, even though the Si will be listed there shortly. Those rules require that the SN match the model.

3. SCCA ITC - this would be a very interesting option that would allow you to get into actual racing at the lowest possible cost. The CX is newly listed in this class and I think (and many agree) that the CX will be a great car for the class. You can NOT play around with the engine much.

So far as I know, pretty much anything else is either going to put you in some run-what-you-brung, catch-all class for wild-assed cars or leave you illegal and stuck on the sidelines.

Of course, if you just want to do track days and stuff, it doesn't make much difference...

K

 

What Kirk said. If you want to RACE, as in race competitively, wheel to wheel, weigh your rules options VERY carefully here. Kirk summed up the rules situation as well as anyone could.

If you're just lapping and doing HPDEs, they're all good, durable motors. Just a question of cost and horsepower really. The B motor would certainly be the easiest swap because it's been done to death, is light, durable, and makes good power.

 

STOCK sohc VTEC.....with LSD and a 4.9 in the tranny.....you can rape this setup and it will keep on ticking....of course it won't have the top pull that the b series swaps will have but i will bet it will roll with a good driver!!!!