K24 VTEC Franken-monster

From Rides

Tagged along for a ride in my friend's fully-loaded K24 powered Civic EG hatchback with dog-box transmission & it left a very profound impression on me ~ one that leaves a big grin on my face (thrill-factor) & sweaty palms (scare-factor)...

Here's a shot clip of the thrill ride ~ on a casual cruise with gradual acceleration; & only running on road tires... insanely fast & pretty damn scary if u ask me! This is how 280+ naturally aspirated wheel-horses gone beserk on the tarmac feels like! Definitely one of the fastest car point-to-point, if rode in... this monster's got serious supercar slaying potential =D

From Rides

Long live the NA King! =D

Project Civic ~ All Motor & Fully Loaded

In my 5 years of ownership of this little sedan, she has had her fair share of adventures in the quest for more power; from a simple B16A transplant just a day after getting her keys (she was originally a single-cam non-VTEC), picking up basic bolt-on upgrades along the way, to a loaded & extensively modified NA machine she is today.
It has taken 3 dyno sessions to get the settings & tuning dialled in, with progressive improvements. Essentially, she's still retains her 1.6 litre naturally aspirated heart, with extensive work done on the engine head, the engine block receiving some beefing up to handle the power, & a transmission swap to the rare & highly coveted 98' ITR gearbox with LSD & a 4.785 final drive to exploit the increased capacity of the powerband.

From Rides

The final output on the dyno reads 168.12whp & 147nm, which translates to 205.5bhp & 179.3nm at the crank (considering 18% transmission loss, which is typical for B-series engines). A stock B16A is rated to make 170bhp at the crank, & typically 120+ to 130whp. While the figures may not be much to shout about, if you put it in the same league with high performance cars like EVOs, STis or 350Zs; to put things into perspective, 168.12whp from a 1.6 litre NA engine ~ that's already an output of more than 100 wheel-horsepower per litre! 105.1 whp per litre to be exact, achieved without resorting to turbocharging or supercharging. Admittedly, that's a consolation for me, for not breaching 200whp mark which I earlier thought was easily achievable (not unless I stroke it to 2 litres *will discuss about it another time*).
Power figures aside, it's the driving impression that will matter most, at the end of the day. In terms of response & power delivery, it's very swift, extremely smooth & linear all the way to the redline (as evidenced in the last dyno chart); to the extent that the 'VTEC kick' typically felt during the VTEC transition could no longer be felt or heard as distinctly. Such is the characteristics of the most aggressive camshaft design from Skunk2, the Pro Series Stage 3 bumpsticks. *It takes a little used to (without the VTEC signature loud bark), to start appreciating how much faster it is from point to point*. To sum it up, the car pulls much harder now, with significant gains & useable power throughout the rev range, especially from mid range all the way to the redline. The real fun starts from 7,300rpm onwards ~ watch the needle sweep across to the limit in one fluid motion =D
The torque band feels pretty broad & easily accesible from as low as past 2,300rpm, making hard launches prone to wheelspin, but the forward motion & traction is effectively remedied by the LSD & the thicker profile rubbers in using.
0 - 100km/h? With this setup, I reckon it should be in the mid, to low 6 secs *if i don't get sucky on my shifting
Quarter mile? Yet to try, I'd be very happy to be able to run 14 second-ish passes
It just takes a spirited drive out in the open roads to put a grin on my face. Quoted "there isn't much out there that will beat the thrill of a high strung, naturally aspirated engine, angrily & furiously screaming its way up to 9,000rpm" ~ I can't agree more... =)
It feels much faster in the open roads, pulling easily across at century speeds (80km/h - 160km/h), and acceleration is ample even at high gears (got to love the close-ratio gears & high final drive). Though it may not be a blistering straight line performer (by tuned car's standard), I believe it's got enough to hold its own against higher spec-ced performance cars out on the open roads ~ "may not be able to beat, but won't go down easily either".
Though, she still needs a little more upgrade in the handling department. Now, I'm fairly contented with the new found power she's making, still getting accustomed to driving her effectively to exploit the finer points of her potential =)

From Rides

Here's a bio profile on Project Civic:

Engine 1.6L NA JDM B16A2

Engine Upgrades Skunk2 Pro+3 camshafts, Skunk2 Pro-series valve springs, Skunk2 hi-comp forged valves, Skunk2 Pro-series titanium retainers, Toda Racing adjustable cam gears, head port & polish, Power Enterprise Kevlar timing belt, lightened crank pulley, B16B (PCT) hi-comp pistons, aluminium engine block guard, ACL main & rod race bearings, Walbro 255lph fuel pump, B18CR fuel injectors, NGK Iriway 8 spark plugs, Ultra power cables, Arospeed voltage stabilizer, Skunk2 Pro-series 68mm throttle body, Skunk2 Pro-series intake manifold, Top Fuel air ram + K&N open pod intake, Skunk2 Black Series billet oil cap, custom tuned-lenght 4-1 header + 2.5” stainless steel piping system, and Skunk2 Mega Power (60mm) universal muffler + silencer

Engine Management Hondata S300

Transmission S80 (98’ DC2R) manual gearbox with Helical LSD + 4.785 final drive, Exedy 4-puck Stage 2 racing clutch kit + lightened & balanced flywheel (3.8kg)

Handling / Chassis GAB HA series coilovers with AVCS, EG9 front lower arm & undercarriage assembly

Brakes EG9 front + rear disc brake system conversion, dual layer brake servo, and Improve stainless steel braided brake hose kit

Wheels & Tires Sparco Racing NSII 15”, Bridgestone Potenza RE001 195/55/15 semi-slicks (front), and Toyo Trampio R1R 195/55/15 semi-slicks (rear)

Exterior OEM stock standard, EG9 rear boot lid spoiler, and OEM EK9 rear emblem

Interior EG6 meter cluster panel + dashboard, Nardi Torino 3-spoke steering wheel, Skunk2 billet shift knob, Apexi’ auto-timer, EK4 semi-bucket seats

I try to keep the exterior & visible interior stock, simple & clean coz 'less is more' & to avoid unwanted attention. It's already enough having a bloody loud exhaust system. I had to cap it with a silencer to keep the noise levels within acceptable levels, & so that my neighbors don't hate me, at the expense of a few horses & a bit of fuel consumption due to back pressure from the restrictive silencer outlet -_-"
Measured fuel consumption now is 7.54 kms/litre, down from a fairly efficient 10.9 kms/litre before the extensive upgrade. So Project Civic is now officially a fuel guzzler that takes in premium 97-octane or higher fuel only (high-compression-engine friendly).
You got to be hardcore to be driving Project Civic on a daily basis. With the level of mods, she's a car that begs to be driven hard & fast. More effort & coaxing is required to drive her in a civilized manner (already detuned, with emphasis on favorable daily driving, rather than all-out track days), to blend in with the masses & keep under the radar of the men in blue. Yes, she's definitely a bitch to drive, in heavy traffic... xp
Project Civic ~ that's a true driver's car, for me =)

That familiar blue top ~

From Rides

Came across this photo while browsing through FB ~ a press coverage of the other day's dyno session! My friend's exotic NSX takes the center stage here =)
Looking further on the photos in the upper left ~ that engine bay with blue top looks suspiciously familiar.... Project Civic on its maiden dyno run!
Now i finally recalled, there was a guy with a DSLR taking random shots during the dyno session; must be from the press. Can't quite make out what the text are about coz i'm chinese-character blind ~ it's got to be about Sarawak getting its very 1st dyno facility. The guys at Pro Dyno has got to be happy to be getting these free publicity... =)

Project Civic on the Dyno

Project Civic was put on its maiden dyno run at Pro Dyno in Kuching last Saturday, tested on the very 1st dyno machine brought into Kuching, if not the state which, was only set up & commissioned recently. The availability of these test machines would definitely give a big boost to the local tuning scene; as prior to this, to get a thorough quantitative & qualitative gauge on their engine performance, enthusiasts could either a) take out the engine, pack & ship it to KL, b) ship the whole car to KL, or c) put it on a trailer, or drive it to Brunei ~ just to put it on a dyno test *maybe PUSPAKOM would have one, but they're strictly for inspection only*. For a start, there are rumours that 2 more of the dyno machines are being shipped in ~ that's just a testament of the maturing tuning scene here =)

It took quite a while to prep the car up for the dyno run & getting machine calibration settings set. The machine is a 2-wheel dyno manufactured by Dynojet. Okay, i'm not going to bore you guys with anymore mundane details, but a couple of amusing dramas did unfold during the session; here are some photos & captions posted by the Pro Dyno guy himself, Clement Chong:

this is a scary car, why!!

kanasaii!! THIS CAR IS SO SCARY UNTIL MY TWO NUTS NEARLY DROP OFF MY PANT.

guess how much the tuner want me to rev the car???
6000rpm... NO!
7000rpm... NO!
8000rpm... NO!
9000r...pm.... this is the max rpm range on the rpm meter....NO!
10000rpm...... you must be insane............NO!
i finally rev the car pass the 9000rpm mark and over the mark which has no more readindg and continue until about the 0rpm mark. walau A!!! i only show this type of engine in japan magazine many year ago and thats a SPOON for honda . scary neh!!! i rev it i think pass 11000rpm, i myself cant believe it, can you???
FB link to ProDyno

He was behind the wheel, while my friend Ricky was busy dialling in the tuning for the Hondata S300 via his laptop in the passenger seat. Though, my dyno session did came to an abrupt end following a bang complemented with a spectacular exhaust flame sprouting antic ~ did my engine blow up after repeated rev runs to stratospheric 11,000rpm?? Fortunately no, *phew!(in relief)* the upgraded valvetrain assemblies & strengthened block held its worth against the abuse. It was actually the stock ignition coils that got toasted on the last dyno run... *now i know why modded hondas run pricey aftermarket ignition coils (MSD)* and that was the only extent of damage...

Here's a clip of one of the dyno runs

& the result which, i wasn't too enthusiastic about:

158.55whp @ 8,800rpm; 137.79 Nm (14.05kgm) @ 5,800rpm

~ which, translates to

193.35bhp & 168.04 Nm (17.14kgm) ~ estimated output at the crank / engine, assuming transmission loss of 18%.

Compared to the stock output of B16A 1.6 liter naturally aspirated engine on papers of 170bhp @ 8,200rpm & 157Nm (16kgm) ~ there are some considerable gains, but still leaves much to be desired as the current setup is supposedly capable of pushing over 200bhp at the crank.
The max torque figure isn't exactly impressive too, although it is quite close to the mark of a 1.8liter B18C GSR. There's an apparent torque dip around 4,400 to 5,200rpm that needs to be remedied with further tweaking. *may be running slightly higher profile tyres of 195/55/15 compared to the standard 195/50/15 does play a bit of reducing factor in the torque output to the ground*
The hp curve towards the higher rpm range is expected to spike higher, but it could be due to my current setup not giving sufficiently high (crazy high like 11.6 or higher) to fully capitalize on the potential gain of the hi-cams... currently in the progress of addressing this compression issue, hopefully it will net more gain to achieve 170whp on the next run.
Since the peak power has been shifted upwards to almost 9,000rpm, the B16A stock, & relatively long gear ratios (compared to aftermarket gear ratios la..) will make it a little tricky to keep up & stay in the powerband when shifting gears. In short, the real sweat-in-pants action only happens beyond the 7,000rpm & it literally it takes ages for the rpm needle to swoop past that magical mark with my current gear ratio!! After all, how much horses your engine makes should take a backseat to how much horses your car can effectively put to the ground... *the gear ratios surely determines how the power gets delivered to the ground, but i'm not sure to what extent it will affect the max hp output as well??
From the low to mid range, the power delivery feels a bit flat (& torque-less too, ~ inherent characteristics of small naturally aspirated engines; the mantra "there is no replacement for displacement" reigns here). Maybe i felt it increasingly so, coz i drove it right after i took Ricky's impressive 211whp & 233Nm FD2R for a spin... xp

Among the other 2 Hondas on dyno that afternoon was Ricky's K20A FD2R (superb output !) & another Steven's NA1 NSX which netted 218whp & a whooping 300Nm!

I just had to settle being the slow-poke for that day.... Until the next dyno run....
=)

Sunday Club Revisit...

It's been a long while since i last been to Sunday Club ~ sort of like a local track day of all sorts (anything that runs on an engine & can be raced =p); came across some interesting video clips of it on Youtube...

I see some very familiar rides... ^_* these guys are fast!

Battle of the VTECs!
~ check out WTF!! moment at 1.22 that was one amusing close call xp

Action from inside the cockpit of an EG6 ~ i have always loved the way a track car sounded & handled *sweeet!*

Project Civic Revisit

This is what a 200whp All-Motor 1.6L sounds like ~ also what i aspire to realistically achieve with my Project Civic *soon; 200 naturally aspirated horses, at the flywheel, at least - to hit that magical output of 125hp per litre from a high revving potent little engine =)

Skunk in my Car

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In the past week...

I haven’t had much time to update since the past week, with my workload piling up most notably my gunpla WIP =p, & having to put up with the hassles of getting my ride up & operational again after a major brake failure.

From Miscellaneous

Early this week, my eneloop rechargeable batteries shipment from Sashinki finally arrived, but i’ve yet to start playing with my virgin speedlite =p

From Miscellaneous

Focus test chart ~ i guess this is how it’s supposed to work; checked OK!

From Gunpla

Yet another impulse purchase on an impromtu visit to one of the local toy shops, thanks to my gunpla-crazed housemate... 1/200 Speed Grade collection ~ worth every cent of its 39.90 tag. Reviews coming soon.

From Rides

Finally sent my car for its long awaited brake system upgrade in the form of brake pads change & OEM rubber brake hoses replacement with IMP stainless steel braided brake hose kit, for better braking efficiency & eliminate spongy pedal ‘feel’ under heavy braking.

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OEM rubber brake hose kit Vs high performance stainless steel braided brake hose kit

OEM rubber hose kit generally have an average lifespan of about 3 years; in the case of my old ride, it could very well be a ticking time bomb on the countdown to burst. They tend to swell with age and this may restrict fluid flow thus, causing sponginess pedal ‘feel’ when braking.

In comparison, the stainless steel braided hose kit is of sturdier construction with Teflon inner lining & stainless steel overbraid which gives it added strength & flexibility, durability to handle extreme pressures & temperatures without fatigue or failure.

From Rides

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Faded brake pads Vs new pads from AFI

*claimed to bite stronger but at the expense of its slightly shorter than OEM lifespan; we’ll find out soon

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A friend’s car getting its wheels blinged with supercool & expensive TRD lugnut set

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Other nice rides spotted at the establishment...

With weak Point A of the braking system eliminated, unfortunately it wasn’t happily ever after just yet, as the other remaining weak points, namely the brake master pump seal & brake separator valve seal, started to leak not long after (maybe due to the aging rubber components in those part’s inability to handle the pressure exerted by the newly topped up brakefluid couple with a now more efficient back-end of the brake system), rendering me car-less for a couple of days as the problem gets rectified at my friend’s workshop -_-

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Once out, it’s back to Big Wheels again, to have 2 of the balding Advan Neovas at the rear replaced with another set of pricey semi-slicks; the Bridgestone Potenza RE001 Adrenalin; sized at 195/55R15, now for the 1^st time in about half-a-year since i replaced 2 of my front rubbers with Toyos, my car will have equal sized tires all around... (previously running AD07 195/55R15 on all fours before i replaced them with the thicker Toyos 2 piece at a time; unfortunately i’ve sourced the whole Miri for the same rubber, but without any success)

From Rides

Bumped into another fairly new Japanese exotic ~ the 370Z Fairlady with nice bolt-on mods...

From Rides

Checkout the its nice rear – more Porshe-like looking now...

From Rides

It’s in the process of getting brand new Volk GT-C 20” wheels fitted on. How much if you may ask? If i sell off my car for cash now, i could probably afford only 2 of those wheels. MYR25,000 for a set of bling-bling; shouldn’t be too much to ask for one who can afford a brand new 370Z. =)

Auto Details

Aside from Gunplas, i’m also deeply passionate about cars, especially cars with racing pedigree. In this series of photos, i attempted to capture close-up shots of the unique details which make up the defining elements of an iconic car. * This is in no way related to http://www.autodetailed.com ~a great photoblog by a professional auto-detailer; as in my case my subjects will be in their most /usual normal state i.e. non-showroom prepped, with good signs of wear and weathering effect from the daily grind of use ~ these would add a touch of very realistically interesting details, i think. For a start i began with pilot specimens, the regulars that resides at our co-rented residence here in Oil Town: ER33 & ZZT230

View the full album at my FB here. Enjoy! =)

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