How to build a successful N/A h22
First thing is first, we need understand that N/A is not cheap. To make decent power you need to
"Mad Cash" to get anywhere n/a. I would start with the basics:
Intake, exhaust, and Header.
Header - Lets get one thing straight lol. If you have a 4 cylinder engine you do not have headers,
you have a header. Now back on topic. Up until last year I never knew how important having a good
header would do to my performance. Now let me tell you, I'm not going to sit here and tell you that
you need an RMF, SMSP, Kteller or hytech header because for some people it cost a little too much for them.
I will agree that you will make way better gains with these and while must people view them as a
necessity to building a strong h22 monster, I'm here to tell you that you still can build a strong motor.
RMF, SMSP, Kteller, or... and this is a big OR, If you can find somebody that can make one for you
it works out a lot cheaper. Lucky for me there is a shop right down the street that makes them and I
have a friend that specializes in fab work.
Why not to go with DC? IMO.... screw DC and AEM. I'm sure some of you have read some of my posts on
pp.com about their intakes and header for our h22 cars. POS's IMHO. While must people look for
good mid-range gains with their header, DC gives you a little if any gains at the peak of your
power curve. 1-3hp.
Bottom line: If you want to play you have to pay. DC won't cut it.
Intake - An intake is an intake. The filter will make a little difference for you. As stated above I don't
like AEM intakes because they are mass produced and other intake manufactorers like injen spend time and
money fabricating a nice intake for our cars.
Exhaust - This is a very vital part of your build to compliment your header and higher compression (will be discussed later) you'll be running. Well what size piping is ideal? I would go with 2.5inch piping with the inlet/outlet of the muffler to be the same inches or a little bigger. Apex'i,greddy,Thermal, custom etc are all good. Please stay away from ebay guys
.Cams and Valvetrain - Cams are very, very, VERY important on the kind of build you want. If you want good mid-range power, then JUN, Crower make great cams for this with Crower's stage 1 and JUN stage 1. If you want more peak power (like myself). Skunk2 starts shining in the higher rpms. Some argue that skunk2 cams are specifically for "B" series engines because you can make them rev all the way up to 10K. Yes this is true. But if you want to more power up top, I would go with the skunk2's for that same reason. You want to raise the redline anyways righ?
The valvetrain has a lot to do with reving higher to gain more power. If you get stage 1 cams you it is not necessary for you to change your valves/ valve springs etc. though it is recommended. If you go any higher than stage1 cams then its a must to upgrade your valvetrain.
Compression - Well some might be wondering what does my compression have to do with anything? It has a lot to do with everything. IF you raise the compression higher, that means more air is coming into the engine. Thus meaning you need more fuel. Which equals to more power. On pump gas I wouldn't go any higher than 12.5:1 compression. Also I wouldn't go any higher than 12:1 compression pistons. Higher compression equals more power with a an increase in the chance for denotation. Tuning will be important.
Pistons - What kind of pistons would you recommend? Well, start off with the ones that have the same signiture as the H22 blocks FRM pistons. There are two companies that offer them, Mahle and JUN. Mahle offers an 11:1 compression piston While JUN offfers it a little higher than 11:1 (can't find where I read how high it goes). Other than that you have to get forged pistons and you have to sleeve the block and get stronger rods.
Tuning - This is a very touchy thing. I've come to find out that tuners are very bias with what type of setups they want to tune. Some prefere hondata, some prefere uberdata, some like crome, some like Neptunes(New hot thing).
I will say this: Hondata has been proven year after year to gain power without any major problems or glitches. If you need to know more about them visit their website. "I can't do everything for guys hehehe" Website: http://www.hondata.com/
Uberdata and crome are free softwares. They mimic hondata but there is a set back. They have glitches. In fact they have several glitches with their programming. They do get the job done. They are also cheaper than hondata and are highly recommended if your on a budget.
VAFC = v-tec air flow correction. This tunes your air/fuel and supposingly change your vtec cross-over point. I'm here to tell you that NO it doesn't. What a vafc does, is tap into the sensors with the settings you give the vafc. Then the cars ecu make the changes it sees necessary to accommodate these changes in the reading of the sensors. So the vafc only manipulates the sensors that communicate with the ecu, not the ecu itself. It doesn't change crap on your car. It does make power however so its not at all a waste of money. If have the typical I/H/E pulleys etc, then this tuning device will do just fine.
Same applies for the SAFC and SAFCII.
The greddy e-manage (blue box) falls under the same category as the vafc and safc.
Neptunes - I don't know much about but I'm researching it as you read. It supposely the best.
AEM EMS. This is the best product that aem has on the market. In fact its the only thing aem I would buy. I wouldn't get it unless I go boosted and a full engine built. While it might be the best tuning setup, it is very expensive and tuners for it are very pricey.
I'm leaving some off the tuning devices off because I'm about to cover a very touchy topic.
OBDII to OBDI: Whats the difference? Well in a not shell obdII is a learning ecu that eventually take your car back to the stock settings. So in an essence, it detunes the car. obdI doesn't do that. It is the more tuner friendly ecu. obdII ecu's for honda starts from 1996 and up. So if you have a 96' and up honda and you want to uptimize your tuning gains I suggest switching to obdI.
So Ace what about the automatic (shitmatic as some like to call it)? What can we do for tuning? Well, you have the vafc and safc that can tune your ride. Also, the best tuning device for the auto's is the greddy E-management Ultimate (black box). This is the best tuning device for the automatic IMHO. I'll copy and pastes my write up on it from pp.com:
Greddy E-Manage Ultimate (Thanks to TopEndLude)
E-Management Ultimate does everything that the first e-management does which is the same as the vafc for Apexi. Which is fine tune air, fuel and also have the ability to change the vtec change-over-point.
What separates it from the vafc:
1. The ability to tune both air/fuel and ignition timing
2. The ability to switch back and forth from two preset tuning maps (street and racing maps for example.)
3. There are maps for each individual cylinder to tune both air/fuel and ignition. (so it seems it can even tune ITBs
).4. It has the ability to convert injection and ignition systems.
5. There are also built in boost, rev and speed limiter cutoff.
6. Various so called Smooth operating maps that adjust throttle, acceleration, water temperature, intake temp., anti-engine stall, idle and yes Auto transmission shift points for those auto tranny vehicles.
The E-management Ultimate is a nice system for those who are on a tight budget and want the best bang for there buck. Hondata cost can scale upwards towards $1,000. Whereas EMU’s suggested price is $680. Retail I’ve seen it on ebay for $480 with free shipping but that’s ebay.
So basically its it does everything that you would need it to do.
Now.. How do you get all this power to ground? Well, you would need upgrade your transmission. Clutch, flywheel, pressure plate etc.. Then you have a serious setup going.
ECU's Well you're probably asking what ecu can/should I get when I switch to OBDI right? Well if you have a h22 then you can get any vtec ecu such as: p13,p15 which are prelude ecu's,p28,p30,p61.
Now for the one you should try your hardest to get your hands on P72. Why? Because it has the ability to tune the IAB's.
So why not just use a prelude ecu you ask? Well, you can't get all the options you would get with lets say a p28 or p72. The p13 and 15 are limited to what they can do. The most common ones are the p28 and p72. If you don't want to worry about your iabs then get your hands on the p72.
What is the purpose of tuning? To smooth out your power curve. to make sure the car is operating in a safe perameter. To clean up the air/fuel ratio. Oh and yes! To make power. Guys don't neglect tuning its very important. I can't stress that enough.
I know some might be wondering.
ECUs:
PO6, PR4, P74 and P75. Remember, if your car came out after 1995 its obd2 and you need to swtich to obd1 to make the most power. If you are already obd1 then you can use your ecu but you will be limited to what you can use/place on it.
