to VTEC or not to VTEC, that's the question

My Integra has the original B18A1 motor and 205,000 miles. Now that it’s older, I don’t drive it much. However, it has all the traits of an older motor: it eats gas and oil like it’s going out of style. To be fair, it was rebuilt at 154K with bored out pistons (.25, I think). It also has headers, catback exhaust, Exedy flywheel, and the JET chpped ECU. If I drive with a light foot, I think I can squeeze out 22 or 24 mpg. This is a far cry from the 30+ mpg I used to get when it was new.

The motor is going to go sooner or later. Sometimes, it dies for no reason and I have to restart. Should I save up and get a bored out B18C with Hondata? What kind of mpg can I expect if I run VTEC with an engine mgmt system? My wife wants me to get a new car, but her '92 Ford Taurus crapped out on her. :dance:

With a simple (mildly built) vtec motor and a light foot you can still hit 26-30+mpg. When you put your foot down you’ll be closer to 22-24mpg.

Throw a stock GSR motor in there and call it a day… then later down the road look into mods. At least that’s what I would do. If you’re planning on either a stock/rebuilt LS or a stock GSR, id rock the B18c.

[QUOTE=hinomura;2171001]My Integra has the original B18A1 motor and 205,000 miles. Now that it’s older, I don’t drive it much. However, it has all the traits of an older motor: it eats gas and oil like it’s going out of style. To be fair, it was rebuilt at 154K with bored out pistons (.25, I think). It also has headers, catback exhaust, Exedy flywheel, and the JET chpped ECU. If I drive with a light foot, I think I can squeeze out 22 or 24 mpg. This is a far cry from the 30+ mpg I used to get when it was new.

The motor is going to go sooner or later. Sometimes, it dies for no reason and I have to restart. Should I save up and get a bored out B18C with Hondata? What kind of mpg can I expect if I run VTEC with an engine mgmt system? My wife wants me to get a new car, but her '92 Ford Taurus crapped out on her. :dance:[/QUOTE]

that’s probably your issue right there. most plug and play chips just dump fuel, giving you the illusion of more power, but robbing your gas mileage, etc. switch to an oem ecu and a new o2 sensor and you’ll prob get your mpg back.

tuning is key to gas mileage on built engines. my lsv will do 35+ if i keep my food out of it, and about 27-28 if im being spirited. 20-24 if im really raping on it.

[QUOTE=icemanGSR;2171039]that’s probably your issue right there. most plug and play chips just dump fuel, giving you the illusion of more power, but robbing your gas mileage, etc. switch to an oem ecu and a new o2 sensor and you’ll prob get your mpg back.

tuning is key to gas mileage on built engines. my lsv will do 35+ if i keep my food out of it, and about 27-28 if im being spirited. 20-24 if im really raping on it.[/QUOTE]

X2…

Put a stock ECU back in the car and watch your mileage return to 30mpg.

OK, I get it

I thought the chip would bring out the horsepower. Instead, I’m just dumping gas out the exhaust.

:bang:

The above posts speak the truth. Never use a ‘chip’ from eBay… Either run a stock ecu, or have yours chipped by a tuner… This ensures a map that will be tailored to YOUR motor, not some Sp00n/T0da/Mug3n eGay map that just has the fuel maps cranked up.

But if you’re still thinking of swapping. Just do a basic vtec longblock and wire in vtec. Simple and effective.