Lowering Vtec from 5300 to roughly 4500

175

Asked by Stefano Dec 12, 2008 at 05:13 AM about the 1994 Acura Integra GS-R Coupe FWD

Question type: Car Customization

Anybody know the best way to do this?  I was thinking about finding a chipped ECU but not sure exactly which one is the best, most compatible with the gsr without having alot of troubles wiring and installing it.  Has anyone done this b4?  If so which ECU did you use?  Was it alot of trouble to get it hooked up and all?

thanks,
-Steve-

25 Answers

3,950

That really doesn't make a lot of sense? The VTEC activates when the engine is in the "sweet" spot. Until the RPM's get into the proper power band, you're wasting fuel. The only way that earlier activation would be helpful is if you were spraying NOS; then that would extend the power band but only briefly due to max RPM's. You don't need a computer upgrade to do what you want; just get a VTEC controller.

2 people found this helpful.
175

Ok, yea i mean i guess some people may be confused with what i'm doing. I guess i want peak power from the engine (all valves opening up sooner) being achieved as soon as possible. No way though that i'd use NOS tho....i've seen it work destruction on small displacement engines. I've also toyed with the fact of installing a full skunk2 turbo system in it. I want generally the same timing for the turbo's to spool in conjunction with hitting vtec.....Make any sense at all now :S ? But yea, so a vtec controller and i could definetly do that?

445

skunk2 turbo... system? i think you meant skunk2 turbo cams with skunk2 valve train as a system because skunk2... doesn't make... turbo "kits". so can i safely assume you are turbo'd? anyways there is no point in half assing this. your butt dyno may tell you lowering the vtec is working but might show otherwise on the dyno. The best way to is to have your car dyno tuned. for this you would need a chipped p28 or a chipped p06 converted to vtec or any obd1 vtec ecu chipped. your gsr is already obd1 so you can get your ecu chipped or use that as an core exchange for an already chipped one. most tuning shops should be able to chip ecu's. you can get a VAFC but that almost cost just as much as a tune. http://www.phearable.net/ one of the best ecu chipping places.

175

Thanks man, there's alot of good info in here. My bad on sounding like a bit of a noob on some of this...haha well i am. But yea, if it came down to it for you would you go either VAFC or an actual tune? What would be better in the long run?

3,950

Nothing wrong with NOS as long as you don't exceed 40% of your flywheel HP and use it as it's intended.

175

Doesn't it have to be stabilized in a specific way though. I knew a friend who ended up gettin pulled over and got a tix for it not being safely rigged in his trunk or something like that. Basically the tank wasn't connected properly or something. Have you ever heard of this b4? Has this ever been a problem for u if a cop ever pulled u over and tried to pull this crap on ya?

445

yes this is true. the bottle must be securely bracketed to the car. the NAWS bottle can be in the car but cannot be hooked up. I have heard there is a street legal kit but i have not come across this kit. i have not experienced nos but i would love to have a nos low comp build one day. and if it was up to me i would definitely tune. it will bring out the most out of your motor. anytime you do a major power adder like turbo, super charger, big shot of nos, headwork hell even people with bolt ons should be getting tune to get the BEST out of the motor. plus you can get actually hp/torque at the wheel ratings for your car. make sure you find a good reputable tuner in your area. running turbo without a tune with more than likely end up in a blown motor due to running too lean. there are other mickey mouse ways but totally not worth the money you put into your car.

445

its okay. everyone needs to learn somehow. tune would DEFINATLY be better in the long run. tuning is the most important key to any build.

2,735

Lowering the RPM where your Vtec kicks in wont help your engine produce more power... itl send you to the shop quicker though... your engine isnt ready for the Vtec system untill it reaches the peak RPM... As for the nos thing i have seen the street legal setup... and it isnt really a cheap thing either and its not overley powerful... basically its like a constant feed micro boost while on the throttle... id have to guess at the exact shot number to be around a 10shot i guess... its good for a few hp but if you want a street legal solution then thats about it... the legislation recognizes that nos can actually fairly dramatically increace fuel mileage and reduce overall emissions from a vehicle... however that doesnt apply to staged nos burns like you would have in a 100+ shot... basically there suplementing the intake with extra O2 to more completley burn the fuel... there is a mild performance gain and a mild MPG gain (up to 5.5mpg hwy and 4.5city claims my local mechanic... ) the system costs about 1800 dollars to install because the flow regulators are such touchy B*****S... the documentation to make it leagal also costs a pile and so does the added insurance premium that comes with carrying around a explosive bottle of compressed gas in your trunk... the system is designed to use a 10 pound bottle for every 44 litres of gas... the system is produced by a company in california called nosic solutions... im not bothered with it theres better ways for you to develop power... with a proper turbo setup, built internals and proper tuning you should be able to develop a extra 4 or 5 horse power haha... i gotta rag on imports its in my nature... gl...

3,950

You gotta look at reality concerning NOS. It's installed to go faster; that is always what a cop looks at when he writes the ticket. If it's in an operational mode...boy are you gonna have a bad day!

285

Vtec controller, see if Hondata might have anything for you. But you change the points, there will be a whole change in driving. Tuning is good, but make sure you do it right... Im not quite sure, but some minimal cam and head work might be need to get the full potential.

3,950

VTEC controller works well with high performance racing applications. Other than that, to put one on a street driven car is merely a "gimmic" and will not enhance performance. Sorry...that is some very poor advise that wasn't thought through.

2,735

hey just for fun i dont really know exactly the intricasies of VTEC but lets say we installed a different more agressive cam/ springs/ valves... would we then have a performance increace by lowering the tec... ??? i mean more than having a updated cam spring valve setup... either way i dont think it would be much worth it...

1,165

What exactly is tuning? is it basically remapping the ECU to deliver more/less fuel, different boost (on turbo'd cars)? Or what else? and can it be done to truck engines?

16,855

Well Pete, tuning can mean a variety of things depending on the car. On many ECU's, the maps are not reprogrammable, in which case piggyback ecu's or chipping is used to modify them. Everything from timing map, to fuel map, to scaling of maps, to active valve control systems, to active suspension systems, to boost control, to turbo engagement (sounds odd but on certain sequential turbo systems the secondary boost is partially controlled by a series of valves), ect.... Long explanation short, what tuning means, depends on the car.

15

at 5300 rpm it is the iab you are talking about the iab is a buterfly in the intake just the gsr are having this if you want to remove it you will need new intake if you want to do real honda ecu tuning you need a hondata s300

5

Hondata S300 is the wa to go, or you an use a the VAFC hack. but VTEC hits harder if it is at a higher rpm, my old b16 crx would hit vtec at 4400, and it would be quick. i had a S300 P28 in it when i converted it to ODB1 and moved it to 5500, it would brea loose when vtec hit in first. In my opinion i would leave it alone. put a b16 head on or build ur stock one, put in some valves, springs, and some toda vtec killer cams, that bitch will beat the ground and vtec will put ur ass back.

5

Damn, i look like i have never taken an english class. My friend's little daughter spint some stuffon the keyboard, so im lucky if buttons work

35

as people have said in here before the only thing that will happen to your car by lowering the vtec is that it'll be in the shop quicker. it will hurt your power and your mileage especially if you go with the vtec controller. http://www.team-integra.net/sections/articles/showArticle.asp?ArticleID=181 this is everything that you will ever need to know.

5

the only way to get this to actually help would be to bring it to a dyno and have it tuned. they would make a few passes with the V-TEC set to engage at different times. and they would compare the draphs and set up at point that would make peak power for your car. if you dont have any thing done to your car theres really not any reasonable reason to do it. honda set your v-tec to kick in at 5300 for a reason. leave it that way.

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