How can i get themost power out of my b20a5

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89_Prelude_Racer

PreludeRacer
i have a 89 prelude which came with the b20a5 .. i have a header on it and a short ram intake and ngk ignition wires with platinum bosh plugs.. i am jsut wondering wat i shld do the motor with out spending alot of money and still able to gain a ton of horses and torque .. i have cams and head switch from b21a1 and b16a piston switch over but not sure wat all possibilities there are out can any one help me out
 
i have a 89 prelude which came with the b20a5 .. i have a header on it and a short ram intake and ngk ignition wires with platinum bosh plugs.. i am jsut wondering wat i shld do the motor with out spending alot of money and still able to gain a ton of horses and torque .. i have cams and head switch from b21a1 and b16a piston switch over but not sure wat all possibilities there are out can any one help me out
Spend a bunch of money and put a b16 head on it. It can be done, it's been done, it's costly, but it's unique.

Otherwise, what you have listed is as far as it goes pretty much, that engine sucks. I'm authorized to say that, I had 3, 2 of them broke. It will handle nitrous if you use it correctly, that's always an option.
I'll always love the 3rd gen, even if it is the least reliable honda eveR.
 
i don't want to go off-topic but i have to. that engine does not suck. here is mugen version in japan which Honda used to use back in the day for racing. this little engine made over 200hp all-motor and no VTEC. in your face B16 and B18C's!
 

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now back to the issue at hand. there is a guy on preludepower.com that has tuned his B21A1 to 150hp @ the wheels. all-motor mind you. that's well over stock H23A1 figures. i think H23A1 makes like 135 to the wheels. the only thing that i dislike about B20XX and B21XX is that they like to throw rods. but the only reason i can think of why is because of the owners lack in keeping the motor in good condition.
 
B21's will smoke until they throw their rods, b20's just do it randomly.
I'm sorry to offend you up there, but the engine DOES suck, even if they did make ONE good one, the other 55.9million sucked.
 
B21's will smoke until they throw their rods, b20's just do it randomly.
I'm sorry to offend you up there, but the engine DOES suck, even if they did make ONE good one, the other 55.9million sucked.

trust me there's no way you can offend me unless you say something completley rice. yes those motors are notorious for throwing rods. and yes the b21A1 is known to burn oil. but let me tell you why. and let me assure you that this is the reason why all VTEC motors burn oil.

you see the B21A1 was Hondas first attempt at fiber reinforced cylinder walls (FRM). the FRM is made of a composite carbon fiber and aluminum fused together in the molding process. as a result this created very strong sleeve. infact almost industructible. the reason why the B21A1 burns oil is bc honda had tried to make the best piston rings they could for the B21A1. but not good enough. so what happens is the FRM sleeves actually eat away at the rings! this in turn causes blow-by, and oil to flow into the combustion chamber. thus burning oil. now all DOHC VTEC motors have these FRM sleeves. i beleive cept some JDM version. and they all have the rings. so woop-ty do da the desiese passes on down the family tree.

p.s. the motor above is the MUGEN MF-204 used in the Formula 3 or F3000 series. it is based off of the JDM B20A and has no FRM.
 
Have u thought of just wacking on a tubro front mount and an ecu that will get some decent power out your B20. I have seen it done with good sucess it managed 230hp runnig only 6psi.
 
that motor is like the red headed step child noone wants...

Uhhh...no.

The b20aX series was the first in line for the B series motors. We were the ones who paved the way for you bubbles and narcissit "others."

The b20aX is actually a marvelous motor. It was supposed to be turbo-charged from the factory. B20a motor was actually derived from Hondas F1 motor, that is, when they were actually using turbo technology in the 80's.

Thread starter, how about a lighten flywheel and Stage 2 clutch? You'll love the faster revs and swear you gained more power...when in reality, it's just a lighter flywheel ^_^

Come join us at Preludepower...stop getting retarded information from people who drive Civics, cynical people that is. y0.

:D
 
Uhhh...no.

The b20aX series was the first in line for the B series motors. We were the ones who paved the way for you bubbles and narcissit "others."

The b20aX is actually a marvelous motor. It was supposed to be turbo-charged from the factory. B20a motor was actually derived from Hondas F1 motor, that is, when they were actually using turbo technology in the 80's.

Thread starter, how about a lighten flywheel and Stage 2 clutch? You'll love the faster revs and swear you gained more power...when in reality, it's just a lighter flywheel ^_^

Come join us at Preludepower...stop getting retarded information from people who drive Civics, cynical people that is. y0.

:D

haha another preludepower member! what's up! i'm there too.
 
How about this setup for you? The B20A5, B20A motors love boost!! You just got to convert to OBD1 and tune, tune, tune!! This setup below is a daily driver who blew his first setup and rebuilt it properly.

You can turbo charge a B20A series and it will be fairly reliable as long as you do your maintenance on it and watch it proplerly.

Take a look:

Planeman01 - updated September 18, 2006

Rickplaneman01updatedpics.jpg


IMG_1336.jpg


Planeman01 had said he thought he knew what setup he wanted and then when he acutually got it, he wanted something different. He also said, after it was Professionally Tuned, his engine blew because we had a cold snap up here in Seattle, which in turn caused an extra 1psi higher than what his car was Tuned for. So, make sure that you know your environment also when going this route. Every place is different and a car will respond differently to different environments especially when it comes to Performance cars.


Planeman01's Setup:
Engine:
Stock Block and Head
action 2ms clutch
rebuilt tranny
new clutch master cylinder
new slave cylinder
Turbo Setup:
Straight T3 .42/48
Ludespeed manifold with 2000deg F coating
Ludespeed downpipe
TiAL 35mm wg .5bar spring
2.5 inch exhaust
a muffler that i thought looked cool
dsm injectors (390 cc)
walbro 255lph fuel pump
tuned on crome
ludespeed front motor mount
new radiator
jhonny racecar FMIC painted black
2.5inch charge pipes
golden eagle sandwich adapter
stainless braided oil feed
autometer boost gauge
greddy type s bov
blitz bual TT turbo timer

Power Output:
i put down 179hp atw and 187 tq. on 5.5-6psi



Sean
 
6psi isnt LOVING boost...and you can get similar numbers out of a tuned, bolt on h22.
 
6psi isnt LOVING boost...and you can get similar numbers out of a tuned, bolt on h22.


That is personal choice, he did not want to go higher than that. So, just to give you a little education, let me show you a B20A5 that does love Boost.

Tonbaker -

ACT8.jpg


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boost_cooler.gif


This was Tony's orginal setup Non-intercooled however; he had an
www.snowperformance.net - Boost Cooler kit on his setup which was what he used to cool his charged air to the engine for two years non-intercooled. The stage 1 kit costs $299.00.


Tony's Setup:
Engine:
b20a5 block
b21a1 head, mild portjob
B-18 intake cam
B-16 outer valve springs
Pauter Rods
Weisco Pistons 8:5:1
Turbo Setup:
Precision SC61
Tial 38mm
HKS SS
Gigantic FMIC
Alky Control Methanol Injection
NX 65 Shot
Ludespeed Manifold
Ludespeed front engine mount
Tuning Setup:
550CC injectors
Hondata S200
Walbro 255 lph pump
Bigger fuel lines and NO banjo fittings anywhere.
Exhaust Setup:
3inch all the way back
Apexi N1 muffler
Drive Train Setup:
ACT XT Pressure Plate
ACT 4 puck race disk
Stock Lightened flywheel
Weight Reduction & Transfer:
Aluminium Sunroof replacement
Aluminium front bumper support
Lots of misc removal, AC, Power Steering, Heater Core, Sunroof, Seats, SeatBelts etc...

Power Output Updated 11/08/06:
Daily driver 400+whp and 380lbs torque 3rd gen turbo lude.

Updated power curve after Dyno - October 17, 2006

This was 20lbs of boost with a 50shot.
Note: Above 20lbs the car was running super rich (10:1). It needs to be tuned some more. So hopefully after my next tune session i'll make 380 on boost alone.

Slowly but surely.

380whp.jpg



I hope that answers your question!

Sean
 
im not saying it doesnt seen some crazy b20a5s, just saying your source didnt really mesh with the statement.

and homeboy still has some fine tuning to do on that setup. i wonder why the fuel and power curve spiked so harshly at 3800.
 
im not saying it doesnt seen some crazy b20a5s, just saying your source didnt really mesh with the statement.

and homeboy still has some fine tuning to do on that setup. i wonder why the fuel and power curve spiked so harshly at 3800.


It is all tuning. He was still fine tuning when this came out. I am here to simply put all the rumors to rest.

The B20A5, B20A motors due not suck at all, they just need to be fine tuned and Turbo Charged to squeeze the proper power out them.

Remember, all the newer B series motors came from this Gen of car. Honda simply took what they knew worked and just tuned it somemore.

Just because it is not VTEC does not mean that it is a sucky engine, it just means for the day it was made it was the best in its prime.

Now to see such a motor still be able to hang with all the vtec'rs out there and it is a 18 year old technology, well that is a statement in itself.

This car has more potential then most of the vtec'rs relize, its just because it takes a little more than most them want to put into it.

This car out handles stock any other Honda out there. The stock suspension is by far the best one out there. There are Luders out there that race this car with only minor upgrades to the suspension and will eat any curve thrown at it.

To each is their own, just wanted to clear it up.

Sean
 
Hey this is my first post lol and I wanna say rockon to the fellow putting them civic lovers in their places! The b20a,5, b201a were awsome engines! Nock someone like he said for creating the oil burner when the v-tec have the exact same problem,? I personally dot care for vtec and that mugen f3 motor is way to insane better then getting all that work done just to put a civic head on! I don't want a civic I want a prelude, if it's good enough for formula 1 its pelenty enough for me! Lol not saying i cud afford the 1400 dollar engine lol:p!! Not to mention civic motors in genral weren't as good! Read a manual retinue maintenance is required for best proformance! And I think that's in every aplication lol! I think I sound like a dick and am sorry but hey I love preludes and that one guy said I ten times better lol:)
 
And to add he's right lol again any car of the year of even compareing to new Hondas these 3rd gens handled better that any car. It beat the corvette which was lead compared to a Honda! Any car! (might have been 4wheelsteering)
 
And to add he's right lol again any car of the year of even compareing to new Hondas these 3rd gens handled better that any car. It beat the corvette which was lead compared to a Honda! Any car! (might have been 4wheelsteering)

a HONDA ridge line has a better chaise / suspension set up than a corvette... just saying
 
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