F20B F2B swap vs H22a H2B

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Dark93DX

New Member
Is the F20B really a stronger motor then the H22 or is this just a myth? I've been searching for Info on the F20B for an upcoming H2B/F2B swap later this year. Most ppl will say that the H22a is better, more displ, more torque, its OBD1, etc, but 'most ppl' are sometimes wrong.

I've come across many statements from F20B defenders who say stuff like the following:

"the stock bottom end on the f20b is as strong as most after market parts..if not better due to hondas close tolerances ....in my case i will never have to upgrade the bottom end for my all motor build......even if i was going to there wouldnt be much use due to the fact that the rods are super strong ...


another plus is that the f20 uses larger mains 55mm vs 50mm(97 and up h22 use these mains too) a fully balanced bottom end and not to mention iron sleevs.....and no real need to resleve for forged pistons..

it bugs me when evey one calls it a torqueless wonde like b16s and such whn they really have no proof of it ..ive seen some dynos of f20bs put out 214whp with a ported head jun3 cams and an image header and almost 9000rpm with a broad power band ...never seen a stock block h22 make that power before ..in fact its hard to find many over 200 whp with more mods ..... that motor was build for one purpose..mugen needed a 2.0 motor for a race class and the of course were over with the h22...i thkn there was a stock block rule and thats why it was build so dam good....and these motors were making 300whp:)
it was also the test bed for the f20c (s2000)
and we all know its a great motor "

Is the F20B really a much stronger motor then the H22a? I've also read that the bottom end can be revved much higher then the stock 7200rpm redline with valve float being the only limiting factor? again is this just another myth since honda builds its engines for a specific redline and no higher.

Sorry for the long post, but if anybody could help clear up some of the F20B vs H22a confusion it would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
 
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But can the block really handle 9000 RPM? or that just b/s? That seems way high over the stock redline.

Everybody says the F20B is basically a de-stroked H22, but it has a different bore as well (85mm vs 87 mm) and apparently cast iron sleeves vs the h22 FRM.

are valvetrain upgrades for H22a also able to be used on the F20B, I've read that the f20b has smaller valves, but other then that the valvetrains seem the same?
 
I honestly couldnt tell you if it could rev that high. I just know the bottom end is rumored to be more stout then the H series bottom end and for the reasons you listed.
 
The auto version of the F20b is 180hp and the manual version is 200hp, is this only the result of a difference in engine tuning? or are there any internal differences between these two, such as cams? they both have the same 11:1 CR though.

ACCORD 1997.9

The reason I'm asking is b/c this would be an F2B swap and every "engine only" sale I've seen seems to come frome an auto version.
 
I don't know about the bottom end being that strong and amazing, but the F20B was definitely used as a test platform for some of the goodness that went into the F20C. And the geometry is pretty favorable to definitely be able to rev it to 9000rpm. It's not worth doing that without the head mods to breathe that high, but it can do it.
 
Thanks for the info. I've been looking around at cams for the F20B and I see Skunk2 makes cams that make power to 9000rpm, so thats good to know about the bottom end.

With that engine geometry I wonder why honda set the stock redline at only 7200rpm?
 
Most likely limitations on the valve springs and driveablilty, along with the cam setup. The higher you rev something over what it was originally designed for the more likely it is to run into problems.

I always thought the F20B motors used CFM or FRM sleeves like in the H22 as opposed to the iron in the other F blocks.
 
They do...carbon fiber reinforced cylinder walls...


Are you sure? so far every article I've come across suggests they are iron sleeves, but I could be wrong since there is also a SOHC F20b as well.
 
Are you sure? so far every article I've come across suggests they are iron sleeves, but I could be wrong since there is also a SOHC F20b as well.

Oh, no, I'm sorry. You're probably right. I thought you were talking the F20C, I guess since somebody mentioned it earlier. The F20C has carbon fiber reinforced cylinders walls, the F20B I'm not sure...
 
The Difference between the auto and manual version of the f20b is a difference of cams. The auto version comes with regular prelude cams and the manual version comes with type s cams
 
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