Civic EG

my 94 sedan is under the knife right now and while it's out of commission i am using my buddies 99 civic 2dr 5sp with a d16y8 and to be honest i really dont feel vtec kick on at all. I have driven others and have felt it just not in this one, is this just how the y8 is or do you think something is wrong with the car . On the other hand i AM going to steal his transmission love the gear ratio on that thing.

If you can "feel" VTEC or anything else then what you're feeling is a sudden drop in torque followed by a sudden jump in torque. This is far from ideal. A better tuned / designed VTEC crossover is seamless, and in the newer cars it is completely smooth. I'm not just talking about Hondas either ie K series continuously variable iVTEC, but on other makes that use variable valve timing and lift.

The head and intake manifold was redesigned on the Y8 resulting in a smoother, more usable powerband at the expense of some peak hp. In my opinion, it is better than the Z6 (though I don't recommend putting one in an OBD1 car). But a Y5 paired with a Y8 or Z6 trans is even better than that.

Put a Z6 tranny in your car. You'll love it.

thanks for the reply, so his car is actually running like it should be if vtec should be seemless thats exactly how it is working. good responses like yours have taught me soooo much about hondas thanx

Yeah the idea behind VTEC is that the "big cam" takes over when the "small cam" stops making power. Theoretically there is a sweet spot somewhere that is both the top of the "small cam" power band and the bottom of the "big cam" power band. It appears to be more seamless in the SOHC, than in the DOHC ... I hear a lot about the VTEC "kick" in the DOHC motors.

AutoXCivic wrote:Yeah the idea behind VTEC is that the "big cam" takes over when the "small cam" stops making power. Theoretically there is a sweet spot somewhere that is both the top of the "small cam" power band and the bottom of the "big cam" power band. It appears to be more seamless in the SOHC, than in the DOHC ... I hear a lot about the VTEC Crossover in the DOHC motors.

Fixed that for you.

If you can feel the difference, you need to get your car retuned. On the B and H Series DOHC version you can hear the VTEC engage. On the More Modern K Series you will not hear it. You will just get a continued power band.

If VTEC isn't working, the CEL will light up when the ECU attempts to switch to VTEC.