D16Z6 IHE. Where to now?

D15, D16, D17 and Mini-Me swaps
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D16Z6 IHE. Where to now?

By quietman3212
- Thu Mar 31, 2011 12:17 am #247195 I have a short ram intake, 4-1 header, and 2.25" exhaust. Everything else is stock. I've also removed the A/C for a little extra power (It also didn't work).
Where would be best to go now for power? I have about 145k on the odometer, though I don't know if it's still the original engine.
I'm thinking about a Skunk2 intake manifold? A'PEXi neo air-fuel controller? Or ignition stuff? Cam gear? Turbo--used or new? If I boosted, I wouldn't want too much because this is my DD; So, reliability is a concern. (Maybe 10-12lbs of boost?)
Budget will probably be around 2,000. And, honestly, I'd like to say I'd be taking this to the track, but that probably won't happen.
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By chrono404
- Thu Mar 31, 2011 12:49 am #247203 Next on the list would be a better intake manifold. The Skunk2 IM is pretty much an b18c ITR Manifold design modifed to fit on a D Series. After that I would say add a Cam and Tune for more power.

For a daily driver I wouldn't recommend turbo. It can be done. however you wont have 100% Reliability and have to deal with the typical Turbo honda head aches. Not to mention still be chasing down oil leaks 6 months down the road.

Delta Cams are pretty cheap, You can get decent power out of them and a Tune from a Good shop will also help to wake up your D16z6. Do NOT Put in a Apexi Air Fuel Controller, Get your ecu chip/tuned by a tuner shop. A Cam Gear is a good idea if you get an aftermarket cam. doing a tune up with OEM parts is a good idea.

Getting "Performance" ignition setup wont make much more power then stock and Isn't worth it IMO. I have seen a few friends waste money on them in the past and actually be slower.
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By quietman3212
- Thu Mar 31, 2011 1:53 am #247224
chrono404 wrote:Next on the list would be a better intake manifold. The Skunk2 IM is pretty much an b18c ITR Manifold design modifed to fit on a D Series. After that I would say add a Cam and Tune for more power.

Delta Cams are pretty cheap, You can get decent power out of them and a Tune from a Good shop will also help to wake up your D16z6. Do NOT Put in a Apexi Air Fuel Controller, Get your ecu chip/tuned by a tuner shop. A Cam Gear is a good idea if you get an aftermarket cam. doing a tune up with OEM parts is a good idea.


I was unsure about an IM because I haven't seen much about people using them on here.

As far as a tune up, do you just mean plugs and wires? If you do, I guess it would be worth mentioning that I'm using NGK Iridium IX plugs already.

And what's the big deal with the Air Fuel Controller?
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By 94EJ2
- Thu Mar 31, 2011 2:46 am #247231 and if you were going to turbo a dd you would only want to be pushing like 5psi under normal conditions 10-12psi can be damaging to stock internals if used constantly remember if its not factory it can hurt the motor key word is can not will
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By TrailerTrash
- Thu Mar 31, 2011 3:23 am #247233 aftermarket intake manifold and maybe throttle body(such as Edelbrocks Victor X combo)
lightweight flywheel
lightweight crank pulley

other than what you got thats pretty much it as far as bolt ons as far as I can think right now. an aftermarket cam gear aint gunna do anything for a stock engine.

that being said send your head to Bisimoto and have them go to town on it then get a good tune :thumb:
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By OleFolk
- Thu Mar 31, 2011 3:55 am #247240 Im going to also recommend
Aftermarket motor mounts
Defiantly helps keeping the power down
Also im pretty sure you can get D/B motor mounts
So in the future if you would like a B series your already a step ahead

I could be wrong, but Its rare for N/A D series builds to go over 180hp
And of course you would have good throttle response

Edit: N/A Built D16Z6 or D15B would be an idealistic daily driver
Cheap, reliable and peppy

By AutoXCivic
- Thu Mar 31, 2011 12:11 pm #247329 If a built motor is in your future, don't hesitate to go turbo. A turbo build can be every bit as reliable and an N/A build, provided everything is put together and tuned properly. There are 300+whp D builds out there that are daily driven, don't leak a drop of oil, and aren't having any issues ... with 40k+ miles boosted at that level.

Reliability is all in the build and tune. It would be completely possible to blow up a stock motor if you fuck the tune up enough. As long as you are either (a) a good mechanic/tuner, and you trust you engine building skills or (b) happen to know that guy, you will be in good hands no matter which route you choose.

I personally have a boosted D ... with the weak D15b7 bottom end that has 200K miles on it. It is running like a champ, it does have a slight leak, which I attribute to the high amount of miles on the stock bottom end (without a rebuild at any time). I emphasize slight, it probably would have started leaking without the boost being thrown at it eventually, but it's a little tired from having that many miles on it. You're z6 has a much more robust bottom end.

Also ... don't get hung up on PSI. PSI is not what makes things explode, it's cylinder pressure. 10-12 psi (your figure) on a small frame turbo like a t25 is VERY different from 10-12 psi on a larger frame turbo like a t3/t4. The larger turbo will create more cylinder pressure at the same pressure rating.

Figure out what exactly you want out of the car. Take a look at other people's set ups an what they use them for, do research, ask questions ... then decide on your plan of attack. Whatever you decide good luck to you and have fun with it.
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By Eg6H2D
- Thu Mar 31, 2011 8:17 pm #247434 Dont forget the Hondata s300 to make fulll use of what your going to do with it. It's a must. !!! U want a cam and valve springs and retainers. look into a level 2 or 2.3 from Bisi. u dont need headwork now if you dont want too but it will give you more of a gain... a good clutch and flywheel and ull feel a difference.. that short ram has got to go also. cold air by injen if you can with a Velocity stacy to smooth the incoming air. =]
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By ogxandrew
- Thu Mar 31, 2011 8:57 pm #247440 chipped ecu, upgrade your clutch, brakes.. before you try for "big numbers"

By AutoXCivic
- Fri Apr 01, 2011 5:08 pm #247617
EG6b20R wrote:Dont forget the Hondata s300 to make fulll use of what your going to do with it. It's a must. !!! U want a cam and valve springs and retainers. look into a level 2 or 2.3 from Bisi. u dont need headwork now if you dont want too but it will give you more of a gain... a good clutch and flywheel and ull feel a difference.. that short ram has got to go also. cold air by injen if you can with a Velocity stacy to smooth the incoming air. =]


Unless you are doing your own tuning and need a lot of control over every single parameter on the ECU the s300 is completely unnecessary. If you are taking it to a tuner, the s100 with boost option is a completely viable choice. I'm not sure how home tuner friendly it is. Or you can use some of the free options out there if you plan on doing it yourself. Get the ECU chipped and get a chip burning kit, and Chrome. There are plenty of people who put down big numbers and have fast cars using the free version of Chrome. However you will get more functionality out of the more expensive options. It's all about how complicated you want something to get, or how in depth you want it to be.
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By quietman3212
- Sat Apr 02, 2011 5:00 pm #247859 Honestly, boost is awesome, but it worries me. For my approximate budget of 2,000, I'm not extremely hopeful that it's realistic. I guess I could try really low boost to begin. Problem is: I'm not sure my engine is running perfectly to handle everything I'd like to throw at it.

By AutoXCivic
- Mon Apr 04, 2011 4:56 pm #248208
quietman3212 wrote:Honestly, boost is awesome, but it worries me. For my approximate budget of 2,000, I'm not extremely hopeful that it's realistic. I guess I could try really low boost to begin. Problem is: I'm not sure my engine is running perfectly to handle everything I'd like to throw at it.


That's actually not a bad budget. I didn't do any of the boost work myself. I spent some time (a few years) accumulating parts for the boosting, then had someone else install it. I spent about $2K for the install and tune. If you are awesome and can do the work yourself, you can easily peice together a decent little turbo kit for under $2K. It just takes some patience and research. Waiting to find good deals and what not. I spent ~$1.5K on the kit itself, and I bought some parts new. If you can manage that and get a decent base map from someone, that leaves you $500 in your budget to get it tuned.
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By quietman3212
- Mon Apr 04, 2011 10:02 pm #248275
AutoXCivic wrote:If you are awesome and can do the work yourself, you can easily peice together a decent little turbo kit for under $2K.


Haha, I'm definitely not awesome.

But I'm still curious as to why it's supposedly a bad idea to have a manual air-fuel controller/boost controller. Would it be bad to use that to get it tuned by someone who knew what they were doing and then be able to tweak it at home?

By AutoXCivic
- Mon Apr 04, 2011 10:36 pm #248281
quietman3212 wrote:
AutoXCivic wrote:If you are awesome and can do the work yourself, you can easily peice together a decent little turbo kit for under $2K.


Haha, I'm definitely not awesome.

But I'm still curious as to why it's supposedly a bad idea to have a manual air-fuel controller/boost controller. Would it be bad to use that to get it tuned by someone who knew what they were doing and then be able to tweak it at home?


The reason those "controllers" are a bad idea is that it's like putting a bunch of band aids on a huge cut, instead of just getting stitches. Yeah it will get the job done, but it's not really the right way to do it. There are way more parameters that go into keeping an engine running properly than those things are capable of handling. It tricks the ECU into using different AFRs but giving it false signals. A tuned ECU is just that and ECU that has been altered to take into account everything it is supposed to, with your new setup. The tuned ECU will alter your AFRs, fuel curve, timing map, everything that needs to be altered to keep your engine running smoothly and give you the best power you can get.

You will be able to get both better power and fuel efficiency with a tuned ECU than you ever will with one of those AFR/VTEC controller deals.

Do it once ... do it right.
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