Why does the VTEC engage so late?

[BlingStawk]

Wierd , my 99 EX Vtec kicks in at 3500rpm , i feel it , i hear it. No Bullshizz.

 

[Shiznit]

mine engages at 5500 rpms till redline (8000 rpm)

mine too

 

[Silver-Shooter]

why change it? its not like you're gonna get a huge power gain from it anyway.

 

[loccusst]

If your 99 ex kicks in at 3500 rpm then you must have it modified. I have a 99 ex and the vtec kicks in at about 5400 rpms and doesn't shut off. A vtec light would tell you when your vtec kicks in and is actually realy easy to install. Also, I can hear the vtec kick in but thats probably cause I have a intake.

 

[child_racer]

Wierd , my 99 EX Vtec kicks in at 3500rpm , i feel it , i hear it. No Bullshizz.

you have to have some kind of electronics chaging it to be that low. VTEC in D16Y8's kick in anywhere from 5300-5500 'til redline. *original Q* ---you gotta keep in mind that Honda doesn't build the cars for the race track (depending on which model car) EX's and below have there perks but no significant 'race quality' from the factory, just enough to get you from point A to point B in a reasonable fashion and a lil better than the previous model civics

 

[lanojp1]

ok for the last time, ITS PUT AT THAT RPM BECAUSE THATS WHERE YOU GAIN THE MOST POWER FROM IT, if you got the most power from having it at 2500rpm then vtec would engage there. Thats like asking, why doesnt my DX redline at 10,000? CUZ YOUR ENGINE ISNT BUILT THAT WAY, its built to perform at max capabilty...JESUS!

 

[$lick Rick]

it's not put there totally for power, they could drop it and you'd get the power earlier but then your gas mileage would suck balls.

remember, civics are not sports cars... they are econoboxes.

 

[Handlebars]

no, if you drop the vtec point you will lose midrange power. lanojp is correct. unless you have significant internal mods, especially cams, you want to leave vtec where it is. usually with an aftermarket cam, the point is moved up the rpm range not down. moving it down will do nothing more than cause the engine to stumble.

 

[lanojp1]

no, if you drop the vtec point you will lose midrange power. lanojp is correct. unless you have significant internal mods, especially cams, you want to leave vtec where it is. usually with an aftermarket cam, the point is moved up the rpm range not down. moving it down will do nothing more than cause the engine to stumble.

thank god someone that knows what im saying...moving VTEC down the range would do nothing...leave VTEC where it belongs..and if your looking for an easy way to gain power, look somewhere else cuz you wont find it there...

 

[child_racer]

for the most part, when VTEC is moved up in RPM's the vehicle encounters problems with laying the power down (been there and done that with a friends ride) it all depends on how the motor is set-up ... "cam gear adjustments" mostly..................but in a SOHC, moving it down would most likely lose power unless its beefed up with some Skunk2 accessories or somethin'

 

[AZSprmnn]

u redline at 6500? an u have a 97? my 98 redlines at about 6900 or so....close to 7000 and it kicks in aroiund 5000....

 

[anfrey]

i know i'm late... but in reference to the 3500rpm vtec engagement.... i don't think u're feeling vtec, i think you're feeling your car finally start getting into its power range.

 

[lj17]

vtec was designed so that a small 4 cylinder engine could experience some of the benifits of both low end and high end power. face it, a less than 2 liter engine without variable valve timing is very weak. what honda did was create a system that enabled the engine to have decent low end power (i know were not talking major numbers here, but still) and then be able switch to have better high end power as well. all the while retaining exeptional fuel mileage. the reason vtec engages at around, lets say 5000 - 5600 rpm, regardless of the engine (d16, b16....) is because if you had the engine switch to the "high end" timing any lower, like at 3500 - 4000 or what have you, you would actully decrease performance. in theory, you would defeat the purpose of vtec if you dropped the point of engagment low enough, because instead of having 2 different sets of timing, you would only have one, like all the other non-vtec engines (assuming below 2500 - 3000 rpm is weak, which it is on ALL 4 cylinder engines) so the reason honda made vtec engage at around 5500 rpm, is because that is the best point for overall everday performace and fuel mileage. i'm sure honda did a ton of testing, and they probably found that this point works well for daily driven economy cars, and it also adds a certain level of performace. if you think about it, it makes sense to have vtec engage at that point, because you are working with 2 different sets of timing. and you still have about 2000 rpm while in vtec (6900 rpm redline on a d16y8 )

 

[rey_boricua]

mine engages at 5500 rpms till redline (8000 rpm)

sh*t my wife's si kicks in @6k till redline

 

[loccusst]

I tried telling my buddy not to go down the rpms with the vtec one day at the track. He changed it back after he had a worse run then before. I hate people with money who buy things and don't need them or know how to use them. He had his kicking in at 4,000 rpms. Idiot was probably launching at least at that anyway.

 

[dipset891]

i can feel mine at aobut 6k rps

 

[$lick Rick]

you all need vtec lights......

 

[child_racer]

i think we should all tune our cars as if we didnt have VTEC ................and when it does kick it, consider it an extra bonus

 

[$lick Rick]

if it wasnt for vtec, honda would be even slower.... and that's just sad.

 

[lj17]

yeah but remember, your working with a 1.6/1.8 L engine (of course there are others too, h22, b20, k20...) getting the amount of power you can out of a 1.6 L engine is pretty impressive. yeah there a lot of cars that will still burn you, but chances are they will be working with a lot more displacement.