question about manually engaging VTEC
07-19-2004, 08:37 PM
#12
3.0 BAR
Join Date: Dec 2003
Posts: 8,155
Re:question about manually engaging VTEC
there no reason to change the vtec unless you want to manually tune the ecu and vtec to see some power gains which is pointless. I dont think you know what vtec is for and why its set at so high rpms. well here you go
VTEC is an acronym for Variable valve Timing and lift Electronic Control. It is a mechanism for optimizing air/fuel mixture flow through the engine.
An internal combustion engine converts the chemical energy stored in fuel into thermal energy. The increased thermal energy within a cylinder causes the pressure to build. This pressure acts on the pistons and the result is a mechanical force rotating the crankshaft. This mechanical force is measured as crank torque. The ability for the engine to sustain a certain level of crank torque at a certain RPM is measured as Power. Power is the rate at which the engine can do work. This conversion process is not 100% efficient. In fact, only about 30% of the energy stored in the fuel is actually converted into mechanical energy.
Physics says that for a given efficiency level, a higher rate of fuel consumption is needed for the engine to generate power. So it becomes obvious that if you want more power, you need to increase the rate of fuel combustion. One way to achive this goal is to have a bigger engine. A bigger engine with larger cylinders will be able to combust more fuel per rotation than a smaller engine. Another method is to pre-presurize the fuel/air mixture and cram it into an existing engine size. Thus even though the cylinder size stays the same, more fuel is combusted per rotation. This second method is referred to as forced induction.
Honda chose to explore another method: keep the engine size the same, but turn the engine faster to consume more fuel. Here is an analogy: You want to move foam peanuts from one bucket to another with a cup. You can increase the size of your cup, compress/cram as much peanuts as possible into the cup each time, or you can just move the cup faster. All three methods moves more peanuts. Honda uses the last method. And again, more fuel combusted equals more power generated by the engine.
As the engine speed is increased, more air/fuel mixture needs to be "inhaled" and "exhaled" by the engine. Thus to sustain high engine speeds, the intake and exhaust valves needs to open nice and wide. Otherwise you have what is akin to athsma: can't get enough air/fuel due to restrictions.
If high speed operation is all we have to worry about, Honda wouldn't need to implement VTEC. Indeed, race engines that operate mostly at high rpms do not utilize any mechanism like VTEC. But street cars used for daily driving spend most of their time with the engine at low RPMs. Valves that open wide for high RPM operation contributes to rough operation and poor fuel economy at low RPMs. These undesirable traits are directly against Honda's design goals.
The solution that Honda came up with is the VTEC mechanism: open the valves nice and wide at high RPMs, but open them not as much at low RPMs. So now you have a engine with smooth operation at low RPMs, and high power output at high RPMs.
And that is basically what VTEC is. It's nothing magical. The idea has been around for a long time. Honda's VTEC is just a very simple, elegant and efficient implementation that is extremely effective at achiving its design goal. Honda automobiles are the first among modern automobiles to utilize this mechanism in such a large scale of distribution.
as far as making a vtec led i understand though. it might be in the faqs
VTEC is an acronym for Variable valve Timing and lift Electronic Control. It is a mechanism for optimizing air/fuel mixture flow through the engine.
An internal combustion engine converts the chemical energy stored in fuel into thermal energy. The increased thermal energy within a cylinder causes the pressure to build. This pressure acts on the pistons and the result is a mechanical force rotating the crankshaft. This mechanical force is measured as crank torque. The ability for the engine to sustain a certain level of crank torque at a certain RPM is measured as Power. Power is the rate at which the engine can do work. This conversion process is not 100% efficient. In fact, only about 30% of the energy stored in the fuel is actually converted into mechanical energy.
Physics says that for a given efficiency level, a higher rate of fuel consumption is needed for the engine to generate power. So it becomes obvious that if you want more power, you need to increase the rate of fuel combustion. One way to achive this goal is to have a bigger engine. A bigger engine with larger cylinders will be able to combust more fuel per rotation than a smaller engine. Another method is to pre-presurize the fuel/air mixture and cram it into an existing engine size. Thus even though the cylinder size stays the same, more fuel is combusted per rotation. This second method is referred to as forced induction.
Honda chose to explore another method: keep the engine size the same, but turn the engine faster to consume more fuel. Here is an analogy: You want to move foam peanuts from one bucket to another with a cup. You can increase the size of your cup, compress/cram as much peanuts as possible into the cup each time, or you can just move the cup faster. All three methods moves more peanuts. Honda uses the last method. And again, more fuel combusted equals more power generated by the engine.
As the engine speed is increased, more air/fuel mixture needs to be "inhaled" and "exhaled" by the engine. Thus to sustain high engine speeds, the intake and exhaust valves needs to open nice and wide. Otherwise you have what is akin to athsma: can't get enough air/fuel due to restrictions.
If high speed operation is all we have to worry about, Honda wouldn't need to implement VTEC. Indeed, race engines that operate mostly at high rpms do not utilize any mechanism like VTEC. But street cars used for daily driving spend most of their time with the engine at low RPMs. Valves that open wide for high RPM operation contributes to rough operation and poor fuel economy at low RPMs. These undesirable traits are directly against Honda's design goals.
The solution that Honda came up with is the VTEC mechanism: open the valves nice and wide at high RPMs, but open them not as much at low RPMs. So now you have a engine with smooth operation at low RPMs, and high power output at high RPMs.
And that is basically what VTEC is. It's nothing magical. The idea has been around for a long time. Honda's VTEC is just a very simple, elegant and efficient implementation that is extremely effective at achiving its design goal. Honda automobiles are the first among modern automobiles to utilize this mechanism in such a large scale of distribution.
as far as making a vtec led i understand though. it might be in the faqs
07-19-2004, 09:04 PM
#13
3.0 BAR
Join Date: Jan 2003
Posts: 4,438
Re:question about manually engaging VTEC
just get a summit rpm switch, no pills and its like $39... my boy had his D16y8 head on his y7 and he used a toggle switch on his dash to hit vtec... man was that ghetto... i still bust his ***** for that one
07-19-2004, 11:20 PM
#15
1.0 BAR
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 511
Re:question about manually engaging VTEC
The only reason I ask is because I have a friend that has an automatic transmission and he made the vtec light, his kicks in at different rpm's. Anytime between 2000 and 5000 depending on how hard he hits the gas. and on standard tranny it waits til like 5400. Does auto tranny vtec kick in so early because it's auto or what?
07-20-2004, 09:26 PM
#18
3.0 BAR
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 2,942
Re:question about manually engaging VTEC
Me and my buddies dropped a b16 into a 91 integra and we rigged up a temp toggle for the vtec, then a month or so later we hooked it up the right way... the right way works SOOOO much better, i think the honda engineers know what they are doing to i wouldnt ---- with it. And if your gonna get a real controller get that dyno tuned.
07-20-2004, 10:22 PM
#20
1.0 BAR
Thread Starter
Join Date: Apr 2004
Posts: 511
Re:question about manually engaging VTEC
uhh... go ---- yourself, what the hell is so ricey about this? but umm... anyway. Does anyone understand what I'm saying about the vtec and the transmission? In an automatic transmission, vtec kicks in at different rpms (between 2000 and 5000) depending on how hard you're on the pedal, but on a standard it kicks in at 5400. That's why I'm saying maybe it wouldn't matter if you made it engage earlier than normal. Does anyone know anything about this?
