Sangsational - Review: K20A + KPro (A story of K20A2 Vs. K20A Vs. K20A + Kpro)

[Jingers]

Hey Gang,

I know this has been long awaited and sorry for the delay in posting. I wanted to get a good feel for my car?s new arrangement before I posted so as to best be able to describe how it feels without any disillusion of its performance or behaviour inherent from my traditional driving behaviour. What I mean is that I?ve learnt to drive my car over the past two years of having it with the particular power and suspension modifications it had at the time and every time I made a modification I adjusted my style accordingly to overcome a new element or to minimize a new side effect. One example of this is wheel hop and wheel spin. Before I installed Mugen engine mounts I had a lot of this and my driving style was such as to avoid this. Once these were installed, the side effect was removed and I was able to open the throttle more at a lower speed and at stand still. However I have realised that it will take much longer for me to adapt to new driving habits and learn to control the new side effects of my new configuration, so here?s the review! I hope it is provides some useful insight, good reading or just helps you pass some time whilst you?re at work ?you slackers!


INTRODUCTION:

For those of you whom have just tuned in I am publicly known on this forum for being the biggest doosh in recent history. In early April I went to QR (Queensland Raceway) and didn?t check my oil. It wasn?t completely low but the combination of no baffle sump, no oil catch can and running semi slicks caused my original engine to suffer dreaded oil starvation. A very very stupid mistake that I?m ashamed and embarrassed to admit but please, everyone learn from my mistake? CHECK YOUR OIL REGULARLY!

So I did a bearing in on QR and 200m later, the car was pitted, towed to Centrax, and rested for a month or so before it was again towed home. 3 months after that fateful day at QR I took delivery of the replacement motor? a 10000km old JDM K20A courtesy of JDMYard. Yes, the infamous motor from their K20A EG and BADHBT.

The old motor belongs to Page and it will be on its way to him shortly. Take better car of it than I did, buddy!


MODIFICATION HISTORY (Power and Handling related only):

1. Merwede Springs
2. Mugen Airbox, Mugen Front Strut, Cusco Rear Sway
3. Mugen Engine Mounts
4. Toda Headers + Hi Flow Cat, Mugen Twinloop Catback, JDM Intake Manifold
5. JDM Front Sway bar, JDM Lower Control Arms, Increased Front Track Width by 30mm (courtesy of JDM Brembos)
6. Cut hole in grill for Mugen Airbox intake scoop
7. JDM K20A, Hondata Intake Manifold Gasket
8. Hondata KPro (Tuned by Toda Racing Australia and Hondatech Australia)

Still to install: Spoon rear tie bar, Custom rear strut bar (modelled off JDM rear strut bar, only a little bit thicker)

[Jingers]

REVIEW 1 (K20A + AUDM ECU) – With modifications 1 through to 7 inclusive:

Ok first up, here’s a funny story. When I first got it installed, finally being able to drive my car after having it in the garage for 3 months I was so paranoid about doing my engine in again so I didn’t even take it to VTEC (6000RPM) until the 3rd day. During the first two days in low to mid range I felt a bit of an increase in power and even experienced some crazy torque steer coming around a corner at one stage. I was really excited to take It past 6000RPM. On the 3rd day I did take it past there and beyond… and I wasn’t that impressed. I thought… “wow, is that all?”. It was a bit better but nothing to write home about. Then I hammered it up an off ramp off the highway and all of a sudden my accelerator cut out! The Accelerator cable hadn’t been tightened properly by my mechanic when he had installed the engine and after the RACQ (road side assistance) mechanic put it back in… WOW. I over-revved as I pulled my car from the kerb and drove past his truck. He must have thought, “Friggin hoon, I shouldn’t have fixed his car”. At first I thought he did it too tight and I was achieving WOT at some lower percentage of the accelerator pedal than 100% down because it was really touchy! Just a little throttle and I was quickly revving to 3000rpm and 40-60km/h. But then I kept pressing pushing the throttle and it kept going and going. There was so much more power all of a sudden. I didn’t know what to do with it all.

I had expected mid and high range to increase substantially but the increase in power and response was more so from low and mid range with half throttle. At WOT, there was still some lag. This I figured would be corrected once the car was tuned. Also the K20A sounds a lot beefier. The sound even at idle is a lot more rough as compared to the tame sound of the K20A2.

Overall I was very happy with the amount of power I had. I didn’t really need Hondata at all. My car experienced slight wheel spin on WOT from stand still. No wheel hop. Only a little bit of torque steer now and then. It wasn’t all that bad and it was a very noticeable and welcome increase in power. So why did I get Hondata?

* It wasn’t that “safe” to be driving a mismatched ECU and engine. Last thing I wanted was to do another engine in. I know it may be unlikely, but I’m not going to write history for you all.
* Why not maximise the potential of my modifications. If I don’t want to use all that power I can just learn to drive my car a certain way to use as much as I want, just as I drive like a granny when I’m not burning around the mountains, on a cruise or at the Track, I could adapt to a style of using less throttle to only use as much power as I wanted – but we all know that once I had all that power, as if I wouldn’t use it!
* To overcome a problem that had arisen after the K20A was installed. My ignition seemed to click over a half dozen times before engaging and starting the engine. Centrax and JDMYard assured me that this was probably a problem with the mismatched ECU/Engine and could be overcome by tuning. (Still not fixed but maybe James can have another look at it this weekend)
* Data logging was going to be interesting.
* I had already paid for it via the Hondata Group Buy and had already made arrangements to come down to Sydney


Unfortunately I don’t know what max power I was running with this configuration. I assumed Adrian would do a pre-dyno but he didn’t, so we can only guess. I also haven’t had a dyno run since my car was stock with the K20A2 motor, and that was 104kw at the wheels or something lame like that.

[Jingers]

REVIEW 2 (K20A + Hondata KPro) – With modifications 1 through to 8 inclusive:

So far I’ve been lucky enough not to find any fines in my mail for my first thorough testing of the new setup, but I did give it one hell of a test right after I took the car back from Toda Racing. I was actually late for a date, it was raining and I was in unfamiliar streets. They closed the M5 that night – the way I had come to Ingleburn from, and my GPS didn’t allow me (well not as far as I knew) to indicate that roads were closed, so everytime I went off the highway it would give me a new route back onto it! So I just drove in the general direction of the highway until it mapped me a new route, and the new route involved a smorgasbord of Sydney backstreets and main roads, nothing more than 2 lanes wide. But I was late and she was hungry and waiting so I did a fair bit of speeding that night. Justifications aside, this new tune brought my car to wheel hop and wheel spin city. When launching from lights I had trouble actually overtaking the car in the adjacent lane because of all the lack of traction – fair enough though, the road was wet. But I haven’t experienced wheel hop in my car since I had the engine mounts installed! It was an unwelcome side effect, but I didn’t have much to complain about because I knew what it was indicating…. powaaaaah

In the past week I’ve been driving my car in all conditions and I still get wheel hop and a little wheel spin on WOT. The butt dyno actually doesn’t describe much of a difference between the pre-Hondata and post Hondata configuration but I feel that that is because I’m driving and I know what’s coming up so subconsciously, no matter how much I try to resist, I brace myself for the onslaught of torque and speed. I really should have had a passenger before and after to tell me the difference. The only other people to really experience both are my cousin and her two friends who made the trip down to Sydney and back with me. Speaking of my cousin... she definitely noticed the difference in power. Her first drive of my car with Hondata she twice laid down far too much throttle and sped off with some wheel spin and on one occurrence, a bottom out on a petrol station driveway, as she took off from stand still. I had to keep reminding her that the car was more powerful now! (Actually I lie… James from Hondatech Australia has experienced both).

Overall, I’m very happy with my car and my new configuration. I had had plans for a new throttle body and another tune but I don’t really need it. Any more power and I probably won’t be able to use it with all the wheel hop and wheel spin I’m already laying down. Maybe once I’ve adapted my driving style to overcome these side effects I might consider more power mods. I certainly don’t have any plans to open the engine up though. I want to keep my K20A intact and pristine.


RESULTS:
Dyno Chart Scan will be posted tomorrow.
Max Power: 140kw at the wheels!

[Jingers]

FUTURE MODIFICATIONS:

Next major modification is definitely coilovers and I have my heart set on some Zeal Function V6 or Xs but that won’t be for a while because I’m broke . But next up is actually a JDM gauge cluster with similar kilometres to my new engine so I don’t have to do the maths to figure out how old it is. Zi from JDMYard already has one on the way for me. Then clutch and flywheel and maybe brake lines. My car, right now is 90% JDM Spec. Just missing the clutch, flywheel, rear brake rotors/hubs/knuckles, brake lines and JDM gauge cluster.


SPECIAL THANKS:

So many people to thank for these modifications and their help and guidance of the past three months:

Zi from JDMYard – Thanks for the motor! He has been exceptionally helpful and reasonable giving me a free sparkplug cover, free extra dipstick for a mistake I made in modifying the original to suit the baffled sump he provided, due to miscommunication – woops.

Adrian from Toda Racing Australia – What a legend! Adrian helped me ship and prepare the K20A for shipping from Sydney to Brisbane, he helped me ship my old motor to Page, he tuned my car and has been on the phone with me, sometimes up to three times a day giving me advice, guidance and assistance. I can’t thank him enough.

Steven and Chris from Centrax Auto – Thanks for taking care of my car, lending me your garage space whilst it was off the road. For understanding when I decided to have the transplant done by my Dad’s mechanic, for giving me endless (no pun intended) amounts of advise and for not rubbing in how much of a doosh I was to do my old motor in and for diagnosing and testing my old engine.

James from Hondatech Australia – Cheers for polishing off my tune so quickly and for pardoning my ignorance when it came to tuning and for brandishing my car with ugly stickers! Haha, just kidding.

Jeff aka Tofu – You’ve been a very helpful mate, driving me home from QR and driving me around a couple of times when I didn’t have my car to commute with. You’re a legend; you live on the other side of town too! It was much appreciated and not forgotten.

Everyone else from the board that gave me so much support - You guys are the reason I’m such a whore on this board. I consider you all my friends, even though I haven’t met most of you in person, especially Jing, Eddie and Adam!

[Jingers]

[sangers]

[M a i k e r u]

Looks fully sick!

[Type_Raver]

You make is sound like its your conversion Jing, or you just posting that here to boost your post count, hahaha.


EDIT: Just realised you did that for a lot of articles from crsx.