I never understood Hondas all noise and no go

This is why my car has a Toda manifold and decat but stock exhaust. Sounds nice without being loud, much crisper and more metallic than a standard one.
 
I had the Mugen Intake, JDM manifold and a Mugen Twinloop, perfect combination of noise altering and decibel limiting for track work IMHO.

Add in some Mugen gold 5 way suspension for tweaking with a screwdriver in 5 minutes dependent on road / track conditions and you've got a car that'd be in my lottery garage any day of the week.
 
skidmarks said:
Torque_graph.jpg
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Going to quote this as it explains better than anyone else has so far.

So low torque engines that can reach sufficient RPM can make very good horsepower and can transmit a lot of torque to the wheels giving good acceleration. It doesn't mean anything with low torque is slow, as long as it can rev high enough and maintain the torque curve it can be fast.

On the noise front I had a spoon exhaust manifold but standard exhaust on my DC5 because it can be a bit much otherwise... I've been side by side with focus ST's up hills when i had my teg and as long as i was 'on it' i didn't have any issues overtaking..
 
-Ad- said:
Overrated crap these torqueless, rattly, noisy Type-Rs.

Give me a nice comfy and powerful BMW any day.



More Kettle Chips and less Walkers?



So like upgrading from the Triangle to Cymbals?
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Iceberg lettuce fortified with iron
 
sovietspybob said:
I've been side by side with focus ST's up hills when i had my teg and as long as i was 'on it' i didn't have any issues overtaking..
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this is clearly a lie. the focus ST has massive torque figures and an inline 5 pot with a turbo, your silly Honda wouldn't have stood a chance even if you were driving in the powerband...
 
sovietspybob said:
Going to quote this as it explains better than anyone else has so far.

So low torque engines that can reach sufficient RPM can make very good horsepower and can transmit a lot of torque to the wheels giving good acceleration. It doesn't mean anything with low torque is slow, as long as it can rev high enough and maintain the torque curve it can be fast.

On the noise front I had a spoon exhaust manifold but standard exhaust on my DC5 because it can be a bit much otherwise... I've been side by side with focus ST's up hills when i had my teg and as long as i was 'on it' i didn't have any issues overtaking..
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Performance measurement of a car requires calculus. Integrate that curve and you get work done.
 
There's also the short gearing a lot of the mentioned Honda's have to take into account. Weight often goes in their favor as well, in particular with the comparison above with the focus st, comfortably over 10% less weight, which helps negate the difference in output.
 
mulpsmebeauty said:
Many years back I had a Prelude 2.2 VTEC on a L plate, way before VTEC was as common as it now. My landlord back then owned a garage and I asked him to fix some minor issue or other. He took it out for a 'little spin' to see what this VTEC malarky was all about. When he returned the car he told me that he'd driven 'hundreds' of cars and owned a TVR himself, but he'd never come across an engine like the one in the Prelude. He was literally gobsmacked.

The best Honda engines aren't about the power or the torque. Watching it happily speed up to 7500rpm, howling like a mini ferrari, without sounding the slightest bit strained was something I never got sick of in the 7 or so years I owned the car. I doubt there're many engines even now that have anything like the charisma of that one.
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Love the H22 Prelude, its vtec engagement was always somewhat more pronounced than the civic's I've ever driven. Would certainly own another if i had the room. However i don't regret changing it for a 3.0 V6 TT, no matter how much fun the vtec was it always left me wanting more power!

Honda's are great fun when your in the driving seat but i agree with the OP, from the outside the noise gives a real false impression!
 
My father in law had a Honda, he also had an Alpine, Maxi, Austin 1800, Allegro, Rover 200, Avenger, Ital and Princess. Proof.....of something.
 
mulpsmebeauty said:
The best Honda engines aren't about the power or the torque. Watching it happily speed up to 7500rpm, howling like a mini ferrari, without sounding the slightest bit strained was something I never got sick of in the 7 or so years I owned the car. I doubt there're many engines even now that have anything like the charisma of that one.
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Ah, the good old days when Ferrari's used to make screaming 4 pots...

;)
 
rjkoneill said:
this is clearly a lie. the focus ST has massive torque figures and an inline 5 pot with a turbo, your silly Honda wouldn't have stood a chance even if you were driving in the powerband...
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I was reeling a Focus ST in the other day. Can't see why it would make a difference up or down bank. Same power either way.

Me weighing 9.5 stone probably helps a little too.
 
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Ryan-3 said:
I love the sound of VTEC engines, and when done right (and not by some underpowered 1.4 with halfords attached to it), they are properly fun cars which make a good noise.

Personally, the best ones are EK9, DC2/DC5 and AP2. Recently saw a grey EP3 near IKEA (gateshead) and that just took off like a rocket out of the roundabout (looked slightly tuned). CTR's handle and go. You must have been overtaken by something like a 1.4.
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What's an AP2?
 
Housey said:
My father in law had a Honda, he also had an Alpine, Maxi, Austin 1800, Allegro, Rover 200, Avenger, Ital and Princess. Proof.....of something.
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With the exception of the Alpine, they are all cars for old people ? :p
 
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Focus ST's are fast but not that fast. In a straight line a Type R of some sort would keep up with it or even edge past it. They are a lardy car.

Uphill though I am pretty sure the big lump and a turbo would easily help the Focus ST to go up hill, a lot quicker than a Type R.

That of course is just my opinion. Even if I think my opinion is 100% right and cannot be wrong :p

Anyway the yobbo's from civics are now jumping into VXR's as they are now in the price bracket for the younger lot. See more VXR's than I do Type R's now.
 
There is nothing wrong with a bit of noise. Remember when you had a car that didnt handle so well, had low levels of grip, wasnt particularly fast, but was a world of fun to chuck about because you could get your thrills without going warp factor 9?

So if youve got a car that makes a fair bit of noise without going silly fast you can have lots of fun, get the revs all the way up in at least three gears without being a total liability to yourself. the only big downside is everyone know will know how hard your trying but if youre having fun, who cares?
 
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