Cars are fun. Folks like you and I are drawn to cars for a lot of the same reasons, as well as very different reasons. Every weekend, guys and gals all over the world don racing helmets and coveralls, strap into their car or truck of choice (or whatever it is they could afford) and go ripping around circle tracks, dirt tracks, drag strips, and road courses. Other folks hop in their weekend car and go find the best place to let the wind rip through their hair. On the other side of the spectrum, websites, blogs, and magazines are dedicated to extracting every watt of energy out of owner's battery reserves, or gas or diesel tanks.
I can see the fun value to just about any facet of automotive life, but my particular favorite thing about a given car is its drive-train. A car can have perfect weight distribution and responsive steering, but if shifting feels like a chore, and the engine feels hell-bent on resisting going anywhere near red-line, I lose interest fast.
In my not-always-so-humble opinion, Some of the best drive-trains ever made have come from the land of the rising sun. In 1990, Honda introduced a car that truly changed the automotive landscape forever: The NSX. It was the first production car to be produced with an all-aluminum monocoque chassis, and featured cutting edge technologies for the time like electronic throttle control, and electric power steering. Until the NSX, super cars were finicky, temperamental toys. Honda showed the world that not only could a supercar be reliable, but it could also be comfortable on the road.
The NSX was also the first car to be sold on American soil with Honda's "Variable Valve Timing and Lift Electronic Control" or "VTEC". This revolutionary system allowed for smooth, economical operation at low rpm, and rowdy, racy, high strung power at high rpm. It blended the benefits of both a street cam and a racing cam. Today, Every Honda has some form of VTEC. Other companies have tried to capitalize on Honda's success with VTEC, but none have truly been able to.
The big difference between VTEC and the rest, is the sensation of it. It's the spirit it gives a car. When I put my foot to the floor in a 350Z, I can't feel the VVEL working. I get a smooth, but rather uneventful climb to redline. VTEC is an event. While the fastest Honda ever is slower than a current Mustang GT, and barely faster than a Mustang V6, VTEC engines feel as if there is a magnetic attraction between the tach needle and redline. In the U.S. spec Integra Type-R, the little 1.8 liter B18C made 195 horsepower, and happily revved to almost 9000 rpm. The 2.0 liter F-Series engine in the S2000 in fact did rev to 9000 rpm.
"But Pheezy! They have no torque!" You are correct, but actually, you're not. Horsepower is an engine's ability to make torque at high rpm. At high rpm, it's difficult to keep all the moving parts operating at peak efficiency. Due to breathing restrictions, reciprocating mass, and pumping losses, most engines struggle to continue making torque into the higher reaches of the rev range. VTEC doesn't eliminate these restrictions, but it does diminish them significantly, while making the driver smile and sometimes LOL when the changeover from grandma cam profile to hoodlum cam profile kicks in (yo).
Unfortunately, Honda has lost its way. Its cars are no longer the simple little companions they used to be. It's as if Honda itself has grown weary and sprouted more than a tuft of gray hair. I imagine if you go to Honda headquarters these days, you'd see a lot of old men, asleep in their recliners. Less than fifteen years ago, the Civic Si had a 160 horsepower 1.6 liter B-Series engine. It was like the Integra Type-R's little brother. It revved to 8000 rpm and was loved by just about everyone lucky enough to get some seat time. As the Si name has aged, it's gained lots of weight, a good amount of power and torque, and lost all of its soul. There is now a VTEC gauge that tells the driver when VTEC is engaged. Such gimmicks were unnecessary when there was still spirit left in Honda's engines.
Over the next couple of weeks, I will be releasing a series detailing my view of what Honda needs for a revival. You will not be surprised to hear that high revving engines are a part of this plan. You may be surprised to hear that hybrids have a part in this plan. Stay tuned for the Power of Dreams.
4 comments:
Eh... my bike has VTEC, big deal. I'm glad you mentioned the low TQ. A lot of people don't understand how engines work and make TQ. You can tune an engine to make a bit more low end TQ. You won't make a Honda engine produce low end TQ like a big pushrod V8. It just wont' happen due to stroke and bore sizing. The ability for an engine to rev high comes from light weight and durable internals and a larger bore relative to the stroke, an oversquare engine.
VTEC is cool and all, and I see the draw to it, but it really isn't that cool to me. I want to remove it from my bike, or lat least make it smooth. I can't make it smooth in my bike like they did with I-VTEC. It will always be a harsh transition because my engine goes from eight valves to sixteen valves all at once. This is very annoying when going around a corner, I have to make sure I won't enter VTEC or I have to already be in VTEC. It is nice for highway FE, but meh. I also wouldn't call it a "race Cam" in the street cars. Maybe, just maybe in the NSX or Type R's, but not the regular SI.
The VVT in Mazda cars is a little more dramatic than Mitsu (well kinda, their VVT turns on when the boost kicks in) or Toyota. I could always feel the car want to rev more and shift more crisply after I entered VVT. I could even feel it in Matt's 6 when I rode with him.
I could talk about this all day...
Actually, The i-VTEC is just as stepped as regular VTEC, They just added a system similar to Toyota's VVT-i to the existing VTEC architecture. My '06 Si had i-VTEC and it kicked pretty hard.
I'm not saying VTEC is God's gift to autodom, I'm just saying it's a lot of fun and gets a bad rap because people see it as a gimmick, but don't realize really what it is.
Removing VTEC can definitely have some advantages, especially if you're making a race engine. In a race engine, VTEC makes no sense because there's no need to have a smooth bottom end. VTEC Killer Cams are pretty dope and make little Hondas lope like V8s, and make reliable power.
I also could go on about this all day.
Well... i-VTEC has three lobes per cylinder to make the changeover smoother.
I'm pretty sure they also wanted the cams to look very silly
Regular VTEC does too
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