CRX turbo - more mods

[Mark300SL]

The CRX was very competitive last year - running 12 second 1/4 mile times, (not its forte) but being a LOAD of fun on trackdays and in competition.
Current spec is 1600cc and about 360hp with about 300 of those ponies used on trackdays and the rest for 1/4 mile runs
Its biggest plus is that it can be driven by my Wife/Mum for a trip to the shops and is totally tractable around town whilst returning over 40mpg on a run - Almost perfect

We decided it needed to be more powerful for the 1/4 as well as having more mid range grunt to make it more competitive in competition. This is actually a lot more work than just turning the boost up unfortunately as it would make the car less tractable for the road.
The solution was a bigger turbo, but to keep the low end response a bigger 1800cc type R engine (heavily modified internally) was sourced to spin the big turbo up in the same way as the current T35. The new turbo is a spec that I designed, mounted to a modified Neukin manifold and a lot of chopping and cutting courtesy of Dorian T


Eddies rather poor photo

Front end cut away and welded. New turbo clocked, sized & fitted with new manifold, Brackets made and welded in place for the new rad and new large intercooler (not shown)
Old turbo frontpipe is visible beneath the new turbo but this was obviously not going to work with the new setup

Add a bit of Hayward and Scott magic and we have a new exhaust frontpipe
Neukin manifold altered to take a 44mm external Tial

Long screamer pipe on a double skinned expansion slip joint and neatly grafted back into front pipe so we stay inside noise levels on track

They are the improvements needed to remain competitive in the real world, It will never win 1/4 mile prizes but that doesnt matter - its all about the complete package. Nowdays a winning 1/4 mile car will be useless on the road as all 10 sec cars are - this will be a dream on the road and very competitive on the track. It wont be a slouch on the 1/4 mile either


With luck the final parts will arrive next week to complete the 3.2 190's Wiring/Ecu/Coilpack issues and I can get started on the next turbo project


If you are bored with all the FWD shenanigans - too bad for reading this far


Mark

 

[Dieselman]

What's the Tial unit, an external wastegate?
Nice looking manifold there..

Is the photo back to front or do Honda engines and gearboxes go 'the other way'.?

 

[GRAV888]

Mark, one of my new drivers has an Alfa you may be interested in seeing in the flesh. Scared the crap out of me

 

[R2D2]

Thanks for showing us that Mark. 360bhp in a shopping car is scary!

Grav.. Tell us more about the Alfa -I've still got a soft spot for them.

 

[GRAV888]

Thanks for showing us that Mark. 360bhp in a shopping car is scary!

Grav.. Tell us more about the Alfa -I've still got a soft spot for them.

Come up to the yard next week and I'll show you

V6 with NO2

 

[GRAV888]

That front pipe reminds me of 'ram air'

 

[Mark300SL]

What's the Tial unit, an external wastegate?
Nice looking manifold there..

yep - 44mm external wastegate

Is the photo back to front or do Honda engines and gearboxes go 'the other way'.?

Honda designed the car for the japanese RHD market, so they spun the engine anticlockwise. This puts the engine on the other side to the driver giving better weight distribution.
With Eddie in the car it cornerweights to within 12kg across the front

Mark, one of my new drivers has an Alfa you may be interested in seeing in the flesh. Scared the crap out of me

Grav - I cut my mechanical teeth on Alfas The CRX has a similar effect on undercrackers!
Its limited to about mid 4's for 0-60 becasue of the FWD layout and the physics involved with weight transfer. We also stick to 15" wheels and road tyres so thats another limiting factor

However once moving there isnt a lot of road legal machinery that can even attempt to stay with it - no matter what the badge

 

[glojo]

Stunning,
Is there any chance of seeing some pictures of this flying machine when it is in the public roads please?

I bet it could be a real party pooper

Regards
John the very envious

 

[Mark300SL]

Stunning,
Is there any chance of seeing some pictures of this flying machine when it is in the public roads please?

If the SL is gone and the 190 isnt finished then I'll bring it to the GTG

I would much rather turn up in a Merc - but that is one of 2 subtle "subsitutes" that are available

A few older vids of the others are here to see what they were like

Twelve Point seven - my black 1800 CRX SiR running 12.7 @112 TOTB3 in 2004, I have been hitting mid 12's with my cars for the last 4 years, but the need to keep everything as driveable/tractable as possible has prevented us from going for anything much quicker.
300 Wheel horsepower - same car on the Dyno running close to 300WHP from 1600c's The same car made 317 @wheels and 343 @flywheel about 3 weeks later.

NASP 2.0 CRX out for a play - my Current track toy, 2.0 NASP 248hp, 0-60 under 5 seconds, 13.1 1/4 mile and Elise/Evo/Scooby Slayer.


I like modding - but to me its where you need to figure it out and go and build something, make it work, figure out the problems and fabricate what you need to solve those problems.
I dont have a problem at all with what I call "chequebook modding" where a part is just bought over the counter and fitted in a brief Sat afternoon or even worse by the local garage. However I do see the satisfaction that these sort of mods can bring - Vin was the absolute master at these.

As well as the twin turbo conversion, I am currently collecting the bits I need to make a hybrid S320/W124 cruise control system for my 190 - thats more what I like to do.

 

[BlackC55]

Very nice Mark. You have my seal of approval. I didn't realise you were such a ricer. (people into jap cars)

 

[Mark300SL]

Very nice Mark. You have my seal of approval.

Honoured sir

I didn't realise you were such a ricer. (people into jap cars)

Its all about speed - and the most economical way of getting real Hp/lb/£
The Vtec 1600 engine was a marvel in its day, making over 100hp per liter and the durability to run 250k miles which is still a manufacturing target figure today let alone 1989.
Reliability is legendary even when pushed to the extreme like we do


Here are a few more pics covering the trimming of the lower rad support by Dorian - modified to take new fluidyne triple core rad, I dont suppose there are many on here that take a gas axe to their pride and joy - even fewer when its not even theirs and actually owned by a mate

Mark

 

[Doodle]

The B-series is a tough old bird, I put 150k on mine in 5 years without a single issue. You can do pretty much anything you want with them and they just keep on ticking, as Mark has shown. I'm currently having designs on dropping a B18 into the ex's Civic EG Coupe.

The newer K-series (2000 onwards) is definitely a step backwards as far as forced induction goes, it just doesn't deal with it as well.

Honda designed the car for the japanese RHD market, so they spun the engine anticlockwise. This puts the engine on the other side to the driver giving better weight distribution.

It's also reversed, so the gearbox is on the left hand side, and the intake is at the front, instead of the exhaust. No idea why...

I'm looking at a high-compression capacity increase and some new cams for my Civic; however, the FD2 being so new means the range of parts is more limited and you're the test bed for them. The cams are a straight fit, I think the stroker kit is going to need some work to get right but the biggest stumbling block is the electronics...programmable ECU's are thin on the ground at the moment.

I can see the "closet ricers" corner forming at Jay's next weekend

 

[Mark300SL]

Quick update as I havent covered this for a while - especially as Eddie the owner has an S320 Cdi and is now on here too


New kit in place, new rad, intercooler, manifold, turbo, frontpipe, airfilter
all bolted to an engine that is to all intents and purposes a fully forged B18C5 housed in a B18C4 block

Halfway through heat wrapping manifold, cam cover removed to make the heatwrap process a little easier.

Heatwrap sorted

Almost finished

Old dyno plot from Alan Jeffry in Plymouth last year (where Janner had his twin turbo turbo mapped)

So then we fitted new bigger injectors fitted, new Ecu,

I have spent a long time looking for a decent rolling road in my local area that I could feel very comfortable with and with an operator that filled me with confidence that i could trade ideas/opinion with - well finally i have found the right place at Track 'n' Road just outside Rainham in Essex.
I first me Steve Greenald when he was mapping the idle on Dorians ADR3 racecar last year and at the time we worked so well together that I decided I would use his very impressive rollers for Eddies car.
Dont take my work for it - do a bit of research as these are possibly the most accurate rollers in the country and every run is very repeatable with the dyno showing changes of a mere 0.5 degree of ign timing.

The first base run was to compare the new injectors with the old setup used at Jeffries last year (see above) and the figures were almost identical. I had finally ironed out the low boost Vtec transition and the graph looks a lot better for it.

We slowly moved the boost from 8psi to 12.8psi and the difference is astounding We had a great session with a lot of surprised faces when the little CRX was consistently pushing out well over 300hp

here is a low boost plot - with the resultant higher boost plot an hour and 5 runs later overlayed to show the difference between 8 and nearly 13psi of boost. Timing is still very conservative but there was no det, solid AFR's that were probably too rich but very safe at the top end


Plot has been edited to remove some of my notes that were added and information that I don't particularly want to give away that we added for Steves benefit

358hp, 266lb/ft of torque @12.8psi - but look at the overall picture - this has over 140lb/ft of torque from just 3000rpm, and holds 200lb/ft of torque from 4250 to the redline. peak CRX hp is achieved by the same 4250 and from there on its just an animal :twisted:

Car took the whole event in its stride, behaved itself impeccably and amazed everyone by not spitting out any oil or coolant, didnt leave its mark on the dyno afterwards like just about any Ford would. Steve reckons it will see a lOT more HP if we ever decide its actually necessary




Next stop 16/17psi and turn the nitrous on



Mark

 

[Adam230K]

I must say i do enjoy reading your threads Mark, makes for interesting literature..

But while you're still on here i wanted to ask you a quick question about the Toyota 1JZ engine... have you had any experience or seen anyone who's tuned it first hand?? Are they reliable when tuned? I've dreamt of buying the Soarer with a 1Jz engine since i got my license and i'm coming closer to realise that dream

 

[lynall]

I just love that manifold its a work of art.

I had a bit a of a run in with an old crx a few months ago and didnt even know what one was until i googled it later.

It certainly went well enough not quite well enough but certainly made me think bloody hell, personally i think it was the driver bottling it and not the car that allowed me to claim victory.

Ps did i mention i like the manifold?



Lynall

 

[Doodle]

You've been a busy boy there Mark, and that's a proper little screamer.

 

[janner]

Looks good Mark. Bring it to Torquay.

 

[Mark300SL]

But while you're still on here i wanted to ask you a quick question about the Toyota 1JZ engine... have you had any experience or seen anyone who's tuned it first hand?? Are they reliable when tuned? I've dreamt of buying the Soarer with a 1Jz engine since i got my license and i'm coming closer to realise that dream

No Toy Motor experience I'm aftraid - but I reckon the Supa owners club will have the info you need

I had a bit a of a run in with an old crx a few months ago and didnt even know what one was until i googled it later.

It certainly went well enough not quite well enough but certainly made me think bloody hell, personally i think it was the driver bottling it and not the car that allowed me to claim victory.

Dont try this one if you see it

Stock CRXs are quite quick but nothing to write home about in the current world of high performance factory built cars, in their day they were very very good - these days they are still a lot of fun and even more so with a drop of boost

Looks good Mark. Bring it to Torquay.

Adrian - I am seriously considering it


Mark

 

[Eddie01]

Nice thread

Have to say, we do have a lot of fun with the car, neither Mark nor my self are what you would class as ricers, we’re both ‘middle aged” men with silly school boy grins .
The amount of research and custom parts in the build is staggering, almost every change or modification over the past 12 months has been bespoke, certainly stimulates the old grey matter.
The transition from the former 1600cc to 1800cc was all planned prior any parts purchases or removal of bolts, we knew exactly what we wanted to achieve, fortunately, the car exceeded our expectation in almost every area, power, delivery and handling, it retained all of it’s original characteristics when 1600, when we thought there would be a compromise upping the power it just improved.
Only real hardship is the clutch, heavy duty 6 puck, which can be a little tiresome in heavy traffic but it’s something you accept.
I love the fact we’ve managed to keep the cars standard factory look, full interior, electric sun roof and windows, ABS, all essential after market gauges have been installed as stealth as possible, it’s still a pretty car to look at (if you like that sort of thing).
Plan is to ramp up the power over time, no point dialing in another 10 pounds of boost in one hit rather 2 or 3 pounds and adjust the chassis accordingly.

 

[Howard]

I had a CRX VTEC back in the day , it's the only car that i've owned that i miss ....

Such a lot of fun.