[Date Prev][Date Next][Thread Prev][Thread Next][Date Index][Thread Index]
VTec Motors, Was: Another honda race story, Victor isvictorious. Yawn.
--=====================_10043091==_.ALT
Content-Type: text/plain; charset="iso-8859-1"; format=flowed
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
At 01:32 AM 10/11/2002, Rabbit16v wrote:
> > on his ass, breathing an evil puff of vtec smoke every time he shifts.
>
>Anyone know anything about the V-Tec motors having premature failure? They
>are fairly new yet (last 5 - 8 years???) and I see a bunch of them smoking
>lately (usually when shifting like Ron stated). I don't know a bunch about
>them or their recalls or anything but I hardly ever see ANY VWs smoke=
unless
>their diesels around here and there are a LOT of VWs in the NW!
Heh, you haven't seen smoke until you've seen my 16V with a broken ring. :(
But seriously, the VTECs have been proving to be very durable motors. Some=
=20
of the mid-1980s Honda motors had lots of problem with premature ring=20
and/or valve seal failure (premature meaning >150k miles)... and you'll see=
=20
a lot of the old CRXs smoking because of it.
I've seen a few 1990s Hondas smoking under normal driving, but the problem=
=20
with Hondas is that they don't break -- and so they don't receive any=20
maintenance. People kill them all the time when the timing belt fails, and=
=20
I suspect many of the smoking Civics I've seen are actually the "lucky"=20
victims of timing belt failure... Or even more likely, having run them=20
without oil.
As far as the little burst of smoke at full-throttle shifting, it's=20
actually normal. Most cars will do it to some extent -- that's the old=20
race-track trick to know what gear the guy in front of you is in. And if=20
you've seen a car dynoed, you know that you'll almost always see a nice=20
puff of smoke when the operator suddenly lets off at redline and full=
throttle.
I doubt if VTEC motors do it any more often than any other engines. It's=20
just that VTEC drivers tend to drive their cars harder and rev them much=20
higher than most other drivers... so we notice it more often.
For all the Honda bashing that goes on on this list, you'd think they were=
=20
Pontiacs. ;) Having driven just about all of them (as well as just about=20
every other production car since the late 1980s), I personally find them=20
uninspiring. In my opinion, they are without question the best compromise=
=20
between reliability and "sportiness" in the world. They are inarguably the=
=20
most reliable cars on the planet... and while they're not up to the "fun"=20
standards of most Europeans, they're generally the most "driver-involved"=20
of the Asians. So for someone who wants 100% reliable transportation=20
that's a little more exciting that the run-of-the-mill Toyota (another=20
company of which I am very fond) or Nissan, Honda is the best bet. They're=
=20
impossible to fault... and the VTEC motors are (unfortunately for VW) no=20
exception.
That said, the broken ring in my 8,000-mile-old factory-rebuilt 2.0 16V=20
occured while I was racing a VTEC-transplanted Civic. That bastard! :)
Jason
----------
1987 Scirocco 2.0 16v
1994 Golf 4dr VR6
http://www.scirocco16v.org
"In the olden days, a good flame war could go on for weeks or months, with=
=20
hot invective flying around like rhetorical shrapnel. It was high art, high=
=20
entertainment. Though tempers flared hot and professional bridges were=20
sometimes irreparably burned, ultimately it was a game =97 a participatory=
=20
sport in which the audience awarded points for felicitous disparagements,=20
particularly well-worded putdowns, inspired squelches." -- Christopher=20
Locke, "The Cluetrain Manifesto".
"So yes, the LSD works, sort of like ABS in forward without the foot=20
vibrator..." - Cathy Boyko
--=====================_10043091==_.ALT
Content-Type: text/html; charset="iso-8859-1"
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
<html>
At 01:32 AM 10/11/2002, Rabbit16v wrote:<br>
<blockquote type=3Dcite class=3Dcite cite>> on his ass, breathing an evil
puff of vtec smoke every time he shifts.<br><br>
Anyone know anything about the V-Tec motors having premature
failure? They<br>
are fairly new yet (last 5 - 8 years???) and I see a bunch of them
smoking<br>
lately (usually when shifting like Ron stated). I don't know a
bunch about<br>
them or their recalls or anything but I hardly ever see ANY VWs smoke
unless<br>
their diesels around here and there are a LOT of VWs in the
NW!</blockquote><br>
Heh, you haven't seen smoke until you've seen my 16V with a broken
ring. :(<br><br>
But seriously, the VTECs have been proving to be very durable
motors. Some of the mid-1980s Honda motors had lots of problem with
premature ring and/or valve seal failure (premature meaning >150k
miles)... and you'll see a lot of the old CRXs smoking because of
it.<br><br>
I've seen a few 1990s Hondas smoking under normal driving, but the
problem with Hondas is that they don't break -- and so they don't receive
any maintenance. People kill them all the time when the timing belt
fails, and I suspect many of the smoking Civics I've seen are actually
the "lucky" victims of timing belt failure... Or even
more likely, having run them without oil.<br><br>
As far as the little burst of smoke at full-throttle shifting, it's
actually normal. Most cars will do it to some extent -- that's the
old race-track trick to know what gear the guy in front of you is
in. And if you've seen a car dynoed, you know that you'll almost
always see a nice puff of smoke when the operator suddenly lets off at
redline and full throttle.<br><br>
I doubt if VTEC motors do it any more often than any other engines.
It's just that VTEC drivers tend to drive their cars harder and rev them
much higher than most other drivers... so we notice it more
often.<br><br>
For all the Honda bashing that goes on on this list, you'd think they
were Pontiacs. ;) Having driven just about all of them (as well as
just about every other production car since the late 1980s), I personally
find them uninspiring. In my opinion, they are without question the
best compromise between reliability and "sportiness" in the
world. They are inarguably the most reliable cars on the planet...
and while they're not up to the "fun" standards of most
Europeans, they're generally the most "driver-involved" of the
Asians. So for someone who wants 100% reliable transportation
that's a little more exciting that the run-of-the-mill Toyota (another
company of which I am very fond) or Nissan, Honda is the best bet.
They're impossible to fault... and the VTEC motors are (unfortunately for
VW) no exception.<br><br>
That said, the broken ring in my 8,000-mile-old factory-rebuilt 2.0 16V
occured while I was racing a VTEC-transplanted Civic. That bastard!
:)<br><br>
Jason<br><br>
<br><br>
<br><br>
<br><br>
<br>
<x-sigsep><p></x-sigsep>
<hr>
1987 Scirocco 2.0 16v <br>
1994 Golf 4dr VR6<br><br>
<a href=3D"http://www.scirocco16v.org/"=
eudora=3D"autourl">http://www.scirocco16v.org</a><br><br>
<br>
"In the olden days, a good flame war could go on for weeks or
months, with hot invective flying around like rhetorical shrapnel. It was
high art, high entertainment. Though tempers flared hot and professional
bridges were sometimes irreparably burned, ultimately it was a game =97 a
participatory sport in which the audience awarded points for felicitous
disparagements, particularly well-worded putdowns, inspired
squelches." -- Christopher Locke, "The Cluetrain
Manifesto".<br><br>
"So yes, the LSD works, sort of like ABS in forward without the foot
vibrator..." - Cathy Boyko <br>
</html>
--=====================_10043091==_.ALT--