My '95 Civic DX K20A2 swapped no more**Red Rocket K24/K20 **

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By TrailerTrash
- Mon May 18, 2015 11:22 pm #353796 nice numbers dude! :thumb: :thumb: :thumb:
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By FlopUrDonk
- Mon May 18, 2015 11:34 pm #353797 I want. no I gotta have your car lol. Nice pull.
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By CopyLifted
- Wed May 20, 2015 12:53 am #353823 HAHA :thumb:

Thanks guys!
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By CopyLifted
- Sun May 24, 2015 6:35 am #353883 mmmwwahahaha! :thumb:

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By Axix23
- Tue May 26, 2015 7:31 pm #353913 Who tuned your car? Vtec crossover set at 3900 is way too low for an all motor basic na setup. Prolly why your losing whp. That's more like a sc/turbo setup. I am running a true 2.5 Id exhaust with no rbc and made 215whp on a dyno jet. Dyno pack usually read a good 10-15% higher too. My vtec is set at 4400rpms. I have just street tuned mine myself and didn't touch my cam angles yet and also running the same k-tuned header. I have a z1 motor tho. I highly suggest you retune it yourself.
Last edited by Axix23 on Tue May 26, 2015 7:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.

By Axix23
- Tue May 26, 2015 7:38 pm #353914 197whp on a dyno pack is like 175-180whp on a dyno jet. It's all in the tune.
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By CopyLifted
- Wed May 27, 2015 3:05 am #353918
Axix23 wrote:197whp on a dyno pack is like 175-180whp on a dyno jet. It's all in the tune.


The z1 also has better cams.....

Vitviper, aka Vit Tuned, aka Vitaliy Mikitchenko tuned it at Max Motors in Eugene, Oregon. Very good tuner to be honest.

I posted my results on the k20a.org facebook page and it caused quit a shit storm to be honest lol. Here are some of the things he had to say:

Vitaliy Mikitchenko: They all read different, as it has already been stated they are tuning tools. Put car on dyno, use your tools to do your job. Chasing a # sounds like the right mentality when tuning a car, amirite? (obviously ending with sarcasm)

Vitaliy Mikitchenko: A stock K20a2 baselines 167-172 on this dyno. The highest K20A2 to date so far on this dyno is ~211whp. This isn't church's dynapack where I can get 260 from your average run of the mill 2.0L and 210 from a stock one... LOL. I've also used multiple dynocoms, they can and will read super high, had something like 245 or 250 from a 2.0L with TSX cams and average bolt ons. Took it to a jet, 210. lol...

Vitaliy Mikitchenko: Here's the lowest dyno'ing K20A2 I've ever had in an RSX here (188 hp). I believe it was some kind of junk header, tiny 65mm exhaust (or stock, don't remember) and a junk intake (I think it was the PWM crap, been a long tie). Before & after tune. Dustin's car did very well for the mods. Bigger header, 3" exhaust, 3.5" intake, and that motor will open right up.

Vitaliy Mikitchenko: highest "stage 2" cam cars only make 226-230 on this dyno. I haven't see a 240-250hp stage 2 cam car come through here yet. A 210-212whp K20A2 RSX traps 102-104mph at the local track.

Vitaliy Mikitchenko: we have a shop locally with an MD, they're spitting out 230-240 K series that only make 200 over here... any dyno can be rigged to give BS #'s lol

Vitaliy Mikitchenko: my Dynapack baselines a stock K20 167-172, the 250+ one I posted baselines a stock K20 200-210. You'll find the #'s from Dynapack to Dynapack can be stupid different because some shops have never upgraded their software and retain the old calibration that reads stupid high.

Anyway, he's pretty well know for his k series knowledge. Is he the best? I don't know. But his dynopack reads low, for whatever reason. he flat told me to take it to another dyno and it will read higher.

About the vtec crossover. It is actually at 3500. Obviously there's perimeters set that it doesn't engage any time you are at 3500. So, it's not going to engage just cruising down the highway.

i can tell you this though, and as can be seen in the dyno graph (hence why a dyno is a tuning tool), at 3500 it starts making good power and it pulls very hard from there until 8,000. I trust that he knows what he is doing.

And believe me, i have done EVERYTHING myself on this car. I would also love to run my own tune. But, until I find the time to learn it myself, this is good for me.
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By EconoBox
- Wed May 27, 2015 4:18 pm #353929 Keep up the good work!

It looks like your tuner knows what's up. People who don't tune don't understand that a simple change in correction variables on dynos can make them read higher or lower, gear ratios, air temp, altitude all effect the overall horsepower numbers as well. Looking at the dyno chart you posted the tune looks spot on with smooth power delivery which is what you want to see!

The bottom line is, is the car tuned safely? Does it drive smoothly? Are you (the customer) happy with the results? If you answered yes to all these then ignore all the BS and have some fun driving that K swapped coupe around!!!
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By EconoBox
- Wed May 27, 2015 4:24 pm #353930 Image

^ I don't know who's setup this is (stole the pic from google, said it was a k20a2 with RBC on the picture) but you don't have the "dip" in HP and torque before VTEC kicks (look between 5-5.5k) in which is why I give your tuner a big thumbs up :thumb: Every setup runs different and seeing a smooth climb in horsepower and a relatively flat torque curve is what you want.
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By CopyLifted
- Thu May 28, 2015 12:56 am #353938
EconoBox wrote:Keep up the good work!

It looks like your tuner knows what's up. People who don't tune don't understand that a simple change in correction variables on dynos can make them read higher or lower, gear ratios, air temp, altitude all effect the overall horsepower numbers as well. Looking at the dyno chart you posted the tune looks spot on with smooth power delivery which is what you want to see!

The bottom line is, is the car tuned safely? Does it drive smoothly? Are you (the customer) happy with the results? If you answered yes to all these then ignore all the BS and have some fun driving that K swapped coupe around!!!


Thanks!

Yeah, I am confident he did a great job. The #'s don't worry me too much as long as it's a solid tune. And with the dyno reading low, for whatever reason, makes me confident that it's right there with all the other k series with the same mods. maybe even slightly better IMO, since he knows what he is doing. Tuning, rather than chasing #'s.

As you said, the smooth power curve is what you want. This I already knew. It looks (on the graph) and feels (my butt dyno) perfect!.......for now. :wink:

And to answer your last three questions: The car is tuned, as he said, from idle to WOT and everything in between. such as stop and go traffic, highway cruising, ect. There are also safeguards programmed in in case anything goes wrong, such as if for whatever reason it runs too lean or too rich, ect. So a big :thumb: on tuned safely.

It drives and idles smoother than ever. Again a big :thumb:

And finally, this customer is EXTREMELY happy with the end results considering the parts that are on it. :twisted:

And here is what he posted on his facebook right after the tuning session.

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By jefferydclark
- Fri Jun 12, 2015 6:03 pm #354148 cool setup. I'd have to agree with some other folks when saying the vtec engagement point seems a little low but it is what it is. from what I've read you can turn vtec off while on the dyno and do a full run then turn it on. at the power cross over is where you want to engage vtec.

the only thing that really matters is that you are happy with it though. I'd love to do a K swap some day. maybe if I can find a good deal ;0
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By CopyLifted
- Mon Jun 15, 2015 12:59 am #354168
jefferydclark wrote:cool setup. I'd have to agree with some other folks when saying the vtec engagement point seems a little low but it is what it is. from what I've read you can turn vtec off while on the dyno and do a full run then turn it on. at the power cross over is where you want to engage vtec.

the only thing that really matters is that you are happy with it though. I'd love to do a K swap some day. maybe if I can find a good deal ;0


Thanks! it is worth every penny!

The funny thing is, the other day I was having issues uploading my calibration because I wanted to lower my rev limiter and recalibrate my TPS. Since my motor starts losing power after 8,000 rpm, i didn't see the point at having the rev limiter at 8600.

So I got a hold of Vit to see if he had any ideas why it would not upload it. It wouldn't upload anything! So, he sends me the calibration again in case mine was corrupted somehow. He takes a look at it and tells me "I don't want vtec at 3500 anymore. Upload this one set at 3700". He didn't tell me why, but I won't question him lol.

BTW, that one wouldn't upload either. i thought maybe i had a firmware corruption and i was irratated. Thought i was going to have to drive my Black Civic to work, so I go fill it up. i get back and go inside to cool off for a bit. i decided to go try it again and it uploaded first try. lol

Anyway, all is well once again!

Also, I trust Vit knows what he is doing. Just today he re-set the 9th gen civic record at 11.28 driving Harry Sparks-Racing's 2012 Civic SI. Which he tuned as well. He also broke an axle the pass before that too lol.
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By CopyLifted
- Mon Jun 15, 2015 2:06 am #354170 Double post :thumbdown:
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Re: My '95 Civic DX **K20A2 swapped**Update**

By CopyLifted
- Sun Aug 30, 2015 9:29 pm #355633 I'm still around, just been busy, busy, busy! Just want to update on a few things.

The car is still running GREAT with absolutely NO issues! Still my daily as well!

I have sold the Black GSR swapped '98 coupe as I don't drive it at all. Kind of sucks not having a back up car just in case, but I knew somebody that wanted it really bad so, I sold it to him. Went ahead and paid off my wifes van to cut that bill out of our lives!

I got some Nitto nt05's and that made a HUGE difference from a dig! I kept the ls webs from the '98 and mounted the pair on them. I only put them on during the weekends. I didn't take a pic of all of them on the car, but the rears have some potenza's that where already mounted on them. Surprised a 350z from a dig. And beat that SRT4 from a 35mph 2nd gear roll. Lost from a dig only because I had a brain fart and forgot to release my e-brake at launch lol. Running him down on the big end though.

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Looking to upgrade my exhaust now to 3" as well. I'm going with 3" mandrel bent tubing, 3" Vibrant ultra quite resonator and a 3" Vibrant street power muffler. As for the header I'm going with the skunk2 Alpha series header. The reason for the skunk2 is my tuner recommended it. He's seen some really good gains with that header with the 3" exhaust on the k swaps with room to grow. I'll also be upgrading to a 3.5" intake when I go get a retune after the exhaust is in.

The header arrived last week. No time frame on when I'll be getting the rest of the exhaust though.

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I have also got my full throttle shift feature in kpro working great. I used an OEM cruise control switch from an EX and mounted it where it would go if my car was equipped with cc (dx, no cc). Just removed the clutch stop/adjuster bolt at the top and threaded it in there all the way down as close as possible to clutch engagement. Just ran a wire from the spare switched 12v slot in the fuse box to the black wire, then ran a wire from the red wire of the switch to a fusible link then to E22 of the ecu.

I also had to check the "invert clutch switch input" because with the clutch out there is 12v. With the clutch in, 0v. Works as it should, but very hard to teach myself to keep my foot to the floor on the throttle when shifting lol. And these are the perimeters I set for FTS:

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The other thing I have done was completely gut out my trunk. I can't bring myself to gut the car....yet. But with doing so, the car now weighs 2450 with me in it. Dropped 50lbs!

I think that is all for now. I'm probably forgetting something though. I'll update as I get around to the exhaust!
Last edited by CopyLifted on Mon Aug 31, 2015 3:05 am, edited 2 times in total.
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