B16/B18C or LS-V?

B16, B18, B20
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B16/B18C or LS-V?

By Jcampa19
- Sun Feb 01, 2015 5:39 am #351506 I drive a 95 eg hatch and it has a B18A1 LS engine and had continuous problems with it. Drove to work and the engine finally ate shit and started knocking on me.

I've been doing continuous research on which engine I want. Seems like the LS-V is very over rated but puts out well. Considered the B16 and Ive seem to catch a ton of interest in the GSR engine.

What am I looking at as far as reasonable pricing on the B18C with full swap? Or what do you guys recommend what engine I should go with? I don't have a budget but I'm not trying to go K-series or H seriesn. I already have B series mounts. Help!

Keep in mind I'm sort of a noob to all this. Be easy on me lol
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By Civic_HatchSI
- Sun Feb 01, 2015 1:32 pm #351510 I would recommend the GSR. I had a n/a GSR for a long time with little problems, perfect for a daily driver and lots of power. They are also great for boost later on down the road if you ever decide to go that route. It all really depends what you want for power and your future goals for your car. Again the GSR is a great platform for what ever you decide. Good luck :thumb:
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By Leppy
- Sun Feb 01, 2015 3:35 pm #351514 I have a sedan with a GSR swap, and a hatch with an LS-VTEC build.

I daily drive the GSR and it feels more solid, is MUCH faster, more reliable, rev happier, and just more fun to drive.

Owned the GSR for over 4 years, and it's still going strong with minor parts going out here and there.

Owned the LS-VTEC for a year, and had to rebuild it once already.

By Jcampa19
- Mon Feb 02, 2015 7:39 am #351522
Civic_HatchSI wrote:I would recommend the GSR. I had a n/a GSR for a long time with little problems, perfect for a daily driver and lots of power. They are also great for boost later on down the road if you ever decide to go that route. It all really depends what you want for power and your future goals for your car. Again the GSR is a great platform for what ever you decide. Good luck :thumb:


Sorry I'm a noob. What is N/A? As far as power, I may want to boost it for fun.



Leppy wrote:I have a sedan with a GSR swap, and a hatch with an LS-VTEC build.

I daily drive the GSR and it feels more solid, is MUCH faster, more reliable, rev happier, and just more fun to drive.

Owned the GSR for over 4 years, and it's still going strong with minor parts going out here and there.

Owned the LS-VTEC for a year, and had to rebuild it once already.


I posted this question on Honda-Tech and I'm being told the complete opposite lol. They're all telling me how great the B20 is and my personal friends are telling me it's a weak block and not worth it. I kind of want to go with the LS-V to save money over the GSR.

shouls I just rebuild my B18a1 las block and put a B16 head on it?
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By Leppy
- Mon Feb 02, 2015 2:30 pm #351528
Jcampa19 wrote:I posted this question on Honda-Tech and I'm being told the complete opposite lol.


That's because it's Honda-Tech...

I own both, and drive both. In my personal experience, the GSR is superior and well worth the money! 9000 RPM (where mine is tuned too) and a solid, audible VTEC engagement, versus 7000-ish redline and what just feels like an LS motor with some extra low end torque that get's kinda faster at 5500 RPM.
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By EconoBox
- Mon Feb 02, 2015 7:48 pm #351540 From personal experience I will recommend any B18C (Type-R or GSR depending on your budget) or a newer B20b/z (the higher compression motor) as a daily driver motor. Either way I would recommend a B16 or B18C transmission (you can use an LS 5th gear if the high RPM at highway speed annoys you). Currently I have a built GSR in my EG sedan and daily drive an EG hatch with a B20b both use GSR transmissions. The B20 to me is A LOT more fun to drive. I know some people will say the B20 is more fun because its in the hatch, I had the GSR in my hatchback originally and pulled it to do more upgrades and haven't even thought about switching back.

The GSR or Type-R motors are fun and reliable and respond well to power adders. The B18C has a huge amount of aftermarket support and if you are planning to go boosted down the road the stock motor can hold quite a bit of power with a proper tune.

The B20b (high compression one, B20Z from US models) is a very reliable and fun motor. I have this as my personal daily driver and have zero issues. You will need some LS parts to install it and there isn't quite as much aftermarket support for the non-vtec engines but for a daily driver this engine is a perfect match imho. Also you hear the weak sleeve rumor on the B20 motors everywhere you look. The sleeve design is different than other B series engines but it is not an issue as long as your motor is not detonating the sleeves won't crack.

The other option you were considering is the LS/Vtec or B20/Vtec. Both are great motors when they are built correctly which isn't cheap. The stock B18 and B20 bottom ends are not designed to be high revving and as such require balancing and machining to be reliable at higher RPMs. There are plenty of threads on building a reliable LS/Vtec and its not cheap. Pistons, Rods, Bearings, ARP bolts/studs, block girdles, balancing, align honing... you get the idea.

If you are just looking for something reliable to have fun in for a daily driver, and maybe add some bolt ons the B18C or B20b/z are the way to go.
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By suspendedHatch
- Mon Feb 02, 2015 9:37 pm #351545 If you're fairly new to the game, then just swap in a complete motor instead of building a frankenstein. One option is having a functioning car and the other option is struggling and getting stuck and abandoning a project.

B20/VTEC is a challenge even for people who have been in the game for a long time. Most of us know better than to attempt a build on a daily driver.

By Jcampa19
- Wed Feb 04, 2015 9:24 am #351588
EconoBox wrote:From personal experience I will recommend any B18C (Type-R or GSR depending on your budget) or a newer B20b/z (the higher compression motor) as a daily driver motor. Either way I would recommend a B16 or B18C transmission (you can use an LS 5th gear if the high RPM at highway speed annoys you). Currently I have a built GSR in my EG sedan and daily drive an EG hatch with a B20b both use GSR transmissions. The B20 to me is A LOT more fun to drive. I know some people will say the B20 is more fun because its in the hatch, I had the GSR in my hatchback originally and pulled it to do more upgrades and haven't even thought about switching back.

The GSR or Type-R motors are fun and reliable and respond well to power adders. The B18C has a huge amount of aftermarket support and if you are planning to go boosted down the road the stock motor can hold quite a bit of power with a proper tune.

The B20b (high compression one, B20Z from US models) is a very reliable and fun motor. I have this as my personal daily driver and have zero issues. You will need some LS parts to install it and there isn't quite as much aftermarket support for the non-vtec engines but for a daily driver this engine is a perfect match imho. Also you hear the weak sleeve rumor on the B20 motors everywhere you look. The sleeve design is different than other B series engines but it is not an issue as long as your motor is not detonating the sleeves won't crack.

The other option you were considering is the LS/Vtec or B20/Vtec. Both are great motors when they are built correctly which isn't cheap. The stock B18 and B20 bottom ends are not designed to be high revving and as such require balancing and machining to be reliable at higher RPMs. There are plenty of threads on building a reliable LS/Vtec and its not cheap. Pistons, Rods, Bearings, ARP bolts/studs, block girdles, balancing, align honing... you get the idea.

If you are just looking for something reliable to have fun in for a daily driver, and maybe add some bolt ons the B18C or B20b/z are the way to go.



Dude, thank you. More than likely, I'll end up getting the GSR. I found on on JDM engine corp for roughly $2500. LSD tranny, linkage and ECU on OBD1. I'll also do more research on the B20b/z while I save up for the GSR to see if it interest me. Thank you for your input. Your response is what I was looking for.

By Jcampa19
- Wed Feb 04, 2015 9:28 am #351589
suspendedHatch wrote:If you're fairly new to the game, then just swap in a complete motor instead of building a frankenstein. One option is having a functioning car and the other option is struggling and getting stuck and abandoning a project.

B20/VTEC is a challenge even for people who have been in the game for a long time. Most of us know better than to attempt a build on a daily driver.


Leppy wrote:I have a sedan with a GSR swap, and a hatch with an LS-VTEC build.

I daily drive the GSR and it feels more solid, is MUCH faster, more reliable, rev happier, and just more fun to drive.

Owned the GSR for over 4 years, and it's still going strong with minor parts going out here and there.

Owned the LS-VTEC for a year, and had to rebuild it once already.


That's good advice. I just think the LS-V is too common. I have a friend that has that build in his EG, seen him take off from a complete stop and I wasn't very impressed. I would like my car to be reliable. LS-V isn't for me if I have to keep putting in unexpected cash into problems that keep occurring.

By Jcampa19
- Wed Feb 04, 2015 9:29 am #351590
Civic_HatchSI wrote:I would recommend the GSR. I had a n/a GSR for a long time with little problems, perfect for a daily driver and lots of power. They are also great for boost later on down the road if you ever decide to go that route. It all really depends what you want for power and your future goals for your car. Again the GSR is a great platform for what ever you decide. Good luck :thumb:


$2500 sound reasonable for an OBD1 GSR with tranny and ECU?
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By EconoBox
- Wed Feb 04, 2015 6:52 pm #351604 $2500 for a full swap is a reasonable price. I've only every dealt with Hmotorsonline and JDMOrlando, so I cant tell you if JDM engine corp is a good place to deal with.

I've persnally had great experiences with both of these places.

http://www.hmotorsonline.com/shop/sc2000search.cgi?what=category&keyword=JDM%20USDM%20Engines&hit=5
^I've bought and H22A, D15b, and a full EG6 interior from here and had a great experience every single time. :thumb:

and

http://jdmorlandoinc.com/honda-engines.html?p=1
^These guys are only an hour and a half drive from me and I picked out my motor in person and loaded it my car to drive home with I don't know how their shipping is.

They will both be more expensive than the $2500 you are looking at now and don't forget if you're shipping to a residential address the shipping is freight with a liftgate truck and is usually around $300.
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By Civic_HatchSI
- Wed Feb 04, 2015 9:21 pm #351615
Jcampa19 wrote:
Civic_HatchSI wrote:I would recommend the GSR. I had a n/a GSR for a long time with little problems, perfect for a daily driver and lots of power. They are also great for boost later on down the road if you ever decide to go that route. It all really depends what you want for power and your future goals for your car. Again the GSR is a great platform for what ever you decide. Good luck :thumb:


$2500 sound reasonable for an OBD1 GSR with tranny and ECU?


Yes, I paid almost $5,000 for my swap back in the day. The GSR swaps have gone down significantly since then. $2500 is a great deal.
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By TrailerTrash
- Thu Feb 05, 2015 4:39 am #351630 http://www.jdmenginescorp.com/engine_de ... -vtec-used

sure as hell is a good deal!

makes me want to go B series...
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By EconoBox
- Thu Feb 05, 2015 1:10 pm #351633 I don't know what was going on yesterday when I posted this it never showed up... anyway here is what I posted yesterday.

$2500 for a full swap is a reasonable price. I've only every dealt with Hmotorsonline and JDMOrlando, so I cant tell you if JDM engine corp is a good place to deal with.

Hmotors I've bought an H22A, D15b, and a full EG6 interior from here and had a great experience every single time. :thumb:

http://jdmorlandoinc.com/honda-engines.html?p=1
^These guys are only an hour and a half drive from me and I picked out my motor in person and loaded it my car to drive home with I don't know how their shipping is.

They will both be more expensive than the $2500 you are looking at now and don't forget if you're shipping to a residential address the shipping is freight with a liftgate truck and is usually around $300.
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