turboing a b16a

k ive listened to you guys talk about turbos and b16a for the past week or so, and its making me insane.

first everyone is saying how the b18a is a good turbo motor and the b16a is a bad turbo motor. are you guys insane if you boost both motors at 7-10psi, you wont need to do anything to both motors. both motors can take it. everyone says oh you cant cause the comp ratio is too high, but you cna turbo a b16 without having to drop comp ratio if its 7-10 psi. ok so both motors turboed at 7-10psi, the b16a wins. i guess the b16 is better under those conditions

now you might say what if its higher than 10psi. ok first if your running more than 10psi than your gonna have to drop the comp ratio in both motors anyways unless your running racing fuel which no one runs. so you guys complaining about a high comp on the b16, you would have to drop both anyways. its not like you gotta spend more money anyways cause you have to buy turbo pistons anyways for 10psi or higher and you can get your desired comp ratio from the manufactuer adn you gotta get rods. ok you got both motors with aftermarket pistons and rods. ok but now you gotta deal wiht the block itself. the b18a has a tendency of putting a piston through teh cylinder wall because if it bad rod ratio. so now you gotta spend more money to sleeve the b18a, but the rod ratio on the b16a is near perfect so unless your buildig a race motor, you wont need to sleeve it. you so actutally are now saving money wiht teh b16a, oh and you gotta deck both blocks too. so both motors turboed at 11-16psi, the b16a wins again and you saved $500.

now if running more than 16psi, teh cost will be the same for both since everything will need to be done for both motors.
also now onto the turbo itself, since the b18a cant be revved that high, you need to get a small turbo so there is no lag, high revving on a b18a can lead to rod failure or a piston through the wall. with the b16a, you can get a bigger turbo because since its so high revving, you can have alittle turbo lag. bigger turbo means more power at the same boost levels than with a smaller turbo. agian the b16a with the bigger turbo wins.

have you guys heard of any pro guys using a b18a ? i hear of them using the b16a. but i guess they are wrong about that, and they should all use the b18a instead right ? so overall the b16a is a better turbo motor.

so can anyone explain to me why a b18a is a better turbo motor than a b16a ?

You know i understand what you're saying. In my past post i've been telling ppl that HIGH compression is GOOD for turbo! You might not get much boost from it but you be running the same times as the ones thats running HIGH BOOST. Trust me on that. If you gonna run high compression turbo its gotta be tuned rite. Like the a/f is gotta be tuned to perfection! I would take a high compression turbo motor any day. Cause you can take off faster . You'll have bottom end and high end power. Theres this guy on her and i'm not sure if he's still her he has a b16 high compression turbo. Its been running fine for the past three years! He's running high 11's to low 12's with 11-12 psi! Do what you like but i'm staying N/A on my b16 cause i'm not down with BOOST.:D

check this link about B18a turbo... http://d1profiles.tripod.com/joe.htm

all I can say...If a stock B16a with upgraded injectors and Drag 3 turbo can do mid 11's then go for it, if not, I'd go with a B18a. This is one proof that I can show. Anybody here can give one for B16a besides hear say?:flash:

the problem with that site is that it doesnt give that much info, like i know that guy was runnin slicks and he is runnin an aftermarket ecu. i know a guy over, and i know him good so i know what hes got on his car. hes got a 4thgen hatch with a b16a with a turbo. now he has a open diff too, he runnin slicks too. but his b16a motor is stock no parts on it like upgraded injectors. but he has intake, exhuast, msd. he is only runnin 7psi on his b16a. he has no intercooler too.

he runs high 12 to low 13s. now i guarantee if he got an intercooler and up his boost to 13psi. he would run 11s too

oh and dont forget this, this is in hawaii. now every car runs slower here in hawaii because the way the air is. one time some mainland guys brought over a 9 sec but over here it couldnt even hit high 9s, hmid 10s all day. just something to think about. ill go look around for some site for some b16 turbo times

the problem with that site is that it doesnt give that much info, like i know that guy was runnin slicks, he is runnin an aftermarket ecu, and that he was probably running racing fuel, cause lots of people like to brag about there times on pump gas. and 11 on pump gas is something to brag about.
i know a guy over, and i know him good so i know what hes got on his car. hes got a 4thgen hatch with a b16a with a turbo. now he has a open diff too, he runnin slicks too. but his b16a motor is stock no parts on it like upgraded injectors. but he has intake, exhuast, msd. he is only runnin 7psi on his b16a. he has no intercooler too. he runs on pump gas

he runs high 12 to low 13s. now i guarantee if he got an intercooler and up his boost to 13psi. he would run 11s too

oh and dont forget this, this is in hawaii. now every car runs slower here in hawaii because the way the air is. one time some mainland guys brought over a 9 sec but over here it couldnt even hit high 9s, hmid 10s all day. just something to think about. ill go look around for some site for some b16 turbo times

here are my thoughts on this and this is my disclaimer: "i don't know much about these b sereies honda motors."

but what i do know is that they are freakin expensive to get and then buy motor mounts and etc. is even for money.

i say go with the ZC and completely rebuild it with forged internals and lower the compression slightly. This engine is already a 1.6L and it have better low end and spool a turbo quicker (more torque). The problem with the B series motors is that they use HIGH compression with a smaller engine to make its power. High compession and boost is usually a bad thing. It makes tunning SO much harder and it is very less forgiving if something screws up. When you fail to tune good on high compression you have DETONATION. for you that don't know what detonation is, its the hamers of hell in your engine and it is very bad. so back to the ZC thing

you can get the ZC for about 400-500 bucks and then there will be about another 1000 for the forged internals. then from anywhere from 200-xxx for machine work that you want. The forged internals will proabably support around 500-600 horses. there is no way that the B series will support that without forged internals. Since the ZC doesn't use high compression to make its power (uses more displacment than anything i'm assuming) you can lower the compression and not loose much power at all. Its usually about 4% power increase when raising compression every point; i can only assume its the same for decreasing. At most you would loose about 10-20 horses at the crank when lowering compresion.


with a built, low compression, 1.6L turbo'd 4th gen hatch; it will be very fast. I assume that aslong as you have the timing retard option and fuel system to support the high psi i will be pushing the car could easily hit 12's. Your only problem will be traction at that point, but if your spending alot of money on the engine then you may as well fork out the dough for the slicks.


when travis turbo's his hatch this winter it will more than likely be faster than my car. I will be running mid to low 13's.

he has forged internals and all he will need besides turbo will be a bigger fuel system. actually he already has the s-afc, but all he will need is injectors and a fuel pressure regulator.

oh and please if your planning on running 13's or lower, get a GOOD turbo. Not something that is stock (unless its like a porchse or somehting). get a t3/T4 or super 16g or equivelant or above (but yet not too big becuase of turbo lag)

If I follow you correctly, you need displacement=(torque) and lower compression...then why cant I put them in a b series motor? Pick any B motor and calculate what size pistons, compression, then there ya go! And as Civickiller was saying, if you have a slightly higher compression motor then just lower your boost. Its all in the calculation, i think. I even heard a turbo'd D-series motor that spanks the hell of a B. I'd say, bottom line, its all about your set up. Get the right motor, pistons, tranny, clutch, car, etc...:)

Originally posted by optimuspeterson
High compession and boost is usually a bad thing. It makes tunning SO much harder and it is very less forgiving if something screws up. When you fail to tune good on high compression you have DETONATION. for you that don't know what detonation is, its the hamers of hell in your engine and it is very bad.






High compression is not a bad thing!!! Like i said its all about tuning! GO to a good shop and have them tune it for you! If its tuned rite then you won't be dissappointed!:)

Lets end this debate... Some1 go turbo their b16a and some1 turbo their b18a... Pit them against each other and see which car is getting the better performance and realiability.. Ok? Mellowboy you turbo your b16a. EF_ turbo your ls_vtec :devil:

Originally posted by QuickSilverEF9
Mellowboy you turbo your b16a. EF_ turbo your ls_vtec :devil:

One problem...i'm goin all motor.:p

:( ... I like NA but I have grown to love the sound of the blow off valve :D

hahaha...I'm goin NA too, but maybe I'll set up a turbo B16 or B18 down the road, since I have both motors.

EF_...... I still have a d15 and you have what is it? 4 B series motors... I hate you really I do :D . Did you install the front conversion yourself?

Yup, did it in a couple of hours. The wiring is the only thing that threw me off a bit. I was plugging the wrong plug to one of the turn signals and was wondering why it was lit constantly and didnt blink...didnt realize it right away...although I still need to get 2 longer bolts for the bumper mounts that goes behind the turn signals. I have 2 heavy duty tie wraps on each side for now in addition to the screws that goes in the bottom and on each wheel well.:sun:

How hard was it to put on..? Ihave been advised that I should have a shop put it on... But I want to do it I just don't know what would be best.... I am mainly worried about the radiator support...

Dont worry about the rad support...this is all I did...took out my hood first then the bumper and one by one I transferred the pieces from the donor to my car. All in all, the pieces that I transferred were, hood, headlights, corner lights, bumper, hood latch (I could have used my stock ones too,because apparently, they work as well)..tools you need is a 10mm and a 12mm socket or open wrench, thats all.