VTEC vs. SR20DE

[SiGNAL748]

SR20DE (Remember, this is coming from a honda owner - I hope you take my statement as a strong one)

[NerveAgent]

SR20DE all the way man.

[tanksu27]

My 2 cents on the sr20de vs b16a debate. I am very fortunate to have owned both engined cars, the N14 Nissan Pulsar sr20de (heavier than Nissan SE-R USDM) 3 years ago and now a EK4 Honda Civic b16a.

My Nissan Pulsar sr20de had the following set-up:
(1) advanced timing by 2 degrees (I forget the exact setting)
(2) K&N cone style intake
(3) lengthened secondary pipes going into the cat
(4) 2-inch mandrel bent cat-back straight-thru exhaust system
(5) Redline at 7,500 rpm (cut-off at 7,800 rpm)

My Honda Civic b16a is stock standard. Vtec kicks in at 5,500 rpm. Redline at 8,000 rpm.

Comparing the 2 cars, the most obvious difference is the fact that the sr20de starts to choke after 6,500 rpm (you feel a slight drop-off in acceleration) whereas the b16a pulls hard all the way to at least 7,700 rpm. Up to 6,500 rpm the sr20de pulls harder than the b16a, after that the b16a pulls harder (in fact, a lot harder).

3 scenarios, sr20de vs b16a based on my opinion:
(1) off a standing start: sr20de wins, unless you rev the b16a to 6,000 rpm and drop the clutch. B16a might catch up after 150 kmh.
(2) rolling start below 30kmh: sr20de wins by a greater margin than scenario (1) above. Again b16a might catch up at much higher speeds.
(3) rolling start above 70kmh (especially freeway speeds): b16a wins because of much better top end acceleration. B16a must be in the right gear to ensure the engine is singing in the vtec power band, otherwise .....

Please note that if you are caught in the wrong gear in a b16a when racing against a sr20de, the sr20de will just stomp you like no tomorrow. Up until 6,500 rpm the sr20de has the upper hand.

[Moppie]

From my experiance on the road its almost what you said.

To get an SiR off the line faster than an SSS/SE-R you need to really ring its nuts off and give the driveline some very serious abuse.
However, once rolling the SiR is the faster car.
The EK4 is a poor comparison, as its a lot heavier than the orgianl EF9 and uses a gearbox with some very lazy ratios to make it more friendly to drive. A better comparison would be the EK9, (type R) which replaced the EF9 and EG6 (SiR, and SiRII) in the model line up in terms of performance.
But that would be somewhat unfair to the SSS or SE-R, as neither are ment to compete in the limited market the EK9 is.

And an SR20, with its lower redline and so smaller power curver is just as vunerable to getting caught in the wrong gear as the B16a is.


The SR20 has a nice bottom end, ruined by a poor breathing cylinder head. Its the nice girl with an ugly face you eventualy marry.

The B16a is just nice all over its well balanced, use able torque down low, and mind boggling performance up high. But its a little to high strung and demanding for most people.
Its the tight bodied 20 year old arts student you have a fling with before you get married.

[huyoo]

This is my 1st time log in n so happen 2 come across your subjet VTECH vs SR20 but i would like 2 ask how many of your have driven the NISSAN VE engine with a twin v-tech which has LSD gearbox.

I have a very old NISSAN SENTRA 1st generation hatchback or here we call N13 due 2 the car which is so old i have 2 change 2 a recon engine n which is the SR16 VE that i find it OK until i up grade a few item then it was great. I can say the normal B16A was taking up smoke from my behind unless the B16C SPEC98 then it can beat my old junk.

I have try drag with RX7 before n we were on par. So 2 the inprove on the power is try changing the ECU chip 2 superchip n fit something 2 the fual injection 2 incrise the air flow u might be surprise with what you are getting for me 260km/h is fast n i think this is not the engine limit then i saw the new SR20 VET in X-trail GT which has a 280ps.

[Neutrino]

People lets stop reviving this thread. It dates back to 2001.