Few things in the modern automotive world of high performance cars are like feeling the “VTEC kick in”. I once saw video of Chad breaking out into alligator tears while experiencing a full throttle VTEC aided blast down the strip in a Honda several years ago. There are kids all over America, at this very second “making the VTEC kick in”. It is like huffing paint for them, only without the added benefit of all that gold (gold paint tastes the best) over spray on their faces.
What is VTEC? How the hell should we know? We’re just regular guys trying to make it in this crazy world, not automotive gods with access to the white light that delivered the greatest engine technology in history to the top of Mt Fuji in the 1990s. We think it somehow unleashes the power of strong rare Earth magnets inside the engine that force the pistons up and down faster to give extra power. Only fools actually believe that it is a system that control valve timing. Lemmings!
We want to know if you’ve ever felt the VTEC kick in and don’t say “you think so” because that’s a crap answer. You can’t be a little pregnant and you can’t ride the fence on VTEC. You’ve either seen the white light and felt the power or you haven’t.
Is VTEC BangShift approved? Saying no would invite ninja assassin squads to attack our headquarters and we’re saving all our bullets for zombies….so we guess it is. (You win this time ninjas!)
BangShift Question Of The Day: Have You Ever Felt The VTEC Kick In?
Humph…. if you feel it kick in, you’ve tuned it wrong.
finnaly someone knows to!
I thought I did…then I realized it was a Fiber-One induced fart and went about my day.
I have felt it kick in, when it did my pusher cut three times as much. Honda rules!!!
Not joking here, but early on in my automotive experience (~2000-2001) a co-worker of mine bought a bright yellow “type-R” Honda and took me for a ride. That thing’s v-tec was like a light switch, we’d take off then when it kick on the car would literally jolt, the glove box would pop open and its contents would spill in to my lap.
So its safe to say I’ve felt the v-tec kick in, and all the turbo lag without the turbo.
bbbbbeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee……brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr
I’m a big hp guy too… but what’s with all the VTEC bashing? VTEC is actually pretty slick (google it if you don’t know). Ya some dorks drive hondas… and there has never been any dorks that drive 5.0 mustangs?…
yuck it up at a light car with factory coil-over suspension and slick motor, because making a caprice into an autocross car isn’t nearly as joke worthy……
Yeah there’s tools in every car. But VTEC isn’t JUST a Honda thing… Look up VVT in Fords, Vanos in BMWs.. pretty much every manufacturer has it. You don’t see VVT plastered everywhere like Ford is the only one with the technology to make it.
I had a 97 Prelude SH. Between 5200 and 7500 rpm the engine sounded much better and pulled a little stronger. The car’s upside was that the handling was good after I added eibach springs. The downsides were, 1. pitifully poor mechanical reliability, what a turd! and 2. The peak torque figure was around 157 lbs. If a company is gonna build a car that looks like a sports car, it should be able to at least beat a V6 Camry from a stoplight. That car was so slow my only choices were suicide, or to sell it to a local teenager for $5,200 that he paid me in $20 bills. True story.
I agree with Steve and Mr Harder. VTEC is so joke worthy that virtually every other manufacturer has tried to copy it, most without success, since it isn’t just variable valve timing, but also lift control. It’s a very legit high tech engine feature that got a bad wrap because of a few ricers.
When I was a kid in the 60’s, we had our equivalent of ricers. It was just tires sticking out of the wheel wells, glass packs hanging crooked under the car, neon orange painted pumpkins and “Thush” decals instead of stance, fart cans and VTEC stickers. It’s all the same shit, different generation. But all kidding aside, we should be welcoming these kids to the hobby, not bash them or their rides.
I have a 450hp Mustang and an ’88 CRX-si autocross car, so consider that before labelling me, k?
Well I agree with Mr Harder anyway…
But did you feel the V-tec kick it?
Cars are cars are cars… We as people make them unique acceptable to our own standards… Vtec came along so that honda could deliver decent drivability and good fuel economy while delivering a boost in performance… Honda has always been about fuel economy, and reliability. (For the most part, i agree the prelude is a turd) but honda vehicles have never been, and never will be marketed as high horsepower monsters. They handle well, and respond eagerly to modifications.. But dont most cars? This could turn into an all out honda bashing thread, and it probably will, but the ricer kids are at fault. I myself drive an 01 integra. It didnt come with the vtec engine, and ill never install one. Right now, im in the process of building a high conpression engine without the aid of vtec… Just to do something different.. The costs are about the same, performance will be quite similar… Ill consume more fuel, and my idle wont be as silky smooth as a factory type r engine, but its what i want. Not all of us can afford out dream car, and most of us (car guys) can build them to pretty close to what that dream car could be… I dont agree woth what most of the import crowd does to their cars… Im in it for the cars themselves… Whether its a bimmer, chevy, honda, ford… The douche bags are plentiful… Those people are the problem… Not the cars… Or well, vtec for that matter.. And yes, foing back to the topic. I have felt the vtec kick… In my wife’s 07 pilot… Lol
Having been in the performance aftermarket business my entire adult life, I will share my views on this. I have felt the Vtec “kick in” and for what it is, it did make a nice boost in performance. Not like a 250 shot of Nitrous on a small block, but a good improvement.
The Fast and the Furious movie made the sport compact market viable for many performance manufacturers, similar to how Gone in 60 Seconds made a ton of V8 loving adults wanted to emulate the Eleanor Mustang. Big difference between the two groups is that the ricer crowd seemed way nicer than alot of the American muscle crowd. I have been to a couple of the SEMA shows targeted specifically to the sport compact crowd, and way too many Amerian muscle shows to count.
You will never see a lawn chair at a ricer show. Yes, some of the ricers are more into the spoilers and stuff, but so are their American muscle counterparts. If Honda ever decides to enter the V8 market, they could make a huge impact with their technology.
I agree with Antonio, the D-bags are the problem, not the cars and there are PLENTY of D-bags in both crowds.
In my collection I have a Honda Del Sol. It sounds like a Singer Sewing Machine, but let me tell you, after the addition of Eibach springs, what a kick in the pants to drive in the hills by me house. The best part after spending the day driving the country roads, is going to the gas station and only having to put in $20 to $25 in her.
I never felt a Vtec kick in,but I have felt a 426 Hemi Dodge Challenger and a 1967 Shelby Mustang GT500 push me into the passenger seat.
I waited over ten years for Ford to implement a similar device on the 4.6/5.4 engines, but they didn’t.
I felt the VTEC kick in this morning after an unusually large cup of coffee.