Honda CRX Tuning

"A great time, 3 letters ending with X"

Improving the handling should be your first priority in your CRX tuning project.

With its relatively short wheel base, wide wheel track and powerful engine the CRX just crying out to be a track day car. 

We suggest that you fit uprated suspension and lower the car by 30-35mm.

Larger drops usually require wheel arch work (such as rolling) - especially on models already equipped with sports suspension.

Turning our attention to the CRXs engine we need to get a bit more power out of the top end and would like some more low end grunt.

Honda engines are built for revving and most of the power is generated at the top end in the VTEC power band. 

The best power gains usually come from larger engine sizes but Hondas focus on relatively small capacity engines and for power they pushed up the RPM limits. This makes the CRX a great car for tuning and track days and ensures that there will always be parts around for years to come.

Honda CRX Tuning modifications.

In most cars you really need to keep as much low end power as you can and aim for a wide power band rather than a top end spike, Honda engines are a little different due to the VTEC zone so we get to take a slightly different approach. One of the best mechanical mods you can do is to fit a fast road cam. If this is combined with a remap to force the VTEC to kick in a little lower down the power band you have achieved a very noticable power gain already.

To get sufficient fuel you may need to uprate the injectors on your engine. A fuel pump will only deliver a finite amount of fuel, so you may need to uprate this if your injectors are demanding more fuel.

Honda CRX Intake and Exhaust Tuning.

The next area for modification is the intake and exhaust. Induction kits work well on turbo engines and larger engines (if supplied with a suitable cold air feed or air box), on CRX engines TorqueCars members suggest you should go with a sports panel air filter. A full sports exhaust with 4-1 headers will balance the flow of air throughout the engine, especially in the upper rpm rev band.

Airflow through the head can be dramatically increased, from it's already impressive OEM state, with some professional porting and polishing. Match the head work with larger valves and a 3 or 5 angle valve job to maximise your CRX tuning project power gains.

Your clutch can seriously let you down if it starts to slip and the standard clutches are only ever good for power gains of upto 50%. Fit an uprated clutch to avoid power losses through the transmission.

Despite the large cost involved, we have seen that adding forced induction to a NASP engine will give large power gains. It is easier to bolt on a supercharger than it is to get a turbo working. Although we have seen both conversion done on the CRX. Turbos give boost in exponential proportion to increasing engine speed and this can make mapping difficult. If you are prepared to lower the engines compression ratio then this will pay dividends.

The nice steady boost to rpm characteristics of the supercharger make them easier to map. Adding forced induction will usually require a lower compression ratio or water injection. So if you want to keep it simple, stick with a supercharger conversion kit instead and run at modest boost levels. 

Honda CRX Wheel modifications.

Alloy wheels will help the brakes cool down and are usually lighter than the steel ones. The downside to large alloy wheels on your CRX is that you alter your effective final drive ratio and this will have a detrimental effect on performance. Aim to keep the overall rolling diameter of the wheel the same as supplied from the factory. In all cases we do not recommend going above 16 inches.

For more information on Tuning your car please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss CRX options in more detail with our CRX owners. It would also be worth reading our unbiased Honda tuning articles to get a full grasp of the benefits and drawbacks of each modification.

This article was written by Waynne Smith on TorqueCars, and I appreciate your feedback and suggestions. This entry was filed under Honda. You can leave a response below or join TorqueCars forum to discuss this article and car modification in detail with our members.

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