Guide to tuning and performance parts on the B20 engine from Honda

"Honda B20 Tuning guide"

We examine the options for your B20 tuning and show the best mods that work. Honda B20s provide a fun base for your project and with carefully chosen tuning mods you can noticeably increase your driving experience.

We rely on our visitors to pass on tips and tell us about their projects and what worked on their car, and this article is the culmination of the feedback we have received. First let us look at the history and specs of this engine and then consider which tuning modifications work best on it.

History of the B20 Engine

Vtec was not fitted to the B20 series engine, the focus was on reliability and performance.

• B20B-B20B4  1996–1998  126–142–140 hp 
• B20B-B20B8  1999 - 2001 148–150 hp
• B20Z2 1999 - 2001 148 - 150 hp
• B20B JDM 1995–1997  146 hp

NB: B20A/B20B (The B series components were extensively revised from the A series and cannot be interchanged or swapped)

What are the most effective B20 upgrades

When talking about the best optimum for your B20 engine, we are going to mods that give the best power gain for you spend.

Significant gains can be made from camshaft upgrades. Altering the camshaft profile alters the intake and exhaust durations on the engine and can dramatically change the engines power and power output.

We have seen some tuners fitting a VTEC head to the B20 blocks to good effect, effectively transforming the engine performance and response.

Fast road cams normally boost the bhp over the rev range, you might lose a little bottom end torque but the high end rpm power will be higher.

Motorsport cams, boost the high end rpm power band but as a result the car will not idle smoothly and low end power nearly always suffers.

On a daily driver must carefully try to match your torque band to your cars usage.

You'll never have thought a Motorsport and race camshaft is a pleasure to live with when in heavy traffic.

Some B20 engines respond better to more aggressive camshaft durations check your engine on a rolling road.

The ecu map and injectors and fuel pump also have a large bearing on the torque gains you'll achieve.

A longer valve duration can alter the torque band and on most engines the exhaust and intake durations do not need to match, although most cams and tuners use matched pairs there are some advantages to extending the intake or exhaust durations.

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Modifying to Stage 1:

 Panel air filters, Sports exhaust manifold, Intake headers, Fast road camshaft, Remaps (Hondata ECU) or piggyback ECU .

Modifying to Stage 2:

 Sports catalyst & performance exhaust, fuel pump upgrades, Fast road cam, Ported and polished head, high flow fuel injectors

Modifying to Stage 3:

 Internal engine upgrades (pistons/head/valves), Competition cam, Twin charging conversions, Engine balancing & blueprinting, .

Remaps using a piggy back ECU will help release the full potential of all the tuning parts you've done to your B20.

It will usually give around 15% more power on the B20 engines, but you mileage will vary depending on the tuning parts you've done and the condition of your engine.

Shoving more air and fuel into your B20 is the main goal to any performance tuning job.

Intake flow the air during the suck phase from the intake filter and allow it to be drawn into the engine and mixed with fuel.

Design and flow characteristics of the Intake can make a substantial change to fuel mixing and power on the B20.

It's not uncommon that plenum chambers are crying out for a performance upgrade, although some OEM provide reasonably good plenum chambers.

Increasing the B20 valve size, getting 3 or 5 angle valve jobs and porting and head flowing will also raise power, this will give you an improved power increase on other parts.

B20 turbo upgrades - which are best?

The more air to get into an engine, the more fuel it can burn and uprating the induction with a turbocharger upgrade makes massive power gains.

NASP engines need quite a lot of work and the B20 requires more than most when you add a turbo, so we have a separate guide to help you take into account the pros and cons of going this route on your B20

Adding a supercharger or additional turbo will make large performance gains, although harder to setup however the work involved on the B20 it would be easier to do an engine transplant.

Fuelling

You will need to ensure that the engine is not starved of fuel so must look at the fuelling when you start going beyond 20% of a power increase.

We strongly recommend you to over specify your flow rate on the injectors.

The rule of thumb is to add 20% capacity when fitting an injector, which takes into account injector deterioration and provides you some spare capacity should the engine require more fuel.

B20 Exhaust

You may need to improve your exhaust if the existing exhaust is creating a flow problem.

On most factory exhausts you'll see the exhaust flow rate quite well even on modest power gains, but when you start pushing up the power levels you will need to get a better flowing exhaust.

Sports exhausts can usually air flow from the engine but do not go too big or you could will reduce the flow rate. Stick to 1.5 to 2.5 inches for best results.

Usual exhaust restrictions can be traced to the catalyst and filters installed, so adding a better flowing sports alternative will help avoid this restriction.

Weakspots and problem areas on the B20

The B20 engines are generally reliable and solid as long as they are regularly serviced and maintained.

Regular oil changes are vital on the B20, especially when tuned and will help extend the life and reliability of the engine.

Check the water pump and head gaskets for leaks, overheating can be costly to fix, so is best avoided.

For more information on Tuning your Honda engine please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss B20 tuning options in more detail with our B20 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.

Please help us improve these tips by sending us your feedback in the comments box below.

We love to hear what our visitors have got up to and which parts work best for them on each model of car. Comments are used to improve the accuracy of these articles which are continually updated.

This article was written by Waynne Smith on TorqueCars, and I appreciate your feedback and suggestions. This entry was filed under Acura, 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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