At this year’s AERA EXPO 2003, which will be held at the Las Vegas Convention Center April 23-26 2003, the exciting sport compact performance market and the potential that it has to offer will be highlighted. In that spirit, AERA is building a high performance Honda 1.6L DOHC VTEC engine that will be stroked out to a 1.9L engine. This engine will be raffled off at the end of the show on Saturday, April 26. Videos of the various machining and assembly operations will be available during the show, too.
Part I of our two-part Honda "Race Rocket" engine will focus primarily on machining operations. Obtaining an engine core was the first priority in this engine build. A lot of thought went into the core selection process as well as considerable discussions with machine shops and experts in the sport compact business.
The 1.8L DOHC VTEC engine is one of the most popular engines for doing any kind of modifications and improving horsepower. However, obtaining an 1.8L engine core can cost in excess of $2,000. After talking with Alan Davis of Eagle Specialty Products, Southaven, MS, AERA decided to use the 1.6L DOHC VTEC engine, graciously donated by Eagle.
The 1.6L B16A DOHC VTEC Honda core typically runs less than $1,000. You can still make many modifications to get the desired performance while producing a good quality street engine. Here