ive been an avid honda fan for years now and i always loved the idea of putting the GSR head on the LS motor. its supposed to be one pf the baddest import motors out there. does anybody know of a reason not to make the head swap, or exactly how good of an idea it is. (i plan to turbo the motor either way)
Well im a honda fanatic also…But ive heard on fourms that LS/VTEC + Turbo = bad. I think it’s more unreliable and the head will break faster if you turbo the LS/VTEC…well thats what i heard.
Pros:
You have an awesome motor
VTEC! (From the B18C1 or B18C5)
Fast, and you can hear the VTEC
fun to drive
a “Frankenstein” swap
many more
Cons:
Not so good for turbo
Not so reliable
But either way LS/VTEC is a fun project if you like cars like me. But i warn you not to turbo while having an LS/VTEC setup. Go N/A; not forced induction. I have a 98′GS-R, and as you know it comes stock with a B18C1; DOHC VTEC and has an 8k redline. LS/VTEC will be much more fun.
so many have there facts mixed up. no you dont want the ls tranny in any case unless you want better gas mileage. the shorter gears are always faster.. assuming you have traction. the vtec head is not worse for boost in any way. they flow way better and handle abuse and high rpm way better. the only downside i can see is with lsvtec and turbo your gonna have 2 oil lines coming from one tap (oil sending unit on the back). but if you do it right it’ll run like oem. remember…. always have it tuned
I am running a B18 LS bottom end from JG Engine Dynamics thats bored to 84mm, has been sleeved, and has a 23 tooth water pump from a GSR ($2,800 for the short block) a built B16 head with Skunk2 valvetrain, cams, and cam gears, the bowls have all been matched for volume ($2,000) Skunk2 intake manifold, and throttle body, AEM fuel rail, AEM fuel filter, AEM fuel pressure regulator, RC 1000cc injectors, driveshaft shop 1000hp axles, ACT clutch and flywheel, Cusco LSD, AEM EMS, Greddy Profec E-01 boost controller, and turbo timer, Cometic head gasket, ARP studs for the head, and manifolds, Golden Eagle dowel rods for the head, and a nice stage 3 turbo kit from Full-Race. My car has a full interior, A/C, power steering, a full stereo system, and street tires. It ran a best time of 9.87 @ 148 mph in the 1/4 mile. This was on 25 PSI of boost and 93 Octane gas. It is driven daily on 15 PSI and puts down 402 HP at the wheels, and on 25 PSI it puts out around 700 HP. Yes it is a DAILY DRIVER. It was built correctly and professionally, no corners were cut. Like the water pump the LS has a 19 tooth one and the GSR has a 23 tooth one. For a all motor setup the 19 tooth one is fine, but once you get to higher RPM’s it can’t keep up with the needs of water and actually can create bubbles in the coolant flow and destroy a block. The 23 tooth one eliminates this because it turns faster and although it keeps your engine a little cooler than normal at “normal” driving it will save it when “having fun” little stuff like this is usually what people overlook when building purpose built engines. Definatly do some research before considering it, and if turboing it you will have to do a little more work than going naturally aspirated with a LS/VTEC.
if you get a turbo on a LS its really good but you will need a LS transmission because of the high ratio of the tranny. you will have a longer boost time. meaning more power
The guy above me was sort of on the right track. The whole not good for turbo is false. If you BUILD IT RIGHT and don’t cut corners like many do. It will be as realiable as any other motor. But if you were going to put a turbo on it later down the road. Then the lsvtec is a waste of time. When you could just port and polish the ls head turbo cams and upgraded valvetrain and you’ll be good. But if you do the frank motor make sure it’s done right with the right parts and not half assed because he won’t last long. Look at lsvtec kits that companies sell the kit and go from there.