EurôStyle

i have a question. concerning our turbos.
my 2 friends drive hondas, civic SI and integra type-r, and they brough up a good question. for their cars, when the engine is cold and the oil is not at a high amount temperture, their v-tec (valve-timing something controller) dont kick in, the engine has to warm up.
so... does our turbo have anything or something like that to keep our turbos from damage?

CharlieGSanD

the turbo has a bearing/bushing wich should be able to easily handle the increased load/wear with minimal side affects. IMO

Dr. Mike

Hiya,

VTEC on the older models (pre-02 Integra) is an interesting operation. The way the Honda/Acura brochures are written, you think there are 4 cams. At low rpm/throttle the outer cam lobes sit idle, at high rpm/throttle oil pressure in a sense pinches these two outer lobes (with higher lift/duration) with the middle lobe and voila you get a different cam profile.

The main reason this cuts out at low engine temp is for emissions. If the engine is cold and no oil is in the head the same damage will be done weather VTEC is in operation or not. However, with a cold engine/cold cat using a cam profile with plenty of overlap will increase emissions beyond what is acceptable.

I've seen dyno plots of the new RSX, and they are very interesting in this reguard. The new vehicles are ULEV compliant. This was accomplished by moving the exhaust to the rear of the motor, closer to the cat, for faster light-off of the catalyst. Also, looking at the dyno plot there is a huge spike where VTEC kicks in (10-15 hp spike). This was probably (my guess) to get the ULEV rating, as this testing MAY be done at idle to 35mph. Keeping the cam with high overlap out of play helps emissions when cold.

Now as for the 1.8T, as with all cars, they should be driven with care until fully warmed. Also, after starting it is a good idea to wait 15 seconds before taking off to make sure lube is fully circulated throughout the head.

Take care,

Michael

RaudiA7

I shift at 3000 rpm with a cold engine, around 4000 rpm after it has warmed up. got this advice from the A6 forum last spring. I believed that the turbos are also cooled by oil as well. I let the turbos "cool down" after long rides for a minute or two before turning off the engine as well.