Power Pages - 1992 Honda Civic Hatchback

• Owner: Philip Chase
• Dynamometer Model: Superflow Dynamometer
• Text And Photos: Staff
• Hondata Tuning: Dr. Charles

Pros
The venerable 1.8-liter, B18C engine has been a longtime favorite among the Honda and Acura camp since the last decade. Among the slew of Honda owners that have shoehorned the twin cam powerplant in their engine bay is Philip Chase of Torrance, Calif. Chase's EG hatchback was the perfect candidate for testing some of the newest B-series products to hit the market as he planned to debut his Civic road race machine in the Honda Challenge H1 class next season. Trailered to the dyno facility, the Civic was outfitted with a GSR block, CTR pistons, GSR rods, GSR crank (balanced and blueprinted by Zero Factory), B16A head with a competition port by Alaniz (milled 20 thousandths), stock head gasket, Super Tech racing valves, Skunk2 Stage 2 cams, Hondata S200, RC 550 injectors, ported Type-R intake manifold and an Erick's Racing 4 to1 tubular "bottom exit' header.

Cons
Before we began our experimental testing phase, it was noted that the Civic was producing a respectable 190 wheel hp on the rollers. On paper, the horsepower numbers might sound impressive, but we noticed a flaw in the B18's engine combination when performing some shakedown runs at a local race track. Combining the engine's profile and older Skunk2 camshaft, the low cam to high cam lobe VTEC crossover point was opening up at 6900 rpm for maximum horsepower gains. What's the big deal you ask? For those who are familiar with tracks such as The Streets of Willow in Rosamond, Calif., you will quickly realize the secondary lobes wont benefit on a short, technical course like Willow until near the ends of the front straights. In all fairness, the VTEC was a waste for the car.

Notes
NASA rulebooks for the Honda Challenge H1 class specify the use of factory OEM pistons or exact equivalents, while a piggyback ECU or reprogramming of the factory ECU is legal. Using a ported cylinder head alongside an aftermarket valvetrain and camshafts fall under the permitted category. In further reviewing the rules, we found the Erick's Racing 70mm throttle body found on Chase's EG was not within H1 regulations and it would need to be removed upon the vehicle's track debut.