who here has ZC? are you happy with it?

[mytoycivic]

just what the title says. some may know that i am looking for an engine conversion. i have recently been researching OZHONDA for threads on both ZC and B16A engines. i was just wondering. who has a ZC conversion? and are you happy with the swap or do you wish you had gone for something with a bit more power like a B16A???
:P :wink:

[egSi]

yo man, i have an Si with a zc dohc.

even tho i didnt swap it in, they kick arse man. i got mine and it is pretty much stock and i wouldnt swap it for anything...

they are real cheap and easy to get and if you want parts for them contact the cool lads at Underground Imports :wink:

[BlacKEGPedroew]

i was considering a conversion to ZC, but i figured no matter what you do to it it wont be vtec. so save the extra pennies and do it right the first time if you know what i mean, go b16a or else you will regret not doing it.

[geo41e]

ZC vs D16a8 aus model..are there any power diff?? torq diff ??
ecu ? ?? ?WR@?%@#%?

[mytoycivic]

...and if you want parts for them contact the cool lads at Underground Imports :wink:

bit of advertising there huh??? naughty naughty.

BlacKEGPedroew in reply to your response, i know that VTEC b16 would be awesome, but seriously how much am i really going to need that muh power??? how much difference is it going to make to my everyday life? anyway i just want a conversion to a smoother engine with a little more power but i dont necessarily want to have the fastest 4th gen on the planet.
where in SYD would i be able to access one of these???

[mytoycivic]

ZC vs D16a8 aus model..are there any power diff?? torq diff ??
ecu ? ?? ?WR@?%@#%?

yeh there is quite a bit of power difference, due to the advantage of the variable valve timing of VTEC and the B16a in a light car like 4th gen civic goes like a rocket, believe me i know someone who has one and its awesome, but he also has a lot of problems with control arms and suspension because it is almost too much power for the car to cope...ZC has about 132BHP and B16A has around 160BHP, but have you ever ridden a 2 stroke motorbike? experienced powerband? thats what VTEC feels like, lower revs is not much glory, but when the 'powerband' kicks in it goes harder than any V8...!!! :wink:

[bennjamin]

ZC vs D16a8 aus model..are there any power diff?? torq diff ??
ecu ? ?? ?WR@?%@#%?

im...positive this has been covered before.

ZC = japanese variant of 1.6 engine , found as a blacktop DOHC with 130ps - geared and ofcourse limited to 180 - comes with optional LSD etc blah blah. ALSO comes in a SOHC variant...not so sure about that one....

Ozzie spec is the d16a8 - *about* 130HP....geared to alittle above 190 ( completley stock - i have found this out) -umm...DOHC blah blah.
Good lil engine. pokey . But ultimatley in an age of " veetech" - no chance usually against newer engines. In my hands i have won against a few b16a powered cars etc - but its really the driver because on paper , 130hp is never really going to beat 160hp.

btw....vtec is actually the most grossly over-estimated term and or engine ever.

BACK ON TOPIC

*for the money...a "d16a8" is a far better bet.
But , since our dinosaur engines are rather old and tired - its prob best to search for a b16a halfcut etc.

[mytoycivic]

so whats your verdict? B16a or ZC? because i am going to do a conversion. to what is undecided i know that VTEC will win and all that but is it really worth all that extra to do if i am just looking for a smoother ride???

[SIKCVC]

the B16a's gear box is a pain in the arse for a smoother ride, I just swapped my ZC and its still sitting here if you decide to go for one. (yes is the actual JDM ZC not the d16a8, although its limited to 156km/h but is only hovering around 4300rpm mark so unlimited should do 210ish)

Its a good little engine and pulls pretty damn hard through to 5500RPM starts to drop off around there. I've dragged other D16a8's with the B16a and most will stick with me till just before VTEC and thats where I pull away. But thats more to do with the gearing being a lot tighter.

In short... if you want something thats more cruisy, good km/fuel nice at high speed not too whiny pulls relativly hard then the ZC... if your after a performance engine the B16a. But You have to like a high reving engine, if you dont its not worth it because if you really want a lot of pull it has to be reving hard.

[SiR JDM]

What he said :P

SIKCVC is right, ive driven the auspec non vtec DOHC d16a (which i assume isn't *too* much differnt from the ZC) and its a nice smooth car to cruise with. If your just after a nice city car to get from a - b with a little bit of low to mid range power, go for the ZC

I currently drive a b16a EG as well and its tru, low RPM it just feels like a d16a, but after 5500 it pulls and screams.. Stock exhuast, stock muffler and breeze stickers, i get alot of *wTf* looks when i overtake someone, just from the sheer noise of the top end VTEC ...n the tek, although not turbo, it does drink the petrol a bit more than normal... if u get the ZC the tempation wont be there so definatly have better fuel efficiency =)

[egSi]

the zc is not a 'cruising' engine.

for **** sake, its 30hp less power......

zc are cool, cheap as **** and plentiful! 3 things the b16 isnt at the moment.

mytoy id suggest you got for a cruise with bennjamin or someone that has a zc and likes it, there are heaps of them around in civics and crx's but *most* people dont know shit from clay :roll:

if u get a ZC and your not happy with it, get an intake, tb and some dyno time then you will be happy :P
they dont even make b16's anymore they still make D's :shock:

[bennjamin]

mytoy id suggest you got for a cruise with bennjamin or someone that has a zc and likes it, there are heaps of them around in civics and crx's but *most* people dont know shit from clay :roll:

if u get a ZC and your not happy with it, get an intake, tb and some dyno time then you will be happy :P
they dont even make b16's anymore they still make D's :shock:

...settle down there youbng Trav :)

Yes...come over to my place and you will see Bennys performance in all its action-glory (tee hee hee) ...I love teh d16a8 - the main reason is that in 2002 , i fell in love with a little silver stock Si.....which brought myself quickly to the realisation that " vee-tech" is NO The shizzle that everyone makes it out to be.of previous i had lived in my home - surrounded by indo+HK students with hi-po vtec powered cars- and was not so impressed...(it also got written off almost 1 year to the day by a stupid mother in a nimubs GRRRrr)

It IS a great lil engine...but ffs the last variant was made in a special edition in 95' in a JDM EG5 * correct me * so our engines are essentially a dying breed. THATS what I love about it - being of something unique , "old skool" yet not-too-shabby at the same time :)

...what am i saying...im just an old foegie and i love being different/better than everyone else bwhahahaha.

[mytoycivic]

yeh i mean thanks for all your great input. sikcvc you have pm. same with benjamin.
i love the sound of vtec but i dont want to be taking my car to my mech every two weeks because i snapped the control arm or ****ed the wheel bearings or something

[EG5]

zc /d16a8 with mugen 10/40 cams , mugen valve spring , ported polished head , mugen head gasket ( stock bottom end) will get 160 hp ish with alot of torque.

stock b16a : 160-170hp

thats the difference ;)

[VTEChnique]

well for best of BOTH worlds.. get a D16Y1 SOHC VTEC.. same power output, but it actually HAS a top-end.. GREAT motor for boost !!

gee mine is for sale too hahaha..

[z3lda]

the difference between zc and d16a isnt that much, i've raced a zc rex with my d16a rex a few times and the outcomes are so close. the zc wont pull away from the d16 that much.

[dave_ed9]

the difference between zc and d16a isnt that much, i've raced a zc rex with my d16a rex a few times and the outcomes are so close. the zc wont pull away from the d16 that much.

true.. my crx had a d16a and my brothers has a zc, not much difference at all to drive.

mytoycivic: what engine is in your civic at the moment? d15?

[egSi]

benno!

certify man!
exactly what i was thinkin, slightly old school except still weird in a way.

man im cruisin down to sydney to go cruising with you?

you up for it? :shock:

and mytoycivic you got some old school cool so id recommend keepin it that way AND just wait and see what a couple of fellow OH tuners are gonna be doin with their zc's( read: me, ben, yonus, mick :wink: )

[mytoycivic]

mytoycivic: what engine is in your civic at the moment? d15?

yeh D15. its a battler i will give it that. i really love it but it is getting to about 231,000 kms so i know that if i want to keep the car (and i do because i love the shape and old-school style) then i will either need to rebuild my D15 or go 4 ZC or D16...the choice is there!!!

oh and meh to SOHC VTEC. if i get VTEC it will be DOHC

[mytoycivic]

and mytoycivic you got some old school cool so id recommend keepin it that way AND just wait and see what a couple of fellow OH tuners are gonna be doin with their zc's( read: me, ben, yonus, mick :wink: )

when you come to syd let me know cos i would love to have a look-see. i know that my d15 is still a humble grumble machine but i would still love to see some of these ZC people some time in the future, so let me know!!! yeh!!! :):):) :lol:

[SIKCVC]

I wouldn't bother with a SOHC VTEC they get owned my DOHC non vtec's daily :S not enough pull down low. although the VTi does have a lot more added features which could be one of the main attributing factors to VTi losses. No offence guys.

The ZC is deffinatly a more cruiser engine, I've had the two and fairly recently, I mean I did drive with a ZC for a good 2 years.

Also Just so I can clear this up because its rather anoying... who here ACTUALLY has ZC stamped on their block? True JDM ZC's are few and far between.

[bennjamin]

Also Just so I can clear this up because its rather anoying... who here ACTUALLY has ZC stamped on their block? True JDM ZC's are few and far between.

....ZC is a term used far too frequently nowdays....for real - hardly anyone here actually has a ZC - but due to laziness myself for one - refer to my engine as a "ZC" ....because saying " d16a8" every 3 seconds gets tiring lol.

BTW....d16y8's are sloooooow ( vti's)

[mytoycivic]

scrap that last post hahahha i already know!!!

[z3lda]

d16y8 arent that bad. drove my brothers 98 vti coupe with an airfilter onli, no exhuast, not even a fart cannon and it killed a gen 3 prelude twice (at 2 different sets of lights) . prelue had a fart cannon and probly filter couldnt tell

[Mr. Focus]

D16a8 all the way!!!!! (nice plug there trav!) Just read thru some old hot fours. all the boosted crx's have d16a8's/zc's in em. they're a great engine. heaps of fun. and if you get the right intake and exhuast it sounds vtec when you hammer it!

[Mr. Focus]

which reminds me. a young lady bought a genII Si thinking it was VTEC until she popped the bonnet and trav n i uncovered a genuine ZC living in there. she was not a happy girl!!!

[bizee_1]

i love the sound of vtec but i dont want to be taking my car to my mech every two weeks because i snapped the control arm or ****ed the wheel bearings or something

mytoycivic, my ED6 has had a B16A conversion. there were a few initial problems at the start. dizzy/relay, but everything has been sorted since.
Runs silky now.

I agree the B16A is not all that. It's just another 1.6 twin cam really. (although an efficient one at that) My first car was a DA1 with the D16A8. After having tried the B16A, i would have to go a minimum 1.8l in the next car. (i prefer more torque)

to me it's a little like comparing the FJ20ET & SR20DET ??

i miss the d15b. actually i miss a good ol' carby !

find out what you want, ask yourself why, then ask yourself why you don't want the 'other' option.

[mytoycivic]

yeh i love my carby too it is a great little engine, but it also has 231,000kms on it and it is starting to get to the point where it will need some serious work so i am just looking at my options, but i think for what i want, the D16a8 is the perfect option for me...thanks to everyone for all ur great input...
really appreciate it
mytoy

[MR-VTEC]

yeh i love my carby too it is a great little engine, but it also has 231,000kms on it and it is starting to get to the point where it will need some serious work so i am just looking at my options, but i think for what i want, the D16a8 is the perfect option for me...thanks to everyone for all ur great input...
really appreciate it
mytoy

well i have to say i had a 95 eg civic (sohc vtec) and i just recently bought a gen 3 crx (b16a). and yeah it's not the greatest difference everyone go's on about but it still is a bit of a difference when you actually drive the car. just ask good old mick (mr focus) how his gen 2 crx ( a fair bit lighter car aswell) gets beaten by an anonamous stock gen 3 b16a equipped crx. :P .

anyway yeah you also say your car has 231 000kms on the clock and your worried about serious work having to be done. the zc is starting to get pretty old and you might be hard pressed tring to find a low kilometre one :( . but on the other hand you could, but its just sumthin to think about. also unless your absolutely sure about everything on the new engine you still may be up for some costly repairs depending on whats wrong or what could go wrong. so im gonna take a completely different route and recommend you save your money and just get the newer civic like an eg si already equipped with the engine you want.

but on the subject of engine choice id go the b16a just ask mick. :wink: :D :D :D

[mytoycivic]

well i did manage to find a D16a8 (93) with 140k on it. sounds pretty good to me.

[z3lda]

there was this guy selling a d16a8 with 180k on it out of an eg si sedan for 400bux. had everything to do a converison. mounts, gearbox,loom wiring ecu. saw the engine when it was in the engine and itwas clean as.

[mytoycivic]

yeh but the one i "found" is the same, only has 140k on it, is costing me 600 but is a good buy... i dont think i need mounts because my car came with this engine in japan anyway...so...
i have already put a deposit on it anywho

[Mr. Focus]

ha ha ha richo! yeah, i got owned but my gen II (d16a8) is stock too. i still even have the gay-ass stock exhaust!!! heaths (silver gen II) beats mine! not kcufing happy

[egSi]

oi ricky-hardon you sure you owned mick? id say you beat him,
owning is another thing.

and mytoy,

nice signature :D

[mytoycivic]

yeh cheers egSi and thanks to everyone for all your gr8 input...it has been really helpful and helped me make up my mind! D16A8 AWAY!

[MR-VTEC]

oi ricky-hardon you sure you owned mick? id say you beat him,
owning is another thing.

and mytoy,

nice signature :D

lol. never said it was me. :D just some anonamous gen 3.hehe ;) :D

[SINISTR]

yeh cheers egSi and thanks to everyone for all your gr8 input...it has been really helpful and helped me make up my mind! D16A8 AWAY!

Hey there...

I have a 91 CRX with a D16A8 in the car, i have an intake and Extractor/exhaust package installed and im very happy with it. Even though the D16a8s are only 130hp they are a very potent engine, and once they hit over 2000rpm they pull very strongly. I've suprised some V8s and XR6s before.

If you decide to recon the D16A8 - i spoke to a Tuner here - Im sure there is one where you are. He used to build race engines for Hondas and builds rally cars - so lots of experience there. He suggested to re-bore the block, shave the block and pistons, put a set of cams with cam gears, and an ECU and you have a car that will very easily make 140hp+ at the wheels. Thats probably Less $$$ than a B16A swap would cost you, with Greater bottom end torque and also very nice top end. I think an engine like that would easily allow you to beat B16As.

Im thinking about this type of modification - would make a nice 14s pass as well :)

Mike