I recently had a '92 RS which ran superbly but it received an unfortunate rear-endment. With the insurance money I opted for a '97 GS which is nicer overall, but feels sluggish compared to my old one. Here's the specifics... low end torque seems unaffected, not that Hondas really have much anyway but at least it feels no different than the old car. I know the B18A1 and B18B1 aren't all that different, however, mid-range and high-end power seem flat somehow. At higher rpm, pushing the pedal to the floor makes more noise than pushing the pedal 3/4 of the way down, but doesn't add any more acceleration. You know when you're out of the powerband (like say, 2500rpm) and shoving the gas down doesn't really do anything different? It feels like that. I looked at the air filter to see if it was all gross and dirty since that would restrict airflow quite a bit, especially at high rpm, but it's still fairly white. The PCV valve moves freely, I changed the thermostat so the engine can be happy and up to temperature, changed the oil using some good semi-synthetic, and running regular gas or Ultra 94 feel identical. My next steps are to have a peek at the plugs/wires/distributor and maybe fuel filter and compression test. Beyond that I have no idea what else could cause it, and the check engine light isn't on so I can't scan for codes.

This familiar to anyone else? It's not that the motor doesn't pull at all, but I'm pretty sure no Teggy should be shitty at passing old busted Corollas, that's just wrong.

Anyone have any other ideas!?!

 

Im gona take a shot at exhaust leak, i had a very small one when i got my magnaflow done, they fixed it and HUGE difference..
you have a hard time passing corollas? :S
i pull modded GTPs on the expressway
Are you auto or standard?

 

Unfortunately, thats completely normal. I'm not saying there is nothing wrong with your car, however a base LS, especially automatic is pretty gutless.

Adding any kind of decent power is also a very expensive proposition. One thing that I have not heard too much about, or even if its possible, is doing a ecu re-tune on a base integra. Advancing timing and leaning out the fuel will take away some of the flatness in the powerband.

Maybe some Honda experts could chime in?

 

How does the throttle body cable look.

And yea, im gonna have to agree with the automatic being gutless. Move it down a gear if you want some quicker reponse. For me at least, I drove around in D3 pretty much everywhere, on the highway i used D4. if you want that extra kick , shift it down. But thats really all you can do. but yea, the autos are pretty weak in general, If im not mistaken, a stock auto Integra on a dyno goes to like 98-105 WHP. So yea, its pretty weak

 

Haha I'm not sure how this was assumed, but just to be clear, it's not an auto! But yeah it does have a very tiny exhaust leak like you said, 1goodyr, which I will address. Throttle cable is a good idea though to check though too. I've been researching a few things and the oddest little tip I came across, although it does make sense, is to pull the plugs and tighten in such a way that all the open (sparking) sides point towards the intake ports to make more consistent combustion. In theory I see how this would help. My only concern is if this still allows them to be properly torqued. Has anyone ever done that?

 

The orientation of the sparkplugs in the engine makes no difference.

Check the wires, cap/rotor, coil, spark plugs, fuel filter, tps, iac valve, pcv and see if they need replacing. Also you could have a plugged cat.

Is it throwing a CEL? A slow O2 sensor could be a contributing factor...

 

As Mike said, the spark plugs facing certain direction does not affect anything. In theory it may, and physically it could possibly, but the change would be so minor that it would be impossible to notice. So before you go out and start twisting the hell out of the plug, think about the consequences that this result in if the plug brakes off next time you are taking them out.

A tune up and timing would probably do the trick, but its just an LS, don't expect a race car.