d16a8 or d16zc
16 Feb
In the 1990′s engine technology took leaps and bounds, and manufacturers began adding advanced engineering principles to all the cars that rolled off their showroom floors. Small-displacement, highly efficient powerplants were in vogue, with the Honda b16a1 and Toyota’s 4age powering hot hatches all over Japan and Europe. Even today these engines are sought after as inexpensive ways to produce surprising amounts of power.
The ZC was special because it was a small-displacement 4cylinder motor with aggressively tuned dual overhead camshafts. It came in the CRX and Civic in the early 90′s, and the very similar d16a8 came to the US in the Acura Integra. This stocky little beast had excellent transmission options as well with short gear ratios, long gear ratios, and limited slip differentials available.
It is also obd0, making it a simple plug-and-play swap from a previous MPFI engine, and keeping tuning simple and straightforward using PGMFI. If you have a stock CRX DX, you’ll need to convert the wiring harness to MPFI and use the ZC ecu.
The ZC is one of the more difficult Honda engines to identify, so the folks over at jdmcars put together this pdf: zc_identification for your reference. Power output is generally ~130hp with torque to match, and is a very strong candidate for boost with low-compression pistons. The combination of being inexpensive, efficient, and powerful for its size make this a perfect candidate for a daily driven CRX.
If you’re looking for more info about the ZC, read here:
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