First post

Has anyone heard that the RDX engine has Fiber Reinforced Matrix cylinder liners? I looked up the specs on this engine on the Mahle Engine Chart, and found that it shows the RDX engine to have FRM cylinder walls like the Honda S2000. They're not Cast Iron cylinder walls like all other Honda & Acrua engines!

Link

 

interesting

 

what is the purpose of this? what is the advantage/disadvantage for something like this?

 

Strength and durability... a turbocharged VTEC engine is a highly stressed motor...

 

The beauty of forced induction...

It means that you can boost that sucker up to 20 PSI and the pistons won't crack.

BTW 20 PSI should be good for 330-340 whp.

William

 

i would like to see someone boost that much and get that kind of power gains.

 

The Honda S2000 has had FRM lined cylinders since it was introduced 7 years ago. IIRC, FRM inserts are placed in the mold, and the engine block is cast over the inserts. These inserts are porous, allowing the inserts to bind well to the engine block. The cylinders are then bored out to final dimensions.

FRM is a ceramic material similar to the insulators used on spark plugs. It is a very hard, wear resistant material with a high heat transfer coeficient. This makes it ideal for use on cylinder walls.

The 2000-2003 S2000 has a 9000 RPM redline, the highest redline of any piston-driven production engine ever produced. Over the years, hundreds of owners have installed aftermarket turbos. Some of these engines have clocked over 100,000 miles, and these cylinders have proven to be very reliable.

Why FRM? Well besides reliability, excellent wear resistance and good heat transfer, they are lightweight can be produced in a compact configuration. That means that they can cram a lot of engine displacement in a very lightweight and small package. Along with a Turbocharger, this allows the RDX to get very high horsepower in an extremely small and lightweight package, resulting in good fuel economy, excellent weight distribution and great handling.

 

meh....not so much.

Mike

 

well it is a 4 cylinder in charge of moving almost a 4,000lb vehicle, you couldnt have expected excellent mileage in the first place. Even if you were in the market for this type of vehicle, other similar vehicles get similar if not worse mileage.

 

This needs more qualification - lots of motorcycles have "piston-driven production engines" with redlines north of 10K. But, their pistons and engine displacement are a bit smaller.

 

sign me up for that extra boost. 330hp in this car would just take a Great car and make it Amazing.

 

You're right. I meant piston-driven production automobile engine. Many motorcycles have higher RPM engines, and the Mazda RX-8 also has a 9000 rpm redline, however that's a rotary engine.

Fuel economy is relative. The RDX is hardly an economy car, but compared to All Wheel Drive vehicles of comparable horsepower and size, it's not too bad. Any car driven aggressively will get poor fuel economy.

 

My Vibe has an 8300 rpm redline

 

The Mahle engine chart does indeed show FRM cylinder liners, but it doesn't appear to be true.

All Honda K series engines normally have cast-in iron liners, and hondanews.com
states clearly that the K-23A1 does as well:

Does anyone know where Mahle got their information?

 

Either the S600 or S800 rev'd to 10,000. Technically it was a car, but in reality it was a motorcycle engine.

The MDX employs a composite cylinder as well. Not sure if it's FRM, but it's not cast iron.

 

^^^
Alright I did my research, from the Acura Media News Room.....
The MDX's lightweight, heat-treated die-cast aluminum-alloy block has unique cast-in-place aluminum cylinder liners. These high-silicon sleeves dissipate heat better than iron liners. The aluminum sleeves also allow a closer piston-to-cylinder clearance for quieter operating noise. A mechanical etching process during manufacturing exposes silicone particles embedded in the aluminum sleeves, which provide a hard piston-ring sealing surface. The block also incorporates a deep-skirt design for rigid crankshaft support and minimized noise and vibration.

 

WTF?

Cylinder wall lining has all of nothing to do with pistons cracking and 20 psi would likely require an aftermarket turbo to pull off. You won't be making within 100WH of those numbers you posted on the stock turbo.

 

As far as I know, the last Prelude, 3.2 NSXs and the S2000 are the only cars with FRM from Honda.

 

I own the last year prelude and no its not FRM.

 

Sure it is. www.hondanews.com