Bitium

Jackson Racing has develop a VTEC controller were you can engage VTEC from 2500 rpm to 6000 rpm. NICE !!! :wow:

From their site:

Jackson Racing VTEC Performance Amplifier Controller

Take control of your VTEC actuation with our Jackson Racing VPAC. Our unique amplifier comes with an adjustable dial that allows VTEC engagement from 2500 rpm to 6000 rpm. Jackson Racing has developed the VPAC to allow the consumer to control when the VTEC system is activated for different racing applications. The VPAC uses signals from all of the important VTEC supply inputs and amplifies these signals to change the engagement point of the VTEC system. This means no guessing on how much extra fuel you will need. Our controller accesses the VTEC fuel map on the ECU for continued proper fuel delivery once VTEC is engaged. Factory safety features such as proper engine temperature and oil pressure are retained to ensure maximum safety. For maximum performance on forced induction cars we recommend installing our Jackson Racing Boost Timing Controller. Our VPAC compliments our BTC to put full timing back into the car when VTEC is actuated. The VPAC sports a Jackson Racing logo that lights up in red when the car is started and a VPAC logo that lights up blue when the VTEC engagement point you have set is reached.

This product is not avaliable for our TL's. But let's e-mail them and show them we are interested. I'm sure they could adapted pretty easy to work on our cars.

jacksonracing@mossmotors.com

Here is a picture:

Bitium

This was done on a prelude:

It shows the diference when VTEC is engage at 3k RPMs intead of 4.9 RPM's.

bigman

That is nuts, but nwouldnt having v tec kick in early cause some damage to the engine. I could understand having it kick in at like 3500 rpms, but 2500 seems rather low for v tec to kick in. Seems cool as hell though.

Bitium

The option is there, is up to you to do it.

edgalang

So how is this any different from the Apexi V-TEC AFC other than it looks butt ugly in comparison? I was under the impression that the Apexi does the same thing. If it'll be priced much lower and installtion was 10x easier than I wouldnt mind.

Bitium

I thought the apexi did the same thing, but wasn't sure. It is a cheaper, but apexi looks way better. Maybe Nate or someone else that owns the apexi could tell us if it is the same.

This is what I found on the apexi VTEC AFC:

A'PEX introduces the first digital fuel computer that combines fuel computer functions with a VTEC engagement controller. The V-AFC features a user-definable, eight-point, adjustable fuel curve that can be set in 500 RPM increments. The range of fuel adjustment is +/- 50% at each of the user-defined setting points. The Fuel Adjustment function considers wide/narrow throttle and low/high camshaft settings, from which four different fuel maps are created (wide-low, wide-high, narrow-low, narrow-high). The integrated VTEC Controller adjusts the point at which the engine switches from the Lo to Hi cam during acceleration, as well as when the engine switches from the Hi to Lo cam during deceleration.

It doesn't say it changes the VTEC engament.

I also found this:

The latest addition to the A'PEX digital revolution line up is the V-TEC AFC. Since Honda V-TEC engines are already well tuned from the factory, extracting more power requires precise fuel enrichment and V-TEC engagement control. A'PEX introduces the world's first Digital fuel controller that allows precise fuel enrichment and V-TEC engagement control. Fuel control is adjusted by throttle position and there are even adjustment parameters available for both low and high camshaft lobes. This is what is required to change V-TEC engagement points without damaging your engine. A common misconception of a V-TEC controller is that by changing the RPM engagement point alone will result in increased performance gains. Another misconception is that increasing fuel according to RPM will result in increased performance. In reality, when you modify the V-TEC engagement point from the factory setting, the factory ECU is still on the non V-TEC fuel map. With the V-AFC, this problem is fixed by the unmatched fuel correction function. When this function is used in addition to the camshaft lobe and throttle position sensitive fuel control, the result will be a perfectly tuned engine. To ensure good results, we suggest having the V-TEC AFC tuned by a professional tuner. Chassis: EJ8 / EM1 Engine: D16 / B16

This tell me it does the same thing or similar.

Please need input from someone that has apexi VTEC AFC.

Nate

The Apexi V-AFC can set the VTEC engagement from 3000+. Seting it below 3800 does not provide any further gains. I haven't messed with the manual fuel settings on the V-AFC though. I haven't had time to figure out what they all mean. I'm not sure if the V-AFC has automatic fuel adjustment. Ya ya, I really should go find out and play.

Bitium

Yeah go play. Thanks for the input btw.

evolaerok

Bitium, wouldn't it be bad to engage so early in the rev band? My friend @ the dealer told me that vtec controller is useless w/out NOS or any sort of boost, what do you think?

Bitium

you are in part right, I'm not an expert here, but yes it would help best wtih NOS or force induction. If it really works as they say it does it shouldn't be bad for the engine, just waste more gas. I'm waiting for the input of Radams he really knows this stuff. As far as useless, well the dyno proved some gains, so no is not useless.

evolaerok

Thanks! Hmmmm.... My next mod? Man I remember complaining about too few of mods for the TL and now I can't stop planning on buying things.....:p

Bitium

Isn't that a beautiful thing. well if you have money of course.

Nate

I'd agree with Bitium - I don't think it would be bad, just waste gas. I've set it to 3000 before, just for kicks. It should be set at 3800 though, because (what I hear is) that is when the butterfly valves open up.

There is a loss of power when the VTEC engages. The loss is 25hp less at the point of engagement when the VTEC engages at 3800 instead of the stock engagement point (which is 4300 I think?). This is the only gain you get setting the VTEC engagement lower.

Using the fuel settings you can smooth out the power band so (I assume) the power is transferred to the wheels more effeciently. This is only necessary when you have forced induction. I'm not sure how effective the AFC would be with NOS... I mean, how smooth do you expect to get this!? :wow:


(picture courtesy of NSX4DR )

Rice1304

the vtec controller is absolutely worthless without other heavy modifications. I hope everyone realizes this and I hope ricers don't get it so they can set vtec in 2500 rpm and say that they are going fast as hell. It would actually make you accelerate slower if you did not set it correctly.

Nate

Theres some talk about how effective the V-AFC is in this thread... might want to revive it and see what they think - its ovr my head.

http://www.acura-tl.com/forum/showth...threadid=25757

Nate

Yeah, but it looks damn cool. I didn't change any of the settings besides the VTEC engagement. In this case I'm assuming (and hoping!) that the AFC would use the stock settings. My gas mileage and acceleration (AFAIK) hasn't changed since installation of the AFC.

Rice1304

yeah i have to admit the vafc looks nice. but this JR box looks ugly haha.

RAdams

I've had quite a bit of experience tinkering with the VTEC engagement point using a few different units (Field SFC-VTEC, Apex'i V-AFC, etc.) on Integras and Preludes and, for the most part, find little, if any, gains. Altering fuel trim is what made power 99% of the time, and even then power gains were minimal unless the cars were pretty heavily modified (forced induction). Also, while I've never seen anyone set the fuel trim to levels that have harmed the engine (running too lean), I have seen SEVERAL occasions where the owners have played with the settings in trying to extract even more power and actually end up making the car slower & considerably less fuel efficient, etc. In order to be of peak value, these units must be dyno tuned but, again, the best gains I've seen were fairly modest.

Bottom line, IMO, is that they look cool as hell (well, not the Jackson one), but your money is usually better spent somewhere else.

Bitium

Thanks bro.

Mr.T

I heard horror storys about Jackson Racing They charge for an Hour of dyno and they only do like 15 to 30 mins worth of dyno etc....... I read it online. Some dude post up how he bought a turbo and they mess up his motor. I was considering a custom built turbo from them since it's right next to my house but I consider otherwise.

Mr.T