Modding uprating the Honda K24 engine!

Modifying and improving: "K24 Modifications"

How to modify and upgrade the Honda K24

"Comprehensive guide to tuning and performance parts on the Honda K24 engine!"

If you're contemplating extracting additional power, torque, and perhaps a touch of VTEC excitement, you've arrived at the right destination. This article is your portal to elevating the capabilities of your K24, an engine that has powered various Honda models, including the Civic, Accord, and CR-V.

Now, let's delve into the specifics because, let's face it, that's where the magic happens. The Honda K24, born for performance and efficiency, is not just an engine; it's a testament to Honda's commitment to dynamic driving. With its reputation for reliability and the added thrill of VTEC technology, the K24 isn't just about commuting; it's about an exhilarating and well-balanced driving experience.

But why stop there? If you're itching to make your K24-powered ride even more thrilling, stay tuned. In the paragraphs to come, we'll be your guide through the landscape of modifications and upgrades, aiming to make your Honda not just a reliable daily driver but a dynamic performer without causing a dent in your wallet.

This isn't a solo adventure – I want to hear about your K24 project! Use the comments below to share your experiences, ask questions, and let's build a vibrant community of enthusiasts sharing insights and assisting each other.

Get ready because the next part of our journey is about detailing the best mods and upgrades for your Honda K24, ensuring you not only save time but also experience the joy of driving a finely-tuned VTEC-powered machine.

Our friends at TorqueCars often are getting posts requesting info on how to improve the K24 from people inquiring about getting more power from the K24 and wanting to know what are the best tips on K24 power upgrades. So let us look into Honda K24 mods and outline the best upgrades on this great engine and point out some frequent tuning mistakes along the way.

Now we shall examine the options for your K24 tuning and show the premier modifications for your car. Honda K24 really good project engines and with the right modified enhancements like ECU maps, turbo kits and camshafts you will substantially improve your driving opportunities.

Just because particular parts are popular with K24 owners it doesn't mean you should fit it, so we'll focus on the optimum parts that will give your K24 the best power gain for you spend.

Without us subscribing to the mentality of 'if it's shiny and makes more noise it must be good' you seem to get in many tuning magazines and on car forums'.

K24 induction kits

Improving air intake on the K24

You need air and fuel for an engine to work. If there is little supply of fuel then it will run lean, if there is too little air it runs rich resulting in lost power . We'll pick up on fuelling later in this article but for now we shall look at air supply.

So Feeding more fuel and air into your K24 is the main goal to any performance tuning job.

It is common that there's a limitation in the air flow sensor (AFM/MAF/MAP) on the K24 when a lot more air is being fed into the engine.

We see 4 bar air sensors coping with quite large power gains, whereas the OEM air sensor limited torque at a much lower level.

Headers transmit the air from the air cleaner and allow it to be pulled into the engine cylinders with fuel for the squish phase.

Shape and flow rate of the Intake headers can make a big change to fuel mixing and power on the K24.

Most intake headers are in desperate need of aftermarket parts, although some OEM provide fairly well optimized intake headers.

Adding a K24 larger valve kit, doing a bit of port work and head flowing will also improve torque, & importantly will afford you increasing the torque increase on other upgrades.

K24 performance cam tips.

Some K24 engines respond better to more or less aggressive cam durations so view each engine as unique.

The map and injectors and fuel pump also will say much on the power gains you'll make.

A longer valve duration can alter the power band and on most engines the exhaust and intake durations do not need to match, although most cams and tuners use matched pairs there are some advantages to extending the intake or exhaust durations.

Significant air intake, and exhaust improvements on the K24 can be made from camshaft upgrades. Changing the camshaft profile alters the intake and exhaust durations on the engine and can dramatically change the bhp and power output.

NB: Fast road camshafts normally increase the bhp and torque over the rpm range, you might lose a little low end torque but higher rpm power will improve.

Motorsport camshafts, increase the higher rpm power band but as a result the car will not idle smoothly and low end power nearly always suffers.

A Competition camshaft is not great on the daily commute.

You should ideally optimize your engines power to your usage of the car so for a road car stick with a shorter duration K24 camshaft

Stage 1, 2 and 3 mods for the K24

Before we break the best tuning upgrades down into stages of tune, let's list the most effective tuning upgrades for you.

  1. Suspension Upgrades - always improve your cars handling
  2. Brake Upgrades - Even before adding power improve those brakes
  3. Intake - make sure the intake is not restricted, use filters and intake upgrades to improve this
  4. Exhaust - as with 3 ensure there is not restriction in the exhaust, cats are the usual bottleneck
  5. Tunes - remapping, piggyback ECU's and aftermarket ECU's can all make decent gains
  6. Fuelling - when you've increased power you'll need to match this with more fuel
  7. Turbo upgrades - Improving the intake with a large turbo and better flowing intercooler will be the biggest power gain you'll see (but one of the most complex).
Tuning tips and articles Engine tuning Transmission tuning Care care Intake & exhaust mods Improve handling Forums

This video guide to tuning cars is a great starting point to work from in your project.

Stage 1 K24 parts:

Intake headers, Fast road camshaft, Remaps/piggy back ECU, Sports exhaust manifold, Panel air filters, Drilled & smoothed airbox.

Stage 2 K24 parts:

fuel pump upgrades, Sports catalyst & performance exhaust, Ported and polished head, induction kit, high flow fuel injectors, Fast road cam.

Stage 3 K24 parts:

Twin charging conversions, Competition cam, Engine balancing & blueprinting, Internal engine upgrades (head flowing porting/bigger valves), Crank and Piston upgrades to alter compression, Adding or Upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger).

The K24 engine blocks respond well to mods and thankfully there is an increase of parts and tuning parts about.

ECU mapping should help to release the full potential of all the modifications you've done to your K24.

You will typically expect to see gains of approximately 20-30% more power on turbocharged vehicles and you can expect to see around 15% on NASP engines, but power output usually differs on the modifications you've done and the condition of your engine.

Turbo modifications on the K24

To get a turbo working on a NASP engine there is a lot involved, from lowering compression ratio to improved fuel supply and mapping, so we have found a great guide to helpavoid the common pitfalls or end up with an unfinished project because you were not told what you were getting into by doing this on the K24.

The more air you can get into an engine, the more fuel it can burn and uprating the induction with a turbocharger upgrade makes major power gains.

If your motor is turbo charged parts are more reliable and most turbocharged engines are made with stronger components.

There are practical limits for every engine, with some being over specified and some just sufficiently able to handle stock power

Research these limits and upgrade to forged components to handle the power.

There are many guys spending a lots of money on turbo charger upgrades on the K24 only to experience the K24 catastrophically fail soon after it's used on the roads.

Large upgraded turbo units will usually suffer no power at low rpm, and low capacity turbo units spool up really quickly but do not have the high rpm bhp gains.

Thanks to progress the selection of turbochargers is always developing and we are seeing variable vane turbochargers, allowing the vane profile is altered according to speed to lower lag and increase top end power.

Twin scroll turbochargers divert the exhaust flow into two channels and feed these at differently designed vanes in the turbocharger. They also help the scavenging effect of the engine.

Beefing up the air intake by adding a supercharger or additional turbo will help you achieve very large performance gains, although more difficult to setup. We have this feature on twinchargers if you want to read more.

Tips about fuel supply on the K24

You will need to ensure that the engine is not starved of fuel so should ramp up the fuelling when you start extending past 20% of a bhp hike. Don't forget to be generous with your injectors flow rate.

The rule of thumb is to add 15% to the flow rate when specifying an injector, which takes into account injector deterioration and affords a bit of spare capacity should the engine need more fuel.

Don't forget that different fuel grades will usually require different settings, a high octane fuel will burn more efficiently than lower octane fuel for example. A car will trim fuel supply to keep within the ideal air fuel mix but at the extreme ends you may need to adjust your injector capacity, or the mapping or you'll get flat spots and potential lean or rich fuel issues..

Recommended K24 performance exhaust upgrades

Only look to boost your exhaust system with an upgraded one is if your exhaust is actually causing a restriction in flow.

On most factory exhausts you'll find the flow rate is ok even on modest power gains, but on a serious tuning project with a big boost in power you will certainly need to get a better flowing exhaust.

Don't go with the largest exhaust you can find this will slow up the exhaust flow rate - the best exhausts for power gains are usually between one and a half to two and half inches. Your exhaust design, the bend angles and construction are what have more effect on flow rates than your pipe width to a certain extent. So the exhaust design is a big factor.

The usual suspects causing problems in your exhaust flow rate can be traced to the filters installed, so adding a freer flowing high performance alternative will help avoid this restriction.

Catalyst removal (NB:catalysts reduce harmful engine emissions) is illegal in most countries and regions.

Faults issues and things to look out for on the K24

Like most engines an K24, should have few issues if it gets properly serviced and looked after.

We cannot stress enough the need for oil changes with the correct grade of oil on the K24, failure to do this will exacerbate engine wear, on a tuned K24 this is more important than ever and close attention should be paid to your maintenance schedule.

If you are interested in learning more or getting impartial tuning advice for your K24 why not pop over to the forums at TorqueCars where you can chat about K24 tuning options and read about others projects who may be planning to do similar modifications on their K24.

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