High efficiency and good fuel economy are something that most car buyers want to consider when shopping for a vehicle. In the case of the Honda VTEC engine, American car buyers have a great choice that meets these demands.
What is a Honda VTEC engine?
VTEC stands for Variable Valve Timing and Lift Electronic Control. It’s a proprietary system developed by Honda to make a four-cylinder engine more efficient. VTEC engines get better gas mileage at low rpms and deliver better performance at high rpms.
In this article, we’ll try to explain what a VTEC engine is in layman’s terms. We’ll also explain the pros and cons of the engine, let you know which models of Honda vehicles utilize the engine type, and answer some of the most commonly asked questions about the Honda VTEC engine.
Why Honda Developed the VTEC Engine
Japan passed a Road Tax based on engine displacement in 1950 as part of its government reconstruction after World War II. They needed new ways to raise revenue and this tax was one of the ideas. Personal use vehicles are taxed heavily in Japan if the engine displacement is too large.
Displacement is the combined volume of the pistons as they move through the cylinders of an engine. For decades, the challenge for automakers in Japan has been to create engines with less displacement (meaning a lower Road Tax for Japanese car buyers), without sacrificing engine power and fuel economy.
This was a problem for engineers for decades, because an engine’s camshaft needs to run differently depending on whether a car is running at low or high rpms. A low-speed camshaft works great at low rpms, but loses efficiency and lifespan at high speeds. Likewise, high-speed camshafts don’t work as well at low rpms.
Honda’s deceptively simple solution was to use multiple camshafts for different rpms. A hydraulic system switches between those camshafts whether you’re driving at low or high speeds.
The first VTEC engine was invented by Honda in 1983. The company has never looked back since then. Reducing tax liability for Japanese car buyers was the incentive that spurred the invention of this wildly creative version of the internal combustion engine.
How a VTEC Engine Differs From Other Engines
A lot of other engine types use Variable Valve Timing (VVT) as a way to solve the dilemma of engine displacement. Forced induction is another method. The main difference between those engines and the VTEC engine, which is proprietary to Honda, is that VTEC changes the way the valve lift works and utilizes multiple camshafts in the engine.
Honda Models Using the VTEC Engine
Although it was first invented in 1983, Honda didn’t manage to implement VTEC technology in the consumer market until 1989. It was introduced in the Honda in Japan that year and in the Civic and CRX in Europe. Americans wouldn’t see the technology until the 1991 Acura NSX.
Honda has continued to tweak and improve its VTEC engine, to the point where they even offer Honda VTEC motorcycles. Other upgrades include the i-VTEC with variable timing control (2003), the i-VTEC i (2004) and the VTEC TURBO (2013). Although Honda announced it was working on an Advanced VTEC (AVTEC) engine in 2006, it still hasn’t hit the market.
You can find Honda VTEC engines in various trims of the Honda Accord, the Honda Clarity Plug-In Hybrid, and the Honda Civic Type R which uses the VTEC TURBO.
You can find Honda i-VTEC engines across various trims of the Honda Civic, CR-V, HR-V, Pilot, Odyssey, Ridgeline and Fit models.
People Also Ask
Is there a Honda VTEC truck engine?
Actually, there is one. Honda is not known for trucks, obviously, but the Ridgeline utilizes an i-VTEC engine that makes the truck comparable in terms of power, towing capacity and fuel economy to the Toyota Tacoma and the Chevy Ridgeline.
The Ridgeline is a compact pickup truck, however. Honda still hasn’t figured out the engine displacement issue well enough to start building a large truck that can compete with Ford, Chevrolet or other competitors.
Which VTEC engine is the best?
It’s hard to choose the very best VTEC engine since Honda has used it in a wide range of models over the past three decades. It is hard to argue against the 2.0-liter VTEC TURBO that was found in the 2018 Honda Civic Type-R.
This is the fastest “street legal” car that Honda has ever been allowed to sell in America. It tops out at 306 horsepower at the highest rpm. It is… blazing good fun, although the lifespan of such a high-performance engine is questionable.
Which is better: VTEC or i-VTEC?
I-VTEC is definitely a minor improvement over VTEC. Not that VTEC is bad, it’s just that i-VTEC is a later iteration of the engine that also utilizes variable valve time (VVT).
In layman’s terms, i-VTEC gets better gas mileage at low rpms, and at high rpms it squeezes about 10 additional horsepower when compared to a VTEC engine.
Can you hit VTEC in reverse?
This is an odd question that a lot of readers ask for some reason. The answer: Yes. VTEC does “kick in” when you reach a high enough speed in reverse in a Honda vehicle. Lots of YouTube videos of VTEC in reverse demonstrate this fact. Our main question: Why is anyone driving that fast in reverse?
Does hitting VTEC burn oil?
A VTEC engine depends on oil pressure to operate the hydraulics. The engine will constantly burn off a little bit of oil when VTEC is engaged at higher rpms. This is why it is especially important to keep up with regularly scheduled oil changes in a Honda vehicle with a VTEC engine.
