For those of you who have been following our Smog Legal Power/ Project 200 Integra series, the project has been rewarding, but also physically draining. The Integra, which we are tuning to make 200 all-motor whp and pass the sniffer, has already been strapped to the dyno more than a dozen different times-and logged more than 55 dyno pulls.
During the first two segments of this series, we were posting huge gains at the wheels with the help of simple bolt-ons. In Part II (August '03) we were able to generate an additional 16.6 hp from three simple bolt-ons (AEM cold-air intake, Skunk2 exhaust and DC header), pushing our peak output to 177.8 hp from the 161.2-hp baseline.
In Part III (September '03), the new Crower bumpsticks and Skunk2 cam gears also paid dividends, raising the output to 191.3 hp at the wheels. In Part IV (October '03), we inched closer to our goal with the help of a Skunk2 intake manifold and Sun Systems ground wires with the peak horsepower output checking in at 193.9 hp on the Dynojet.
Now, with Part V, we're scratching our heads trying to find more power-just another day here at Turbo HQ. One area we haven't addressed in our horsepower hunt on the Integra was the factory accessory drive belts (alternator, power steering and crank). Our Project Integra is still running power steering and air conditioning, so the accessories are drawing power from the engine. Although we know we can easily remove the power steering belt for more horsepower, we thought it would be cheating if we did.
The answer came by way of Unorthodox Racing underdrive pulleys. The Ultra SS (Street Set) kit, which comes with the crank, alternator and power steering pulleys, are CNC machined from billet aluminum for increased durability and reduced weight. Compared to the stock crank pulley, the Unorthodox Racing Ultra S unit weighs more than 4.5 pounds less (5.76 pounds stock vs. 1.19 pounds Ultra S).
The same goes for the alternator pulley, which weighs 8.4 ounces stock and 2.2 ounces for the Ultra S.
Since the Unorthodox Racing system is an underdrive pulley setup, the Ultra SS kit requires the purchase of shorter belts that can be easily found at any local parts store. And if you're like us and threw away the instructions that came with the kit, the information for belt sizing can be easily found on the company's Web site. Since the pulleys are a direct replacement of the stock units, installation was a simple R&R maneuver.
On the Dynojet chassis dyno, the Frankenstein engine pegged the needle at 196.6 hp to the wheels, an improvement of 2.7 peak hp, compared with the previous run of 193.9 hp. From 4500 rpm to redline, improvements of 3 to 5 hp were noted.
You'd think making 3.4 hp would be a piece of cake, but when you're pushing nearly 200 hp to the front wheels from an all-natural 1.8-liter engine, 3 hp is not that easy. From our calculations, the LS/VTEC engine is pumping 230 hp at the flywheel, naturally aspirated! The Turbo staff will keep wrenching in search of 3 hp; after that, we're off to the smog station.