The discussion between which type of engine is better continues to loom onward. Some love their naturally aspirated engines that are pure power and only tuned to what they want while many have fallen for the turbocharged boost that you can now have on smaller engines. The benefits in fuel efficiency are obviously going to favor the turbocharged engines and the fact that you can get more power out of smaller engines is certainly admirable as well. There’s still nothing quite like the instant power that a pure engine gives you on one that hasn’t been boosted in any way.
To discuss this further, the Honda Civic is a great place to look at what we have and what was one of the best engines on the market. The engine we see in the Civic of today is a 1.5-liter turbocharged model that puts out 174 horsepower and 167 lb.-ft. of torque with the manual transmission, which is plenty for a great ride. This is an engine that can easily be tuned up to be more powerful which is admirable in its own right.
The older model of the Civic used the NA engine that had a K20 head with a K24 bloc to give the car a massive 260 horsepower. This engine could easily be revved up to 8,000 rpm and was a lot of fun to drive. The power that this engine produced was amazing and could easily have been what the Type R would have on today’s market. While this pairing wasn’t always put together, you can see from the video below, this pair together makes a huge difference in a car that isn’t even old enough to have been a problem, unless the turbo is blown out of it.
Depending upon how you set up your car you can enjoy either engine, some prefer turbo and others choose the natural feel. One of the biggest benefits to a naturally aspirated engine is the ability to be instantly aggressive with the car and not have to wait for the turbo lag to kick in and give the boost you’re looking for. Check out the video below and see exactly what the natural pair described above can do when they’re together. If you are a turbo lover, after seeing this video, you might be ready to change your mind and find the tuner who can put your engine together for you.
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