What is VTEC and why are Honda fans obsessed with it?

What is VTEC and why are Honda fans obsessed with it? Initially appeared in Autoblog.

Private myth, partial fact

If you have been driving or have been around Honda-branded cars since the mid-1990s, you may be familiar with a four-letter word that has determined the brand’s identity for decades: VTEC.

Since its first car app in 1989, Honda’s VTEC Engine technology has provided its four and six -cylinder engines many erudite and internet Slavi because of what it can do for both spiritual drivers and enthusiasts. But although there are many memoirs and misconceptions about what is happening under the hood, the technology behind the VTEC withstands the time test and is still used in new Honda cars to this day.

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VTEC has its roots in these car icons of the 90s

VTEC is about longer than you think; He precedes Game Game Game, Super Nintendo and Dunkaroos. Originally introduced in 1989 in the Japanese Honda Integra XSI version, VTEC did not break in the United States until the introduction of Acura NSX Supercar in 1991.

The 3-liter C30A V6 engine of the legendary mid-engine car produces only 270 horsepower. However, the innovative VTEC technology, which gave the engine its unique performance characteristics, will later be found in dozens of different Honda models, from modest travelers such as Civic and corresponds to their highly efficient versions of type R.

In the early 1980s, Honda wanted to develop a new generation of regular -touching car engines, which would further improve performance. Variable valves or VVT time existed for some time before the VTEC was developed, and car manufacturers such as Fiat and Alfa Romeo had used the technology in their own cars before Honda developed VTEC. But the high goals of the Japanese carmaker dictated his fate.

Honda Management instructed its engineers to develop a naturally aspirated engine to deliver 100 horsepower per liter of displacement – an impossible feat at the time. This meant the development of an engine that could handle the load at higher speeds without sacrificing quality or reliability.

How does it work?

At that time, Honda’s engines were powerful at high speeds, but did not produce much power at the bottom of the speed. His engineers tried everything, but one solution that works was a system that could switch CAM profiles to the command: VTEC.

VTEC means a variable system for valve time and an electronic electronic system lifting system. Although it can be an unusual name, it is extracted from engine technology, which combines excellent fuel efficiency at low speeds with high RPMS power outburst. This can be achieved by switching between two lobe profiles of the camshaft at different speeds in the range of Rev.

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All engines require air and fuel to turn, and the valves open to allow air in a cylinder; A process controlled by camshafts and rockets. Each cylinder has hump followers with different hump profiles and a rocker shoulder that can be locked together. Higher lobes of the hump supply VTEC power and connect to an inactive rocker hand. When activated, these lobes increase lifting and prolong the length of lifting, allowing more air to enter the engine at high speeds per minute.

When drivers soften the accelerator down, the speed of the engine rises as well as the oil pressure. Once the engine reaches a certain turnover in the Honda VTEC engines, the oil pressure pins the pins inside the rocker’s shoulder, locking them together.

As the rocker’s shoulders are locked together, all inlet valves (and exhaust valves, depending on the type of engine), open more widely, allowing more air and creating more power. When the RPM falls, the oil pressure also drops, the locking pins return to their original positions, and the lower profile chambers operate with the valves back into the fuel economy mode.

What are the benefits of productivity and disadvantages?

The phrase “VTEC has just started, yo!” is a term so rooted in the culture of internet car enthusiasts that it has its own Know Your Meme page, but is based on a true phenomenon that Honda drivers have experienced.

In most other four-cylinder engines, the area about 5000-6000 rpm is where most other cars would have their red line as it will start to lose power around this point. However, this traditional “work area” is where the Honda VTEC engines really shine. Reaching the “cutting off of the VTEC” can be characterized by a unique, broken, high -row sound and sudden pulling of instant force; The feeling that many Civic and Accord drivers can testify as addictive.

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Overall, the VTEC system does what was designed by Honda Engineers and the managers who led them; It provides a lot of power in 1.6 to 2.4-liter built-in four-cylinder or 3 to 3.5-liter V6 engines, solid fuel savings in the lower range of rpm and practically smooth reliability. In 2023, a 2003 Accord owner, Justin Kilmer, picked up a million miles to his V6 coupe through his work as a medical courier.

But with their advantages, VTEC engines can suffer from a sense of lethargic at lower speeds, as peak power and torque can be located ridiculously high on the Rev counter. For example, the 2.4-liter K24 Dohc Vtec engine in Honda Civic SI 2006 produces 197 horsepower at 7,800 rpm that is close to its 8000 rpmredline.

Definitive thoughts

Although VTEC has been developing over the years to include versions such as I-VTEC, VTEC-E and VTEC Turbo, VTEC technology’s “Copycats” have been developed by other automakers, such as Toyota and Mitsubishi, while other automakers use other methods to achieve the same end.

For example, the 996 Porsche 911 includes Variocam, which uses an adjustable chain tensioner to control the amount of relaxation in the synchronization circuit that connects the reception and exhaust chambers. The BMW Vanos of the M50 Straight-Six engine, used in cars as the E46 m3, uses a camshaft spiral gear to adjust the weather.

Today, many manufacturers, including US and European companies, as well as several Honda competitors in Japan, use some form of variable valves in their engines. However, VTEC remains a hallmark of Honda as one of the first commercially successful variable valves technologies to be used in massively manufactured cars, and a source of pride among fans and owners of Honda.

What is VTEC and why are Honda fans obsessed with it? It first appeared at Autoblog on May 31, 2025

This story was originally reported by Autoblog on May 31, 2025, where it first appeared.