The Eibach Meet: The Good, the Bad, and the Senseless

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A couple of years back North American Honda's performance arm—HPD (Honda Performance Development)—presented two different versions of what most of the world hoped the CR-Z would've turned out like. Its CR-Z Hybrid R Concept is based upon a Borg Warner-turbocharged version of the original 1.5L engine that puts out around 200 hp, and was developed and campaigned when Honda's hopes of people actually buying the CR-Z were still high.
Also from HPD, its race-spec, 2.0L K-series engine. Plopping this into the CR-Z will never make more sense than it does when the two are sitting 10 feet apart from one another and Honda's own race development staff.
Fortunately, what Honda won't do, Hasport does. As it turns out, the CR-Z's engine bay was originally designed to accept the K-series powertrain, which means getting rid of all of that hybrid nonsense and retrofitting one into place isn't terribly difficult. Hasport's got the mounts, axles, wiring, and just about anything else you'll need to make it happen covered.
Despite the Jackson Racing supercharger, the whole swap remains relatively simple and doesn't require any cutting or welding. You'll need a whole lot more than whatever engine you've been eyeballing, though. Set aside at least $7,000 for a complete swap, which should include a transmission, ECU, engine wiring harness, and a real-deal i-VTEC engine that's got VTEC on both cams.
Here Hasport's Brian Gillespie discusses the merits of Honda's six-cylinder J-series platform. The company's latest 60-degree V6 engines are lighter, in some cases more powerful, and almost always less expensive than its most infamous V6 to date, the NSX's C-series. Hasport offers kits to bolt (and weld) almost any J-series engine into any 1988-2000 Civic or 1990-2001 Integra.
The J-series may be more sophisticated, but the minivan it was pulled from will never compare to this. The impending release of the second-generation NSX in 2015 is beginning to drive up the value of older models like this. Aside from the NSX's 270 or 290 hp, depending on the engine, its all-aluminum structure and suspension make sure it remains relevant 25 years after its introduction.
It's been five years since Honda killed off its S2000, which means the warranties are up, used models are rampant, and unmolested, stock versions are few. Fortunately, though, the same guys who've been applying felt to the hoods of their Civics haven't infiltrated Honda's roadster marketplace just yet.
More from the list of engine swaps that don't normally happen, this K-series-transplanted, second-generation Integra. A simple swap it isn't. Here, the right-side bracket must be cut off of the chassis and a new one, like Hasport offers, for example, welded into place. Wiring everything into place can be complicated, too, since older Integras like these share little in common with the OBD-II-native K-series.

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