Nicely Balanced

Update by David S. Wallens to the Honda CRX HF project car
May 10, 2009

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Time to dyno. Balanced Performance's facilities were just what we needed.

Our new hardware: a Hondata ECU.

To make the conversion, the original distributor had to go. We went with an MSD piece.

Ed knows ones and zeros. He's a tuning ninja, too.

And maybe we let some maintenance slip. Shop owner Jason Plante found some yuck inside our fuel filter.

Our CRX has returned to the front burner, as the engine work has begun. First, a disclaimer: We’re not trying to make our track car faster, but there was some weirdness that needed attention. The speed limiter was limiting our performance, and we seemed to randomly encounter misses at cruising altitude. The car would also throw a check engine light for no discernible reason.

The fix was an ECU redo: a Hondata computer tuned by Ed Senf. The swap took place at Atlanta’s Balanced Performance Motorsports, a friendly facility located not too far from Road Atlanta. They also have one of the nicest dyno cells around.

The installation also required converting the car from OBD0 to OBD1 specs, meaning we also had to swap the distributor. Locash harness adaptors made everything a plug-and-play operation. Look for the complete story in the magazine soon, but here are some teasers: Yes, there was some ECU weirdness, as Ed was genuinely surprised that we completed a track day without burning a valve or piston.

Sputter, Sputter

All updates

CRX Heading Back to the Track