Honda’s Reason for VTEC Explained

My previous '06 Acura TSX produced a very noticeable burp in power when VTEC engaged at 6000 RPM. In fact now that my VFR is broken-in, I want to say its powerband is slightly smoother than the TSX's.

If it was wet and I was fooling around with the VSA turned off, the front tires would often start spinning in 1st when it hit 6000 RPM.

Anyway that sudden change in power made the car exciting to drive, but it's completely impractical IMO. A lot of 4 cylinder Honda cars have had pretty abrupt VTEC operation. I'm not sure why this is.

In comparison, the VTEC operation on my '07 Acura TL-S is completely invisible. In fact, I don't even think I can hear it or the variable intake plenum change. The power just seems to ramp up smoothly, with maybe a steeper curve starting at 5000 RPM. Ideally this is how I believe all variable valve and intake systems should behave, car or bike. Technology is obviously also headed that way.

 

Yeah and if you strip the fairings on the 5th Gen you'll see that there are a lot of similarities to the 4th Gen and 3rd Gen as well. The Interceptor has a lot of cool technology that really started with the 3rd Gen from the single sided swingarm right up to the 6th Gen's VTEC. This isn't propaganda that was just printed out of the blue in RedRider magazine. This is a statement that Honda has made many times before and has stood by for many years. The 1st and 2nd Gens were their hard core race bikes which were superseded by the Hurricane and CBR lines. The Interceptor then took a completely different direction starting with the 3rd Gen Interceptor beginning in 1990. Honda has been very clear about this migration path.