Ruminating on Alex Goy’s recent portrayal of the Bentley W12’s final act sparked my curiosity about vintage engines. So, which engine from days gone by holds a special place in your heart?
A Honda B16. Honda
There’s an abundance of excellent choices, but the Honda B16 immediately springs to mind. Some iterations of this lively 1.6-liter dual-overhead-cam VTEC engine achieved a remarkable output of 100 horsepower per liter without the aid of a turbocharger. Furthermore, it could hit an amusing 8,000 rpm!
One could make a case that the B16 played a pivotal role in solidifying Honda’s reputation as a dominant force in sport compact performance. It found its way into Civics long before it landed in the U.S. with the ’99 Civic Si and Civic Del Sol VTEC models. On a side note, the Del Sol Si was powered by a single-overhead-cam D-Series engine, while only the “VTEC” badged Del Sols in America came equipped with a B-Series engine.
Like many enthusiasts of millennial sport compact cars, I held the B series in high esteem, particularly the B16A2 which powered one of my all-time favorite vehicles, the 1999 Civic Si as mentioned earlier. I personally had a B18 in my base model Integra, albeit the non-VTEC variant. Nevertheless, it still felt quite nimble! Not to forget, versions of the B18 engine were used in the legendary Integra GSR and Type R.
I’ve heard that certain aftermarket companies are continuing to produce their own renditions of the Honda B-Series engines, but it’s fair to classify them as engines of the past.
Now, before this evolves into an extensive Honda engine history discourse, I’ll leave it to the comments section. Although, perhaps we could consider delving into that in a future post.
