Last month we announced a big engine build-off between ourselves and some select Source Interlink titles as part of Castrol Syntec's Top Shop Challenge, where each magazine gets to pick an engine and engine builder of choice to see which one will make the most power and maintain its longevity while on an engine dyno. We said that this would be a David versus Goliath match, so we're proud to announce our entry: the Honda Accord F22A engine, to go up against the likes of the RB26, SR20 and 4G63 monoliths. Think we're outpowered? Well, we are, but that doesn't mean we're not going to put up the good fight. Bisi Ezerioha is a champion when it comes to tuning these engines, and other single cam Honda powerplants. His expertise has won him numerous drag racing challenges and long lasting engine configurations. This month he drops knowledge on the basic outline and battle plan for our engine in the months to come.
We're building an F22A, single cam non-VTEC engine out of a Honda Accord. To most every day people, it's a very lackluster platform that only grandmothers seem to appreciate. In stock form, it puts out 130hp but believe it or not, because of its superior head design, we'll be able to pull some astronomical figures. We want to show that you can pick up an engine for next to nothing, not have to spend a million dollar on it and make some great power. It's an alternative to running a K-series or B-series motor, and it's also very reliable.
What's the appeal to using a single cam? Well, as you know, I started racing with a single cam D-series because of cost. I ran 12.60s in full street form and 10.7s full race. I was a student at the time when everyone started putting the ubiquitous B-series engines into their cars; it was $3K to do that swap and I couldn't afford it. For a very modest price - $350 to a $1K - I could build a single cam that could run as well, if not beat those twin cams. It didn't make power that was superior to theirs but it accelerated like there was no tomorrow - and if you know, acceleration in drag racing is the name of the game.
The Accord motor is really a big brother to the D-series, and if anyone took the time to look at the head configuration of the F22A1/A4/A6 heads, they'll see that it's a very superior design. I don't know why Honda designed the intake ports the way they did, but it's similar to the F20C (S2000), has a similar gasket configuration as the H23 (but without the valve train challenges) and has a very ideal valve/angle placement. You can have exotic lift and duration. With our high flowing head and block configuration, it's going to be a win-win situation. In fact, the F22A1/4/6 head, in factory form (with 34mm intake valves), outflows most street-ported B-series heads. All you need then is a little bit of compression and a camshaft and you can run good power, reliably. Nobody would ever consider an Accord engine, which makes ours a perfect underdog. To date, the fastest F22 I've ever built for my own race car makes 382hp to the crank.