Tuning the Honda H22

"Comprehensive guide to performance parts and tuning the Honda H22 engine!"

Herein we detail the best approach to H22 tuning and show the best modifications for your car. Honda H22 are popular tuning projects and with the right motorsport modifications like ECU maps, turbo kits and camshafts you will really improve your driving opportunities.

The ultimate H22 tuning parts on an engine are typically the ones that give the best value for money.

We won't be swayed by popular H22 tuning parts, they need to be cost effective.

The camshaft profile plays a big part in the engines power output so camshaft upgrades make quite a large difference. The intake and exhaust durations will alter depending on the chosen camshaft profile, so large engines power gains are on offer for camshaft upgrades.

NB: Fast road cams commonly bump the torque over the rev band, you might lose a little low down bhp but high end rpm power will be better.

Competition cams, bump the high end rpm power band but as a result the car will not idle smoothly and low end power nearly always suffers.

A Race cam won't do well if driving around busy urban areas.

You should ideally optimize your engines power to your preferences so for a daily driver stick with a fast road H22 cam

Different H22 engines respond better to different camshaft durations check your engine on a rolling road.

The ECU mapping and fuelling also will make differences on the bhp gains you'll hit.

A longer valve duration can alter the bhp band and on most engines the exhaust and intake durations do not need to match, although most cams and tuners use matched pairs there are some advantages to extending the intake or exhaust durations.

Stage 1 modifications: Panel air filters, Sports exhaust manifold, Intake headers, Remaps/piggy back ECU, Fast road camshaft, Drilled & smoothed airbox.

Stage 2 modifications: high flow fuel injectors, Sports catalyst & performance exhaust, induction kit, Ported and polished head, Fast road cam, fuel pump upgrades.

Stage 3 modifications: Competition cam, Twin charging conversions, Internal engine upgrades (head flowing porting/bigger valves), Adding or Upgrading forced induction (turbo/supercharger), Crank and Piston upgrades to alter compression, Engine balancing & blueprinting.

ECU flashing should help to release the full potential of all the parts you've fitted to your H22.

It will usually give around 30% more power on turbocharged vehicles and you can expect to see around 15% on NASP engines, but your mileage usually rely on the parts you've carried out and the condition of your engine.

It is the aim to any car tuning job to pull more air and fuel into each cylinder

Intake take the air from the intake filter and allow it to be sucked into the engine cylinders.

The bore size, shape and rate of flow of the Air Intake manifolds can make a noticeable change to fuel delivery on the H22.

It's not uncommon that intake headers are ripe for a performance upgrade, although a few manufacturers provide fairly well optimized intake headers.

Increasing the H22 valve size, carrying out port work and head flowing will also boost performance, this will permit a better performance increase on other tuning mods.

Turbo upgrades

NASP engines need quite a lot of work when you add a turbo, so we have a separate guide to help you take into account the pros and cons of going this route on your H22

The more air you can get into an engine, the more fuel it can burn and uprating the induction with a turbocharger upgrade makes excellent power gains.

When your motor is fitted with a turbocharger upgrades are more reliable and we find turbo charged engines are made with stronger components.

There are common areas of failure for every engine, with some being incredibly solid and some only able to handle stock power

It is important to find these restrictions and install stronger pistons, crank and engine components to handle the power.

There are many drivers spending a lot of money on turbo charger upgrades on the H22 only to experience the car throw a rod on it's first outing after it's been completed.

Large turbochargers often suffer low end lag, and low capacity turbochargers spool up more quickly but don't have the peak end engines power gains.

We are pleased that the choice of turbos is always improving and we are seeing variable vane turbos, where the vane profile is altered according to speed to lower lag and increase top end power.

Twin scroll turbos divert the exhaust gases into 2 channels and flow these at differently angled vanes in the turbo charger. They also increase the scavenging effect of the engine.

You'll commonly see there's a limit in the air flow sensor MAF/MAP on the H22 when considerably more air is being drawn into the engine.

We see 4 bar air sensors coping with quite large power gains, whereas the OEM air sensor limited torque at a much lower level.

Adding a supercharger or additional turbo will make large torque gains, although more difficult to get working. We have this guide to twinchargers if you want to read more.

Fuelling upgrades and mods

Don't overlook the need to improve the fuelling when you are increasing the bhp and torque - it makes the car more thirsty. We strongly recommend you to over specify your injectors flow rate.

The rule of thumb is to add 20% capacity when fitting an injector, this takes into account injector deterioration and allows you some spare capacity should the engine need more fuel.

We think this one is common sense, but you'll need to match your fuel injector to the type of fuel your car uses as well.

Exhaust upgrades and mods

Only look to upgrade your exhaust if the existing exhaust is actually creating a restriction in flow.

On most factory exhausts you should find that your flow rate is ok even on modest power gains, but when you start pushing up the power levels you will need to get a better flowing exhaust.

Sports exhausts can help balance the flow of air through the engine.

But if the exhaust pipe is too large, ie: over 2.5 inches bore, you will lose a lot of your flow rate and end up lacking power and torque.

Usual exhaust restrictions are traced to the emissions filters installed, so adding a better flowing performance alternative will help avoid this restriction.

Weak spots, Issues & common problem areas on the H22

The H22 engines, if regularly serviced and maintained, are generally very reliable and have few issues.

Regular oil changes are vital on the H22, particularly when the engine has been modified and is putting down more power than the manufacturer intended.

History of the H22 Engine

The H22 was a 2.2 liter engine from Honda, released in 1990 and fitted to the Prelude.

The engine met with 8 revisions for various markets.

• H22A 197 hp
• H22A1 187 hp
• H22A2  182 hp
• H22A3 (94-06)  182 hp
• H22A4  (97 -98) 197 hp
• H22A5 (Europe 97-98) 182hp
• H22A7 (Europe 98-02) 209hp
• H22A8 (Europe 97-01) 197hp

Cars the H22 was originally fitted to with version numbers

• 92–96 H22A Prelude Si VTEC (Japan)
• 94–97 H22A Accord SiR (Japan)
• 97–01 H22A Prelude SiR, SiR S-spec, Type S (Japan)
• 00–02 H22A Accord Euro R (Europe)
• 93–96 H22A1 Prelude VTEC (America)
• 97–98 H22A1 Prelude VTiR (Australia)
• 93–96 H22A2 Prelude 2.2i VTEC (Europe)
• 96 H22A3 Prelude VTEC (KU)
• 97–01 H22A4 Prelude SH & Base(America)
• 97–98 H22A5 Modified Prelude (Europe)
• 99–02 H22A7 Accord Type R (Europe)
• 99–01 H22A8 Modified Prelude (Europe)
• 99–01 H22Z1 Prelude VTiR (Australia)

Best parts

For more information on Tuning your Honda engine please join us in our friendly forum where you can discuss H22 tuning options in more detail with our H22 owners. It would also be worth reading our unbiased Honda tuning articles to get a full grasp of the benefits and drawbacks of each modification.

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This article is flagged for an update, so please pass on specific tips below that I can include. All articles, and content was written by me, Waynne Smith TorqueCars founder. Some outlines are just too general so I appreciate your feedback and suggestions. This entry was filed under Acura, Honda. You can leave a response below or join our forum to discuss this article and car modification in detail with our members.

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