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I have a 04 and I know it always stays around 6K or above when I shift from 1->2->3, THAT"S FOR SURE I CAN BET MY CAR ON THAT! But u can also makes it drop below VTEC if you shift slowly, but if you shift fast enough it always stays at VTEC range!
I asked that very question of my mechanic (he works almost entirely on Porsches and Jags, but is very knowledgable about all exotics/specialty cars)
and he claims that once you are in VTEC and within a few hundred rpms of redline, it will NOT drop out of VTEC until the gas is let out for a "significant
I'm not watching the Tach when this happens (cause I'm driving . ) but I know I'm no where near 5300rpms...gotta be 6K plus...
...I have a 04 and I know it always stays around 6K or above when I shift from 1->2->3, THAT"S FOR SURE I CAN BET MY CAR ON THAT! But u can also makes it drop below VTEC if you shift slowly, but if you shift fast enough it always stays at VTEC range!
I believe you guys about staying in VTEC as you can hear/feel it. Though, not about staying at (or above) 6000rpm. That is physilcally impossible. At 38mph you nave to be at around 5300rpm. There's no if/maybe about it as this is determined by a non-flexible connection between the road, wheels, drivetrain and engine. There is nothing 'flexible' about this. The only ay you can be above this at 38mph is when you are spinning your wheels. ANd I don;t mean a quick chirp, I mean constant wheel-spin.
If you have to get out of 1st gear at 38mph, then you will land in 2nd gear at 38mph - that is determined by nothing else by by the gearing, redline and the speed you're traveling. During the gear-change you do not accelerate (if anything you decelerate) and at this speed the engine is pulling 5300rpm ... no matter what your speedo/tacho are showing you.
Though, as I said before, I can see it being more like 5500rpm as the bit of clutch-slip (which is always there) on a gear-change can make up another 200rpm or so while car accelerates a couple mph with the clutch not being fully engaged (ie. mechanically speaking, not taliing about the driver input).
Keep in mind that the roads were kinda slick this morning so I didn't want to push it too much.
Shifting at/near redline from 1st to 2nd, the engine falls to about 5300/5400 revs. Still pulls really strong, but there is a noticable lag before VTEC.
But...Here's where I get a little confused...wind it out fast, get the tack to flash a couple of times, shift to 2nd...it sure seems to come back right at 6k and VTEC. I got it once where it was certainly at/above 6k, but the wheels were slipping a little to (told ya it was wet out). Another time, it seemed like the revs came back just below VTEC, maybe 5800 or so, almost no lag to getting on the big cams.
So in short, I have no idea what's going on with the car.
The better mechanical advantage the '04 has in its lower first gear probably makes up for the 700 RPM you have to climb out of in second to re-engage VTEC at 6000 again.
When I've driven '04s, I've found the VTEC cutover to be not nearly as dramatic as my '00. Even if we don't have a complete picture of average '04 dynos yet, I think the car develops plenty of power at 5300, even if it's out of VTEC. That said, it would be great if the car revved to 9K keep it definitively in VTEC on the 1-2 shift. In fact, that might make me want to buy one.
I think the '04's rev-limiter doesn't kick in till 8200 or so, giving you a few more mph before you really *have* to shift. Assuming you then land at around 5500 in 2nd, it's plausible that the high-to-low cam switch is never triggered (even though low-to-high doesn't occur till 6000).
I'm sure Honda considered this 0-60 type scenario when they geared the car and programmed the ECU.
I just bought an '04, will have it Friday. I am also an original '00 owner, since 9/26/99.
And I am not convinced Honda thought this out. For instance, don't you run out of second gear BEFORE 60? I don't have the car, but according to my analysis, this is correct..
Why is the cutoff so close to the rev limit? Why is the power peak so close to the limit? If they knew it was an 8000 rpm limit they would have designed the intake track to produce a better mid-range.
I think something didn't work out and they dialed back the rev range at the last minute. Further, I'll bet the problem is more a warranty issue. Remember BMW dropped floating rotors on the M5 for the US market because of those issues.
Look guys, if a person knows how to shift quickly there is no dropping out of VTEC on the '04 if the shifts are made close to redline. Period. I've done numerous redline runs through the first few gears now and the only time I drop out of VTEC is if I'm just taking my time shifting. And I've yet to even hit the limiter. And this business of the VTEC engagement not being as dramatic in the '04 is hogwash. I've driven both and the '04 is every bit as dramatic if not more so. I'm not talking about creeping up on VTEC. I'm talking about WOT runs. Hard, fast redline shifts feel like a friggin' slingshot.
