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After more than 16,000 miles, I am arriving at the opinion that the VTEC transition does not involve a sudden kick in the engine's torque curve. There is, at most, a fairly subtle increase. What makes it seem so dramatic is the sudden, and fairly exciting I might add, increase in the audible level of 'snarl' that the engine produces. The gross increase in sound level is translated by the driver's mind into a gross increase in acceleration level.
Anyway, that's my theory and I'm stickin' to it. Wish I had a really good set of earplugs, or one of those headsets that the arm-waving traffic-directing guys on the airport runways use so I could prove it out definitively.
Originally posted by Johnny--2K
just out of curiosity, have you seen a dyno of a stock S2?
.............
I did a graph from a table that was posted here at s2ki several months ago. In this particular case, there is somewhat of a step transition, with torque going from 135 lb ft to about 153 lb ft very quickly. That's an almost 15 percent increase in a few hundred rpm, but I would question that. It almost looks like the VTEC transition in this case is a bit late to take proper advantage of the higher lift camshaft.
hmm from the graph, one could induce that driving at 4500rpm would feel a bit less peppy than at 3500rpm. I'd say 4500 feels quicker (probably a lot to do with the engine noise). I do agree that driving at 2000rpm is significantly less peppy that at 3000, though.
based on every dyno graph (and your graph) i have ever seen, there is no question surrounding a significant increase in torque (and consequently hp) at the vtec transition. that REAL increase may be supplemented by the aural change (i agree entirely) .... but your theory of aural - mental -only increase just isn't valid.
VTEC transition: my "audio" theory
