I THINK I figured out why my car is slow........

[typeruz]

as some of you may have seen my post from a week or so ago regarding how my brother's stock Prelude was faster than my R, and how I generally felt like the car lacked power.....

anyways, i took it into the dealership, and a tech which is BIG into import perfomance test drive her and gave me his opinion as to why it was having problems....

he said it's the clutch! now, TO ME the clutch is not slipping when I switch gears. so, this strikes me as weird. he took me for a test drive and basically explained that even though it doesn't slip when changing gears, it starts slipping when it hits VTEC. (it's quite subtle, but enough to slow the acceleration.) the car definetely doesn't feel that strong in VTEC as it should. now, the thing is, when in VTEC, you don't see the rpms flying up inappropriately like you normally do in a slipping clutch. he did also say the clutch engaged too high, and that's true....the clutch grabs when you're nearly way up to the top of the pedal. also, i have noticed that it is very dificult to spin the tires going into second gear. (he checked the engine and said it's perfect, BTW) and, he also said the bad clutch is the reason my gas mileage has gone down the drain.

so.....do you y'all also think this is my clutch slipping causing my acceleration to be lacking?????
i always thought a bad clutch would only slow you down when switching gears. could my clutch be partially slipping in VTEC, causing slower acceleration???

thanks all!! i hope to figure this out soon. it's really frustrating me!!!

ps- i bought the car only a few months ago used, so i really don't know what's it's supposed to feel like stock. i only became concerned when my bro's stock prelude beat me over and over, even when we switched drivers.

[B2FiNiTY]

Are you on the stock clutch?

The stock clutch engages very high.

You mean you raced your bro in the lude and you lost. You drove the lude and you lost again. In that case it's all driver.

[typeruz]

it's the stock clutch.

no no, what i meant was that the prelude always won, no matter if i was driving or my brother.

[ITR97]

so how did he check the engine? did he do a compression test ?> oil pressure test ? and all that.

he might be rite it could be the clutch. if your clutch is slipping sooner or later u clutch going to wear down so go get a new clutch .. go act or exedy. dont get the pure racing clutch unless u do ONLY racing. get the stock one but with a increase in pressure, then race him again.

[typeruz]

yah, he did a compression test and did something to check the valves too. he said it was running as good as new.

so, do you think the clutch could be slipping up high in the rpms, therefore, slowing me down????....like the tech explained??

the good thing about this whole thing is that, i'll have him do it, and it'll be backed by the dealership, so if it doesn't get fixed they'll be responsible.

[Dave-ROR]

yah, he did a compression test and did something to check the valves too. he said it was running as good as new.

so, do you think the clutch could be slipping up high in the rpms, therefore, slowing me down????....like the tech explained??

the good thing about this whole thing is that, i'll have him do it, and it'll be backed by the dealership, so if it doesn't get fixed they'll be responsible.

haha yeah I can see that.

Service Manager: How do you know it's not fixed? It drives fine and doesn't slip.
You: Because my bro can still beat my ass in illegal street racing yo!

lol thanks I needed that.

[opie]

Service Manager: How do you know it's not fixed? It drives fine and doesn't slip.
You: Because my bro can still beat my ass in illegal street racing yo!

lol thanks I needed that.

[5-Lug]

LMAO @ dawhiteboy!!!! Ahhhh, I can't breath!

[fredtoast]

That doesn't sound like the clutch to me. If it is the clutch you should definitely feel it slip when you first pull off the line. How many miles are on the clutch? What year is the car? How long have you had it? Does the Lude beat you out of the hole or on the top end? If the problem is only in vtec then it may be that the extra fuel is not kicking in.

[typeruz]

yah, he only beats me in vtec. we tested a variety of siutations, and basically if we're both in vtec in any gear (ie second), and hold it and then take off and the same time.....he consistently pulls away.

so, how do i check if it's getting enough fuel in vtec???
could it be getting too much fuel???

btw, i've been getting really bad gas mileage lately. changed plugs, pcv, fuel filter...all with no change.

thanks for the help. i'm going nuts here.

(it's a 2000 with 40K miles.)

[B2FiNiTY]

I would also suggest to check your timing. I felt very very slow and with bolt ons was slower than stock ITR's. I found out that my timing was set at 10. Gained 5hp and much tq across the powerband after I set it back to stock 16.

[typeruz]

how can i check my timing on my own???

[B2FiNiTY]

You would have to buy a timing gun costs around 20 and more.