Honda Car Forum

I'm thinking to get one and have found there are two versions.A regular 4 cil and a V-tech. I'd like to know which other models from Honda share Del Sol's engine and tranny.Thanks every body. . .

Can't answer on the Spec thing but I have a 96 Honda Del Sol V-Tech and love everything about it. The car has almost 200,000 miles on it and still runs like a charm. I have had no major issues with it. I love my Del Sol!!!!!!!

There were three models of the Del Sol available with three engine types--A Single OverHead Cama non-VTEC; a Single OverHead Cam with VTEC and a Dual OverHead Cam with VTEC.the easiest way to tell what engine is in the car is by reading the vehicle identification number. The Vehicle Identification number is the 17 character number on the plate inside the front driver's door or on the left side of the instrument panel or A post when looking in through the windshield.the 4th, 5th, and 6th letters and numbers indicate the engine family. EG2 = 1.6 litre Dual Overhead Cam VTEC on the Del Sol Si VTEC with ABSEH6= 1.6 liter but this can be either the non-VTEC or the VTEC. If the car is a EH6 you'll have to look at the underhood emissions label. The engine code should be D16Y7 for the non-VTEC and D16Y8 for the single overhead cam VTEC engine. It may say VTEC on the engine valve cover.I think the single VTEC was only on the SI model with the non-VTEC on the S model but that was 11 years ago and I can't be sure.hope that helps

EDIT:As Hondaguy mentioned above (who is partially right) you can ID the differences between del sol trims by the VIN, but that is a slow and useless method of doing so. If you simply look on the engine, to the left of the header, and down a little, right on the vertical axis of where the engine meets the transmission, there is a flat rectangular plate extruded out of the engine block which has the engine name stamped right in it.PS: I noticed Hondaguy didn't inclue the chassis codes so here they are. If you chose to do it his way (by looking at the VIN) the 4th, 5th, and 6th characters are the ones that tell the chassis code.EH6 = '93 - '95 Del Sol SiEG1 = '93 - '97 Del Sol SEG2 = '96/'97 Del Sol DOHC VTEC w/ B16A2OREG2 = '94/'95 Del Sol DOHC VTEC w/ B16A3/EDITPS: First off, let's start off with VTEC, it's VTEC, not V-tech or any other variation, the reason why, is that VTEC is an acronym. You wouldn't call the United States the "U-sa" or the "usa" - it's "USA" - and it's "VTEC." I guess if you wanted to be technical it's V.T.E.C. - but written "VTEC" when Honda writes it.There are three types of Del Sols.One, and most common, is the Del Sol S. That has the D15B7 motor in it, which is an OBD-I, SOHC, 16v, Non-VTEC, 1.5L, motor that is also used in the '92-'95 Civic DX Hatchback, '93-'95 Civic DX Coupe, and the '92-'95 Civic LX Sedan. It is not a particularly "fast" engine, but it okay for economy. A good, cheap, common "fix" for its power deficiency is a "mini-me swap" - where you put the SOHC VTEC head of the D16Z6 (it's pretty straight forward bolt-on) head on it, giving the B7 a slightly higher compression ratio as well as VTEC which helps its power past 4800 RPM. Also, since the Z6 trans is shorter than that of the B7, swapping the trans over from an EX helps with shorter gear ratios which gives better acceleration without the loss of gas mileage. The Z6 could be found in the '92-'95 Civic EX Sedan, '93-'95 Civic EX Coupe, and the '92-'95 Civic Si Hatchback.Then, there's the Del Sol Si.The Del Sol Si is pretty much a pimped up version of the Del Sol S. Instead of the D15B7 that the Del Sol S runs, it runs the D16Z6 that the '92-'95 EX Sedan and Coupe, and the '92-'95 Si Hatchback have. This motor is a 16v SOHC VTEC motor with a 7200 RPM redline. I had one in my EX Coupe and I have to say for the 1.6L displacement, it's pretty quick, and will still throw you about 34-36mpg on the highway at 77-80mph. Not a bad deal if you ask me.Though, at this point, you got to realize, the Honda Civic Del Sol (Yes, the del sol is a branch off of the Civic) is 2300, 2400, and 2500 (respectively to the three models of del sol) pounds. So in terms of a civic, it's quite heavy. Meaning the Ex Coupe will be faster than the Del Sol Si due to the ~200lbs weight difference. It isn't a lot, but it's enough to note del sols the "pigs" of the 5th and 6th generation civic series.Third, best, and last, is the Del Sol DOHC VTEC.Yes, that's the trim name of it. It has a DOHC VTEC motor, engine coded B16A3 which is 1.6L and has a redline of 8300 RPM. It is not a very torquey motor, but when you have it kicking past 6k blasting at full throttle it'll pull. Boosting these motors on stock internals can be very nasty in terms of power, but like all other B series blocks, it's limited by the rods which top out power wise at about 300hp at the wheels (good tuned assumed). It's not EXACTLY the same as the '99/'00 Si's B16A2, but it's pretty damn close, the A3 is a bit more aggressive in terms of ECU fuel mapping, has 100 RPM higher redline, and I think (though am not positive) that the cams' lift duration is a bit longer.If a B16A2 in a '95 Civic Sedan and a Del Sol DOHC VTEC were raced against each other, the ~100lb weight advantage of the Sedan is enough to make the difference over the A3 being a very tiny bit more aggressive, but in all honesty, the better driver would win that race if the weights were equal, plain and simple.So there's three trims, with three different motors.- S- Si- DOHC VTECThat's the order of how fast/"good" they are, that's also unfortunately the order of how rare they are. Finding a DOHC VTEC Del Sol is kind of rare, especially to find one in good condition. This is ALSO the order in how good the suspension is. The Del Sol S has the worst suspension of the series, the Si has better suspension, and the DOHC VTEC has the best suspension of the three.So to answer your question, there's not two versions, there's three versions, then obviously there's 2 generations of Del Sol, the '94/'95 (OBD-I), and the '96/'97(OBD-II).In the OBD-II series, the cars used their OBD-II counterparts.Like the DX's, the Del Sol S moved from the D15B7 to the D16Y7, gained a deciliter (.1L), still no VTEC, but claims the same power as the B7 at the flywheel. The Del Sol Si follows its main civic counterpart (the EX) and the D16Z6 changed to a D16Y8 which is still a SOHC VTEC motor, the Y8 is a it slower though, but has more HP - the reason of that is simply that the Y8 is designed more for "all around" power - it's "less" of a race engine, it has a lot more mid-ranged power than the Z6, but in terms of speed, the Z6 is faster. The Del Sol DOHC VTEC didn't change much other than the engine control unit system shifting from OBD-I to OBD-II (entirely different computer system, but the same premise), it now uses the A2 like the '99/'00 Si, still the "alpha" of the three.It's important to know that each level of civic del sol has a regular (mainstream) civic equivalent. It works like thisel Sol S = Civic DXDel Sol Si = Civic EXDel Sol DOHC VTEC = '99/'00 Civic Si NOTE: Don't confuse the '99/'00 Civic Si (which has a B16A2) with the '92-'95 Civic Si which has the same D16Z6 that was offered in all the EX trims from '92-'95.They're all Hondas though, so all their parts are pretty swappable, quite easily. The D16Z6 out of the Del Sol Si, the Civic Si, or any of the '92-'95 EX trims, can be dropped quite easily into the Del Sol S body while still retaining the same axles, shifter linkage, and motor mounts. You'd only have to change the ECU (computer). If you wanted to swap the B16A2 or A3 in there, it's very possible and very common, but you need to use the B series motor mounts, B series shifter linkage, B16A ECU, so on and so forth.As far as the transmissions go, they're pretty much mounted with the engine, the Z6 ratios were the shortest (most acceleration, lowest top speed), the B7, then later the Y7 in the Del Sol S had longer (though by FAR not the longest) gear ratios (higher top speed, lower accel...geared more towards "gas mileage"), and the DOHC VTEC has the B16 gear ratios, which are the shortest with the exception of the Integra Type R. See, despite its 160hp, it has approximately the same amount of torque as the only 125hp bearing D16Z6 due to its low displacement (1.6L) which matters a lot on hills and such. Therefore, to fight this, the B16's operate very well (fast) in the higher RPM band so they power really well when you get on them hard towards the upper portion of their RPM bands. To get it there faster, the B16 transmission has the same exact same gear ratios (with the exception of final drive/rear end) as the Integra Type R, which is incredibly geared towards acceleration. Since the B16 has low torque, the very quickly geared transmission and the high RPM redline help "balance" out the engine giving it a higher 160hp.Since the equation for horsepower is Torque * RPM / 5250, a low torque and high RPM will balance, as will a low RPM and high torque (ie. diesels, which redline around 3k, but have almost twice as much torque as they do horsepower). The B16 is high RPM dependent to make its horsepower. Though when you take into account that all the engines mentioned here (The D16Y8, the D16Z6, the D16Y7, the D15B7, and the B16A3) are all 1.5 and 1.6L engines, they all kind of need higher RPM to balance out their low torque (as torque is a direct correlation of displacement).I hope that helps you out some, you have to understand that your question was kind of vague. If you have any further questions or want me to elaborate on something feel free to e-mail me.