You Hear A Lot Of VTEC Jokes, But What Does It Actually Do? (Simple Explanation)

When you’re driving along and happen to notice the badging on a Honda, you might catch a little something that says “VTEC” on the side. If you’ve had a part in the car community, you might’ve found that car culture generally cracks jokes about “VTEC kicking in” while the Honda community uses it to their benefit in racing situations. So, is this technology actually something that can be useful in racing? What was the original purpose of the system? This time, thanks to the diligent research and seemingly never-ending knowledge over at Engineering Explained, we are getting down to the bottom of it and doing so in a manner that anybody with a basic understanding of engines can grab hold of.

Basically, it doesn’t really seem like VTEC was designed with racing in mind at all, even though it might be something that could be used to a racer’s advantage. The basic premise of the system is to make use of a variable camshaft setup that can allow the car to make use of different cam profiles in order to accommodate the current driving conditions, whether it be for a little bit more pep or for fuel savings. Ultimately, I would venture to say that the people around the engineering table at Honda designed this system in order to save folks on gas. After all, fuel savings are the main purchasing point for many people who choose to buy a Honda.

If you follow along with the video below, you’ll be able to get in on the ins and outs of exactly what makes VTEC, well, VTEC. Now, the next time that you hear somebody talking about this variable valve timing system, maybe you’ll be able to offer up an educated opinion on what you think about it.

Oh yeah, and with all this newfound information, you’ll probably be an absolute hit at all the parties as well.