Honda’s K20 family of engines has spanned several different models, including a few offshoots. How powerful are they, and in what cars can you find them?
Whether you’re buying a new car or doing some aftermarket tuning, it’s no surprise that Honda makes some of the best four-cylinder engines, and the K20 is arguably at the top. It’s hard not to mention the K20 when discussing the most reliable Honda engines ever built, as it and its variants are easily some of the company’s most long-lived products.
The K20 reigns supreme, even when you rank the K-Series engines from worst to best. Introduced in 2001, the K20 was the replacement for the Honda B-series, introducing a four-cylinder engine with DOHC configuration, coil-on-plug ignition coils, and a digitally controlled ignition. As the name suggests, the K20 is a 2.0-liter engine with 221 hp and 159 lb-ft of torque, and its powerful punch was popular enough to spawn the entire Honda K-Series. The horsepower fluctuated with later versions, with the K20A1, K20A2, K20A3, and K20A4 having 159, 200, 160, and 150 hp, respectively.
Eventually, Honda released a range of K20Z and K20C engines. The K20Z1 was an updated version with 210 hp. The K20Z2 replaced the K20A1 with 153 hp, the K20Z3 had 197 hp, and the K20Z4 increased to 201 hp. The K20C1 was a turbocharged engine with 306 hp, inspiring the K20C3 and 4, which had 272 hp and 252 hp.
