Honda unveils new diesel for overseas Civic... will it come here?

From AB

Honda Adds High Performance, Low Emission, Small Diesel Engine to the Civic line-up

The new 1.6-litre i-DTEC diesel engine is the first engine from Honda's Earth Dreams Technology series to be launched in Europe. The engine will be introduced on the Civic at the beginning of 2013. Combining competitive power (120 PS) and class-leading torque (300 Nm @ 2000 rpm) with CO2 emissions of just 94 g/km the new Civic 1.6-litre i-DTEC offers impressive fuel economy and performance. "The key focus of our Earth Dreams Technology philosophy is to balance environmental efficiency with the dynamic performance expected of a Honda," says Suehiro Hasshi, Large Project Leader for all Civic models in Europe including the 1.6-litre i-DTEC. "It is important that our cars are fun to drive."

"This is a new approach from the ground up," Tetsuya Miyake, Project Leader for the 1.6-litre i-DTEC engine. "There were no benchmarks for us because those targets would have been too low. We were determined to establish a benchmark of our own that our competitors would have to follow."

"Developing this engine has been all about smart, pure engineering," says Suehiro Hasshi. "Our motivation has been to make many small detail improvements that, together, make a major difference. That is the challenge and the beauty of the Earth Dreams Technology philosophy."

The new 1.6-litre i-DTEC engine has been specifically designed for the European market, to meet growing customer demand for low emission diesel engines. The new engine will be uniquely built for the European market at Honda's European manufacturing facility in Swindon, UK. Demonstrating the importance of this new diesel engine to Honda's sales plans in Europe, a new purpose built diesel engine production line has been installed at Honda of the UK Manufacturing (HUM). This new line is capable of producing up to 500 diesel engines in one day. Operating on a two shift pattern this equates to 1 engine every 138 seconds. The new line will produce both the new 1.6-litre i-DTEC and the existing 2.2-litre i-DTEC engines.

The 1.6-litre i-DTEC diesel engine will also be applied to the new CR-V (also built at HUM) later in 2013, and the Earth Dreams Technology philosophy will be applied to all of Honda's power trains in the future.

The New Civic 1.6-litre i-DTEC: The Engine in Detail

Lightest Diesel Engine in its class

Honda's new 1.6-litre i-DTEC is comprised of an aluminium cylinder head joined to an open deck aluminium block. It is the lightest diesel engine in its class, weighing 47kg less than Honda's 2.2-litre i-DTEC engine.

All the individual components have been redesigned to minimise their weight and size and advanced production techniques have helped reduce weight even further.

The thickness of the cylinder walls has been reduced to 8mm, compared with 9mm for the 2.2-litre i-DTEC. This is an exceptional achievement for a diesel engine. In addition, lighter pistons and connection rods have been utilised in the 1.6-litre i-DTEC.

Reduced Mechanical Friction

The key target for Honda's development engineers was to reduce the mechanical friction of the 1.6-litre i-DTEC engine to the level equivalent of a petrol engine. "All the rotating parts have been carefully optimised to reduce their friction," says Tetsuya Miyake. For example, a shorter and thinner piston skirt has been used. At 1500rpm, the 1.6-litre i-DTEC has around 40% less mechanical friction than the 2.2-litre i-DTEC. "This not only reduces emissions and improves fuel efficiency; it also improves the engine's response, both on and off the throttle, making the car more fun to drive. We have reduced the mechanical friction of the engine to the level equivalent of an existing petrol engine, which is an outstanding achievement."

Clever Turbocharger

The 4th generation Garrett turbocharger used on the 1.6-litre i-DTEC engine features an efficient variable-nozzle design and its rotational speed is precisely controlled by the car's electronics, minimising turbo lag and providing an optimal combination of low- to mid-range pull and high-speed performance. The turbo has a maximum boost pressure of 1.5bar.

Efficient Fuel Injection System and Air Flow

Honda's 1.6 i-DTEC uses a Bosch solenoid injection system which is capable of operating at a high pressure of 1800bar. A high fuel pressure means that the fuel is injected at a faster rate and the finer the atomization of the fuel spray. This improves the fuel mixing with the air resulting in a cleaner and more efficient combustion helping to achieve the low emissions and fuel consumption. Honda's engineers have also worked to improve the volumetric efficiency of the cylinders, employing a high intake flow and a high swirl head port precisely controlling the combustion process to reduce hot spots that create unwanted emissions. The engine air flow is managed by using an EGR (Exhaust gas recirculation) system that operates at high and low pressure to reduce NOx emissions. View the attachments for this post at:

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Reply to
MummyChunk
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I doubt it will make it in the US. Years ago I asked the same question about he diesel Accord. California has strict environmental laws and it sets the standard for the rest of the country as automakers don't want to spend money making a particular car one way for California, then another way for the rest of the country

Happy Holidays

Steve

Reply to
Steve

that's because the current hybrid technology is built around IC engines with low torque and power at low RPMs complemented by the electric motors, with the electric assist winding down as speed increases.

Diesel doesn't play in that type of technology.

I'm waiting for diesel-electric technology a la railroad trains and ships--a diesel engine completely diassociated from the drivetrain, doing nothing but generating power for the batteries which drive the vehicle.

Reply to
Elmo P. Shagnasty

I'm still not entirely clear, but apparently the Chevy Volt has three modes: all-electric, gas-engine to tranny, and gas-engine to generator. I think.

Also I think the Fisker Karma is IC to generators (to battery) only.

Classic diesel-electric is IC to generator to motor, no battery.

J.

Reply to
JRStern

Technically, that's exactly what the Prius has had for years now. But, the base Prius design gives it only a mile or two on electric, no more.

But the Volt is a plug-in with batteries that can drive it for longer on electric--30 or so miles. One can own the Volt and never invoke the engine (except for the management software that runs the engine to keep the gas fresh and whatnot).

There's a plug-in Prius, too, but its plug-in-ness gives it only 8 miles or so on electric.

But overall, the Prius and the Volt are pretty much exactly the same technology, with only minor differences. Oh, GM would love you to think otherwise; their initial marketing completely dismissed the part where the engine can provide direct motive power to the wheels. They wanted the world to think that the engine was purely, solely, and only a generator for the batteries. Even when they were caught building nothing more than a Prius with bigger battery storage, they tried to downplay how the engine "only occasionally and under very certain conditions" would drive the wheels.

But when they had to own up to it, it came out that they built the GM interpretation of the Prius. Bigger batteries and a wall plug are the big difference, that's all.

Other than the physical form--I hate it--the Volt is the perfect car for so many commuters in this country.

A diesel doesn't offer much if anything in that environment.

That's what we need, but we don't have yet.

Reply to
Elmo P. Shagnasty

i think the answer to the "whither diesel" question is much simpler. and sinister.

diesels are fundamentally more thermodynamically more efficient. this translates to better mpg's in the order of 10-25%. there is absolutely NO WAY that kind of drop in consumption is ever going to be allowed to happen in a country where political decisions are simply a matter of who holds the purse strings. in this case, the confluence of the interests of both wall st and the oil co's are aligned and absolutely unstoppable.

bogus "emissions" legislation is merely one of the means by which the public's desire for diesels can be negated without too much resistance. hard consumption data is available to consumers who own diesels. emissions "data" isn't, and when enshrined into law by, you know, "interested" parties, the public are never going to be able to argue against it.

Reply to
jim beam

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