Honda has announced new engines at the ongoing Tokyo Motor Show. The Japanese automaker has called its next generation of engines as ‘Earth Dreams Technology’. Out of all the new engines announced, one engine is of particular interest to us. It is the 1.6-liter i-DTEC turbo diesel engine, which produces 120 PS of power at 4000 RPM and 300 Nm of torque at 2000 RPM. This 1596cc motor is the lightest diesel engine in its class, weighing just 170 kgs. It is mated to a 6-speed manual gearbox and will do duty in the Honda Civic at first. The company will later plonk this engine into the Jazz for the European markets. We can expect Honda to offer this engine in the new 2012 Civic, when they launch it in India by the end on 2012. The same engine can be detuned for use in the City as well, this will help Honda fight competition till a smaller sub-1.5-liter diesel engine makes its debut in 2013.
“We are aware of the petrol price increase in India but we consider that as a sign of growth in the Indian market, definitely we are currently developing diesel engine cars. Indian market is asking for more diesel engine cars and we are fully aware of that,” Yasuhisa Arai, Managing Officer and Chief Officer, Development Operations, Honda R&D said.
The 1.6-liter engine is essentially a downsized 2.2-liter diesel engine, which has extensive reduction of mechanical friction in each section. This gives the 1.6 unit similar friction levels as a petrol motor. What is so special about this i-DTEC engine is the high fuel efficiency it offers, which is perfectly suited for the Indian car market. Even the CO2 emissions are very low at below 100 g/km. With power being delivered lower down, we can expect this new diesel engine to offer extremely good driveability. Furthermore, if Honda does not detune this motor for the Indian market, the Civic’s diesel version will be one of the most powerful diesel engines in its segment.
