Honda will fight back against criticism that its diesels are not frugal and clean enough by releasing a 110g/km version of its trusty 2.2-litre oil-burner.
The cleaner engine is due to make its debut in next year’s new Honda Civic, which will be revealed at the Frankfurt show next month.
The new i-DTEC engine produces 148bhp — the same as the more polluting unit in the Accord and 10bhp more than the current Civic’s older 2.2 CDTi.
The new CO2 figure is 29g/km better than the old Civic’s. It has been achieved partly by adopting stop-start, but also as a result of detailed internal tweaks. Honda says 5g/km of the saving comes from the Idle Stop system and the rest through revised oil channels to cut friction and aerodynamic refinements to the body.
“To achieve a good CO2 figure, you need to optimise every aspect of the car,” says Honda engineer Katushi Watanabe. “But we haven’t compromised the performance character of the engine.”
The new engine will make the Civic more competitive with the Ford Focus and Volkswagen Golf, boasting similar emissions to their 1.6-litre diesels but more power than their 2.0-litre oil-burners.
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