Could Honda’s Future 1.0-Liter Be World’s Most Efficient Engine?
Honda Brio minicar
The last time Honda made a 1.0-liter gasoline engine, it broke fresh records for fuel efficiency.
Found under the bondage mask of the original Insight hybrid, it still has the highest gas mileage of any EPA-rated non-plugin. It also took International Engine of the Year in 2000, and won that competition’s sub-1-liter class seven times.
That’s a high bar to aim for, but Honda says its latest 1.0-liter engine could set fresh records for gasoline engine efficiency.
According to The Financial Express (via Indian Autos Blog), the Japanese automaker is presently working on a global petite engine for use in a fresh puny car due for launch in 2017.
It will be available in both naturally-aspirated and turbocharged formats. The latter could find its way into some of Honda’s fatter small-cars, like the Fit, in some markets.
At the moment, Honda’s smallest regular gasoline unit is a 1.2-liter four-cylinder used in the Brio, a subcompact sold in markets like India, Thailand and Indonesia. In local tests, it achieves mileage of forty six mpg combined.
The fresh engine would find its way into cars aimed at similar markets, complementing a 1.5-liter turbocharged diesel also sold in Far-Eastern countries where diesel power is very desirable.
The company does of course produce smaller 660cc gasoline engines for its kei-car range, however these vehicles are sold only in Japan.
Honda itself is not yet commenting on the fresh unit, so it’s unclear whether it will take the form of a three- or four-cylinder unit.
The company’s last 1.0, as used in the Insight, was a development of the three-cylinder line used in the company’s kei-cars. It displaced 995cc and its twelve valves were operated using Honda’s familiar VTEC valve timing.
It produced sixty eight horsepower, and sixty seven lb-ft of torque at Four,800rpm–numbers boosted to seventy three hp and eighty three lb-ft at a much diminished 1,500rpm thanks to an electrified motor.
Low-viscosity oil helped reduce friction, as did the lack of a balancer shaft, usually used to sleek out the uneven hit of 3-cylinder units. It also featured lean-burn technology to reduce fuel use, however emissions regulations mean lean-burn is no longer used due to higher oxides of nitrogen.
With a five-speed manual, the first-generation Insight is rated at fifty three mpg combined (49 mpg city, sixty one mpg highway) by the EPA.