Still a Leader in Engine Design

Still a Leader in Engine Design

by -

Honda has always had a reputation for coming out with great engines, a tradition set by its founder, Sochiro Honda. Besides making engines that have been utterly reliable and economical, Honda has also been a leader in making clean engines. Way back in the early 1970s, when the US imposed strict emission control regulations on the auto industry, Honda was the first to come up with its CVCC engine which could meet the tough new standards without a catalytic converter.

The same superior engineering is still evident today as Honda is still recognised as amongst the best engine manufacturers in the world. For the fourth consecutive year, the 2.0 litre Honda S2000 and 1.0 litre Insight IMA hybrid engines won their respective size categories in the International Engine of the Year Awards.

This event is like the ‘Oscars’ of the engine world. Voted for by a panel of 50 leading motoring journalists from all over the world, the competing engines are awarded points based on their efficiency, refinement, environmental attributes, plus importantly, how they perform on the road.

For the previous three years, the title of ‘Best Fuel Economy’ has gone to the Insight engine. Last year, it narrowly beat the newer Civic IMA engine. This year, the Civic IMA engine carries the torch onwards as the best fuel-efficient engine on the market.

Judges’ comments such as “The next step forward in bringing hybrid technology into the mainstream” and “Nobody has yet come up with a better option for the mid-term future of the automobile” suggest that Honda’s IMA system is the way of the future for fuel efficient passenger cars. Following its win last year, the Civic IMA (petrol hybrid engine) once again wins the 1.0 to 1.4-litre category with nearly double the final score of votes in comparison with the second place Peugeot-Citroen PSA 1.4-litre diesel engine.

The Honda S2000 engine once again wins its size category (1.8 to 2.0-litre) and like the Civic IMA engine, leaves its main competitors behind in the scoring. Judges praised the Honda S2000 engine for its ‘fantastic revs and specific output, which is one of the highest in the world’; this engine can spin up to 9000 rpm.

This year’s awards were presented at the Messe Stuttgart in Germany on occasion of the Engine Expo 2003. Honda is the only motor manufacturer exhibiting at the Engine Expo and this year, it is displaying alternatives to propulsion systems. Exhibits include the fuel cell car, FCX, the new 2.2-litre, 4-cylinder, 16-valve, all-aluminium common rail turbo diesel engine, the Civic IMA car and engine, this year’s F1 engine and other innovations.

1 COMMENT

Leave a Reply