Honda Commited to fuel economy
MOTEGI, JAPAN — Honda, like most of its rival Japanese automakers, has been taking it on the chin of late when it comes to its perceived lack of engineering and product innovation.
With up-to-date features like direct-injected and turbocharged engines and multi-gear or continuously variable (CVT) transmissions more than likely found in rivals from Germany, America or Korea, many customers perceive that Japanese automakers have lost their engineering mojo, or have forgotten how to innovate, after years of being at the top of the sales charts.
The day before it rolled out three concepts at the Tokyo Motor Show that showcased what we may be driving in 2020, Honda unveiled a slew of state-of-the-art technologies at the Twin Ring Motegi Super Speedway that will appear in new cars as early as next year.
The message was clear to the attending media: Honda is back in the business of innovation, and aims to be a leader in fuel economy.
“The first task, when I started as president, was to get ahead of (the competition), particularly in the area of hybrid batteries and fuel cells,” said Honda Motor CEO Takanobu Ito, who’s been with the company since 1978 and took over the top job in 2009.
Ito also said that Honda wants to have "the No. 1 fuel economy in each (vehicle) category within the next three years."
To get there, and under the marketing banner of “Earth Dreams,” the automaker is rolling out a family of new hybrid and gas engines, CVTs, and all-wheel-drive systems, all slated to appear in new models as early as next year.
On the hybrid front, Honda’s new 2013 midsize Accord (due late next year) will receive a plug-in electric hybrid version of the company’s new “two-mode” gas-electric system.
When mated with a four-cylinder engine, Honda is claiming equal power to the existing Toyota Camry Hybrid (200 hp), but better fuel economy than the Toyota’s 4.7L/100 km combined rating.
Technically, Honda’s new two-mode hybrid uses a twin-cam profile. However, instead of using the automaker’s traditional VTEC (Variable Valve Timing and Lift Electronic Control) profile for more power, the hybrid version shifts between an Atkinson cycle (for leaner fuel burning), and the traditional Otto cycle (for more power , depending on the torque load on the engine).
Honda says the system can also be combined with a V6, driven in electric-only mode for up 24 km, electric-and-gas for accelerating, or gas-only for highway cruising.
Once a leader, Honda is catching up to the competition by adding direct-injection and double overhead cams to its mainstream gas engines.
Dubbed “i-VTEC, the new engines promise more power and “at least” a 10 per cent fuel economy advantage over the outgoing powerplants.
For example, the 2013 Accord will get a new i-VTEC 2.4-litre four-cylinder with 181 hp and 177 lb.-ft. of torque (all preliminary ratings), up 4 hp and 16 lb.-ft., respectively, from the existing Accord four.
As well, a new 1.8L i-VTEC, with 148 hp and 133 lb.-ft. (gains of 8 hp and 5 lb.-ft.) may end up in the refreshed 2013 compact Civic, while a new 1.5 i-VTEC with 127 hp and 111 lb.-ft. (10 hp and 5 lb.-ft.) could find a home in the subcompact Fit.
Shying away from CVTs in the past, Honda is now working on three new units — one for mid-sized cars such as the Accord, and two for smaller vehicles such as the Civic and Fit — that will become the base automatic transmissions for all four-cylinder engines.
While competitor CVTs have a "rubber band" feeling similar to a slipping clutch under acceleration, the Honda system I drove at Motegi, in an Acura TSX test mule with the new i-VTEC 2.4, felt more like a traditional torque converter automatic, free of the high-pitch whine usually associated with CVTs.
Honda says the new i-VTEC’s engine control software has been remapped so there is less “hunting” for revs during hard acceleration.
Honda’s premium Acura brand will also see immediate benefits from the automaker’s recommitment to new tech.
“We are not satisfied with the brand’s current positioning. We want to make it more unique and sporty. We want to make it into a ‘high-end’ brand,” said Ito.
The midsize Acura TL sports sedan will receive a new 3.5-litre i-VTEC V6, now with 310 hp and 265 lb.-ft. of torque — 30 more horsepower and 11 more lb.-ft. than the current car’s base six.
More interestingly, Honda also had on hand an Accord engineering test mule that encompassed many of the new technologies that may end up in the oft-rumoured Acura NSX replacement.
Called Electric Super Handling-All-Wheel-Drive, and in the prototype we drove, a new i-VTEC 3.5-litre V6 was mated to an also-new seven-speed dual-clutch auto box with an integrated hybrid-electric motor that also uses the energy from regenerative braking to provide the power boost. All four wheels are independently powered, depending on the car’s cornering and traction needs.
When pressed, Honda engineers told us the hybrid powertrain was rated “well above 300 hp.”
But by the way the car shot forward from rest, my seat-of-the-pants were telling me that that number could be closer to 400 hp.
Speculation in the Motegi paddock was that a new concept car, in the spirit of the Acura NSX super car, would encompass all of the Accord Electric SH-AWD test mule’s new hardware, and is set to appear at next January’s Detroit auto show.
When asked about such a car, Ito replied, “I don’t know. Stay tuned!”
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