Honda’s CEO Takanobu Ito has unveiled a lineup of redesigned four and six-cylinder engines and a family of continuously variable transmissions. The engines will start arriving in Honda vehicles next year. All these new engines will be offered by the end of 2013 in at least one Honda vehicle. The engines, which will be promoted under the Earth Dreams brand, have direct injection and double-overhead cams. Some vehicles now on the market could receive the new engines mid-cycle, before the vehicles receive full redesigns, said Keiji Ohtsu, a chief engineer with Honda R&D Co. But some current Honda vehicles could keep their base single-cam four cylinder engines as a cost-saving measure until they get a full redesign.
“We could be first in the marketplace” for fuel economy, said Tetsuo Iwamura, president of Honda USA.” That could bring the Honda name back up.” The specifications for the new Honda engines are:
A 2.4-liter inline-four with 181 hp and 177 pounds-feet of torque. This will be the base engine in the redesigned Accord coming in end 2012, and could find its way into the mid-cycle change for the CR-V in 2013.
A 1.8-liter inline-four with 148 hp and 133 pounds-feet of torque, which could be installed in the 2013 midcycle change for the Civic.
A 1.5-liter inline-four with 127 hp and 111 pounds-feet of torque for the Fit/Jazz, perhaps in time for the mid-cycle change in 2012.
