Honda’s engine used to power a supercharged monster

 Projects  No Responses »
Jun 262011
 

I see Civics every day. There are lots of them that people use to get from point A to point B; different generations and in different shapes – some are shining and proudly showing off their body-lines, others eaten by the rust from the ground up.
But there is one thing that has always made Hondas stand from the crowd of similar Toyotas, Nissans, and countless Korean makes presently storming the market, and it is their engines. Tracing their heritage to the car and motorcycle racing, Honda continues to design its engines being more performance oriented, comparing to the other fellow Asian opponents.

 

It’s interesting that it is a rather common practice to use Honda’s souped-up engines in building one of a kind concept cars or racing fireballs. Have a look at the following example of this phenomenon.

What you see here is called Ariel Atom – which is nothing, but a student project of Nick Smart from the University of Coventry. This concept car is built around Honda Civic Type R power train and is ready to be driven on the common highways, though it doesn’t have the doors, or windows, neither stereo system or air conditioning.

I wonder, if you had asked yourself a question, as to why so many boutique companies that are capable of coming up with rare and exceptional sports cars choose the easy way and equip their creations with already known and widely used engines bought from the mainline manufacturers? Why in stead of coming up with an exclusive multi-cylinder engine, they instead weld together two Volkswagen V6s, for example?

And the answer to this is the resource and reliability of a well tested and time-proven engine that can not be beaten by exclusive, newly designed prototype engines. The same goes true in the case of the Ariel Atom – Honda’s Civic Type R engine has all the muscles, reliability and the output one may want, with none of the hassles. This popularized creation of the engineering craftsmanship produces 245 horse powers and 218 N·m of torque at 7,000 r/pm, utilizing Mugen parts, namely camshafts, exhaust and ECU. All this power derived from Honda’s engine allows Atom to reach 60 mph in just 2.9 s, with the maximum speed of 225 km/h.

So regardless what would be the choice of the prospective buyer – a fast and furious Civic or Accord Type R, a supercharged Honda-powered Atom, or a reliable and socially acceptable Civic, with Honda engines one can never go wrong!

Honda rolls out 2012 model of bestselling Civic

 Cars  2 Responses »
Jun 082011
 

The auto critics were well aware that it was in Detroit that Honda rolled out the new 2012 Civic concept.
Now as we enter the hot summer months, Honda’s ninth-generation Civic should had already arrived to the dealerships, following a somewhat delayed schedule, comparing to the timetable of the rest of the automakers.

But Civic’s appearance at the Detroit auto gives us a quick preview of what will eventually land in the showrooms. Following the traditional Honda fashion, the concept looks practically identical to car, which will go in production, though it comes equipped with a bit more aggressive wheel and headlights treatments.

The concept shown in Detroit is nothing, but a styling mule – there are no signs of an interior or the engine. Honda purposefully chose not to announce any engine details for the new model, but one could safely conclude that if will be a four-cylinder engine line, which will definitely include a base version and a higher-charged option for the sportier Si trim. The current Civic in production uses a 1.8-liter, 140-hp I4, while the Si comes equipped with a 2.0-liter, 197-hp I4.

Much discussion has been devoted to Honda’s decision to postpone the introduction of the new Civic, giving birth to rumors of Honda scrapping its work and choosing to get back to the drawing board and the basics. However, as a Honda spokesman confirmed, this was not the case. The spokesman attested to the fact that the delay held up the introduction of the new Civic only by three or four months, and the changes were introduced in response to market demand.

The concept shown in Detroit is nothing, but a styling mule – there are no signs of an interior or the engine. Honda purposefully chose not to announce any engine details for the new model, but one could safely conclude that if will be a four-cylinder engine line, which will definitely include a base version and a higher-charged option for the sportier Si trim. The current Civic in production uses a 1.8-liter, 140-hp I4, while the Si comes equipped with a 2.0-liter, 197-hp I4.

Much discussion has been devoted to Honda’s decision to postpone the introduction of the new Civic, giving birth to rumors of Honda scrapping its work and choosing to get back to the drawing board and the basics. However, as a Honda spokesman confirmed, this was not the case. The spokesman attested to the fact that the delay held up the introduction of the new Civic only by three or four months, and the changes were introduced in response to market demand.

The result that we see is a car that is evolutionary, rather than evolutionary. But is the bad at all? I reminded of the success of the American classic 18 wheelers or the Harley Davidson motorcycles, which continue to stay on their path, perfecting what they already know is the best in its class. Dimensions are close to those of the vehicle currently in production. The suspension retains the familiar MacPherson struts in the front and a multilink setup for the rear.

And finally, the answer that is of interest to all the prospective buyers of the new Civics. The base pricing should be match closely with the current car’s price of $16,355 for the coupe and $16,555 for the sedan. So, whose will it be?