Honda's Civic centres on an oil-burning diesel

By ALASTAIR SLOANE

Honda is to equip its latest model Civic with a diesel engine developed jointly with Isuzu.

But the oil-burning Civic won't be turning up in New Zealand yet. The engine is being built at Isuzu's plant in Poland for the European market only.

The high-tech diesel is part of a deal Honda signed with Isuzu parent General Motors in 1999. Under the agreement, Honda will supply GM with clean-burning, V6 petrol engines in return for 20,000 diesel engines for Europe.

The 74kW 1.7-litre engine has been designed exclusively for the Civic. The diesels will be shipped to Britain and fitted to the cars at Honda's Swindon assembly plant.

Isuzu is also helping Honda to develop an all-alloy, 2.0-litre diesel for the next-generation Accord.

Diesel-powered vehicles continue to grow in popularity. Volkswagen chairman Ferdinand Piech believes that by 2005, diesel will have overtaken petrol as the first choice for Europe's new-car buyers.

Honda has also unveiled its latest i-series engine, a compact and lightweight 1.3-litre four-cylinder the carmaker says is one of the most fuel-efficient in the world.

The "intensive combustion" engine produces 63kW at 5700 rpm and maximum torque of 119Nm at 2800rpm.

It is mated to Honda's Multimatic S CVT transmission which, says Honda, helps it to achieve fuel consumption of 4.35 litres/100km.

The i-DSI (dual sequential ignition) engine is equipped with two spark plugs for each cylinder, each one reacting to engine revs and load.

The benefits, says Honda, are a higher compression ratio and more efficient combustion.

The new engine is 8 per cent lighter and more compact than Honda's previous 1.3-litre engines, made possible by reducing the valve angles to create a smaller combustion chamber.

Honda plans to install the engine in a new small car to be unveiled in Japan next month.