Best Auto Photo/Shutterstock We all know and love Honda for its high-revving gasoline engines (remember the S600's 9,500-rpm motor?) and, more recently, its frugal hybrid powertrains. However, the Japanese automaker's legacy isn't just built on gasoline, as it used to offer a family of diesel engines that powered popular cars like the Civic, Accord, CR-V, and City. Interestingly, Honda's former senior chief engineer, Kenichi Nagahiro, was far from a fan of diesel engines due to their noise and smell. But diesel was booming in Europe in the early 2000s, so Nagahiro locked in and built Honda's first in-house diesel engine — the 2.2-liter i-CTDi. And since Nagahiro hated diesel engines in their then-current forms, he ensured the 2.2-liter i-CTDi would live up to his standards. Honda also introduced diesel engines for the Indian market back in 2013, giving buyers a more fuel-efficient alternative in models such as the Amaze and City. However, that changed over the following decade as emissions regulations became stricter and customer preferences shifted toward gasoline and hybrid vehicles. Honda began phasing out diesel models in Europe in 2019, with the withdrawal completed by 2021. In India, Honda continued selling diesel cars for longer but ended production in early 2023. By then, India was the last place Honda still built diesel engines, including those for CR-Vs sold in Thailand and the Philippines. These decisions were not down to any single problem, and certainly not reliability (after all, diesel engines generally last longer than their gas counterparts). Instead, they were a consequence of the growing cost of keeping these engines compliant with tightening emissions regulations, declining demand, and Honda's changing powertrain strategy. The diesel engines Honda offered emirhankaramuk/Shutterstock The 2.2-liter four-cylinder i-CTDi debuted in 2003 and appeared in European-market versions of the Accord and, later, the Civic, CR-V, and FR-V. The 2.2-liter i-CTDi was compliant with Euro 4 emissions regulations, had a rated mileage of 43.5 mpg on Europe's official test cycle (52.3 mpg in imperial gallons), and produced 138 hp and 251 lb-ft of torque. In 2007, Honda introduced an updated Euro-5-compliant version of the engine, dubbed the 2.2-liter i-DTEC, which also powered the Accord, Civic, and CR-V in several markets. The engine developed 147 to 178 hp and 258 to 280 lb-ft of torque. In 2012, Honda introduced its smaller 1.6-liter four-cylinder i-DTEC, part of its "Earth Dreams" line of engines. The 1.6-liter i-DTEC was over 100 pounds lighter and more fuel-efficient (65.4 mpg in the Civic; 78.5 in imperial gallons) than the 2.2-liter i-DTEC, and attracted lower taxes in Europe because it dipped below the 100-gram-per-kilometer mark for carbon dioxide emissions. In Europe, the 1.6-liter i-DTEC found its way under the hoods of the Civic, CR-V, and HR-V. It was also used in the Civic and CR-V sold in India, with the latter also available in Thailand and the Philippines. Output ranged from 118 to 158 hp and 221 to 258 lb-ft of torque. Then came the 1.5-liter four-cylinder i-DTEC in 2013 — Honda's final in-house diesel engine. Developed specifically for India, the 1.5-liter i-DTEC was essentially a downsized variant of the 1.6-liter i-DTEC engine, and made its debut in the first-generation Amaze. Honda subsequently offered the 1.5-liter i-DTEC in the India-spec City, Mobilio, Jazz, BR-V, and WR-V. The engine developed 100 hp and 148 lb-ft of torque, and was rated for staggeringly good fuel efficiency of up to 64.4 mpg on India's official test cycle (27.4 km/l). Why Honda gave up on diesel emirhankaramuk/Shutterstock The main reason Honda abandoned diesel cars was the increasingly difficult economics of keeping them compliant with tougher emissions regulations, especially in light of decreasing global demand. In Europe, the aftermath of Volkswagen's Dieselgate emissions scandal invited greater scrutiny of diesel cars, while stricter Euro 6 requirements and real-world emissions testing increased the engineering burden on automakers. Compared to gasoline engines, diesels generally require more elaborate exhaust after-treatment systems to control emissions. Updating these systems, validating them, and certifying them for different models adds development and production costs. Honda announced in 2019 that it would phase out diesel cars in Europe by 2021 as it shifted toward electrified vehicles. India presented a similar challenge. The introduction of Bharat Stage 6 (BS6) emissions standards in April 2020 had already made diesel engines more expensive to update, and the implementation of real-driving emissions requirements in April 2023 added further complications. Honda decided that the investment needed to upgrade its 1.5-liter i-DTEC engine was not justified by its sales figures. According to Autocar Professional, diesel accounted for just 7% of Honda India's sales, down from 21% after the BS6 transition in 2020. Honda also told Autocar Professional that gasoline cars accounted for more than 90% of its overall sales in India. The report noted that the wider market was moving the same way: in the decade leading up to 2022, diesel's share of India's passenger vehicle market shrank to 20%, down from a peak of 54%. Honda India ceased production of diesel engines by early 2023, including the 1.6-liter i-DTEC mill it was exporting to Thailand. And so, in a span of just two decades, Honda closed the book on diesel engines for good.
Liked by Benjamin Tremblay, Kayla Lewis
Liked by Benjamin Tremblay, Kayla Lewis
Liked by Benjamin Tremblay, Kayla Lewis