Posted 23 December 2011 - 03:09 AM
The engine choice is for a very good reason .....
If you've ever had a 2.2 CTDI you will realise that -
1 - a petrol revs pretty quick in comparison to a normal Diesel engine....
2 - The Honda 2.2 engine is different.... in the fact that is a redesigned engine in that it doesn't have the same mass and accelerations as a standard Diesel - it is actually somewhere above a standard Diesel and will actually increase in revs slightly quicker and closer to that of a petrol ( obviously not as quick).
A Honda unit to me will always be better than a vauxhall in the fact that the engine is built _ ( in my opinion) to a better standard and the technology is better ...
" here is why "
There is, says Honda's engine man in charge of the Accord i-CTDi programme, little reason why a diesel engine can't be made to rev to the stratospheric heights of a typical Honda V-TEC petrol engine. But Kenichi Hagahiro adds that there's also little point, because it would negate a diesel's key advantages of economy and low-speed torque.
It's nevertheless hard to reconcile Hagahiro the V-TEC expert with Hagahiro the diesel man. Especially as he hates diesels. If Honda had to have one - and Honda does because Europe buys so many of the things - then it would have to be a diesel imbued with as much Honda-ness as possible.
Which is why this new 2.2-litre, 16-valve, twin-cam, direct-injection, common-rail turbodiesel with twin balancer shafts does things a little differently from most. It had to do the usual diesel things, but it also had to be very refined (class best would be good) and have the accelerator response of a Civic Type-R. Hmm, tricky.
Economy is 52.3mpg on the official combined test cycle, so that's OK. Torque is 251lb ft, which is more than OK - it tops the class. Power is 140bhp, which will do. But figures paint but one corner of the picture. You need to drive this i-CTDi to appreciate why it could be the most impressive diesel yet.
It starts. It idles, with no detectable vibro-massage and hardly any diesel 'jingle-jangle', as Honda calls it, just a bit more of a tick in the tickover. It moves off, it accelerates, it cruises with no thrum or transmitted tingle; just a four-cylinder hum slightly deeper than a petrol engine's and a gentle whine overlaying the soundtrack. That whine maybe shouldn't be there, but it adds aural character and makes you even less aware of the compression-ignition that's going on. It's one sweet engine.
It pulls from about 800rpm to 5000rpm without protest or harshness. The accelerator response pauses a little at low speeds pre-boost, but then the boost builds so progressively, so mechanically that there's no sense of inertia, hysteresis, the rubber-band effect, call it what you will. This also means that you don't get the torque-thwack of a Golf TDI PD 150, say, but the acceleration is just as insistent and there's that extra rev-range to exploit. For the record, 0-62mph comes in 9.4sec, max speed is 131mph.
Many of the newest diesels have six-speed gearboxes both for relaxed cruising and to mask the narrow torque-band, but the Honda makes do with five, lopes along motorways and is never caught gasping. With the turbo awake the accelerator response really is crisp, keen and linear.
No Honda engine is easier to exploit; it's always on the pull, helping you make the most of what is the best combination of sharp, fluid, interactive handling and supple ride in the class. I spent a while driving most of my favourite local roads, tight and twisty, fast and open, and it was one of the most harmonious, most complete drives I've had all year. It just gelled. I've since been enthusing about this engine to every car-literate person I've met. This is the best Accord, no question.
So, how? Compression, or the lack of, is the key. Most diesels have a compression ratio of around 20:1, but this one runs at 16.7:1. This improves both refinement and economy under gentle running, because there's less resistance to the pistons' movements (a diesel is always gulping an excess of air, which needs to be compressed). When more torque is needed, the variable-nozzle quick-response turbo obliges.
Other niceties are a dual-mass flywheel for further vibration damping, cooled exhaust-gas recirculation to reduce nitrogen oxides (it's Euro 4 emissions-compliant with no diesel tax penalty) and injectors with just one pre-squirt before the main one, even though other car-makers now use several squirts to smooth out the combustion shock. Why not Honda? 'We've got the results we want, and the injectors last longer.'
And, finally, there are the continuously variable swirl control valves in four out of the eight inlet tracts. When closed, the air entering the cylinders via the remaining ports sets up a swirl into whose vortex a small squirt of fuel can stay concentrated enough to combust. Result: very economical light-load running. The valves open as torque demands rise, but now there's more fuel so it doesn't matter that the swirling stops.
For me it is like comparing normal - with something a bit better ???
Cheers for the recommendation. But i had a civic with the engine and it got 55mpg + always. made 73mpg at times and was the quietest diesel for its year available.
A 2.2 Diesel engine is oversized for me at 140 BHP .... so if i make it 215 or something .. it should be a nice engine to work...
M44rkr
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