Short Take Road Test
Honda diesels are nothing new to Europeans. But they are new to Americans, or will be when Honda begins selling a 50-state diesel engine bolted into the 2009 Accord. Before that Accord goes on sale, we thought we might like to spend some time with a Honda diesel to get an idea of what Europeans can buy today. Fortunately, Honeywell Turbo, the same guys who let us borrow a BMW 330d awhile back [September 2006], had a European-spec diesel Honda Civic i-CTDi for evaluation purposes. Better yet, the 2.2-liter turbo-diesel that powers the Civic is the same basic engine that will be under the Accord’s hood.
The diesel engine features dual overhead cams, four valves per cylinder, and an intercooled turbocharger. The horsepower is a slightly uninspiring 138 ponies (the 1.8-liter four in a Civic LX has 140 horsepower), but as with all turbo-diesels, the torque is what impresses. A wheel-spinning 251 pound-feet arrive at a low 2000 rpm and give the Civic something that a stock U.S. Civic has never had, serious torque—U.S. Civics with the standard 1.8-liter engine churn out a comparatively wimpy 128 pound-feet. Even at part throttle, the diesel’s torque jams the driver into his seatback. No more revving the engine toward the redline to tap into the power, as the diesel engine thrusts the Civic forward with nary a whiff of effort. Even in sixth gear, with the engine turning above 1500 rpm, the shove of torque is only a tap of the accelerator away.
There’s little reason to rev the engine past 4000 rpm, as the power drops off abruptly and the sound nearing the 4500-rpm redline reminds us of our days riding in a school bus. At the track the diesel Civic ran from 0 to 60 mph in 7.6 seconds, a scant 0.1 second quicker than the last gas Civic LX we tested [December 2006] but a half-second quicker than a Civic hybrid [January 2006]. We also found that the diesel Civic weighed 368 more pounds than the Civic LX and 171 more pounds than the Civic hybrid. Without doubt, some of that weight must be blamed on the more complex (turbocharger, intercooler, high-pressure injection system) diesel engine.
