Honda R&D chief defines future powertrain direction, turbo engines not likely for majority of SEA markets

Honda 1.0 litre turbo 01

In an interview with WardsAuto recently, Honda R&D chief Keiji Ohtsu shed some light on the automaker’s future direction for its powertrains. Since its “turbocharged” plan was announced at the 2013 Tokyo Motor Show, Honda has put five new engines and three CVT transmissions in the market, and it is far from done.

This year, Honda will launch two more engines, and Ohtsu revealed a few more plans leading up to year 2020. “We are focusing on weight reduction (in the future), changing V6 to inline-four engines, and inline fours to three cylinders,” Ohtsu told the publication.

Given the three new turbocharged engines it revealed in 2013, the R&D chief confirmed that the goal was to meet “regional needs in North America, Europe and China.” However, he did say that the 1.0 litre turbo four, which hasn’t found its way into a production model yet (due for Euro-spec Civic in 2017), is still under development. The 1.5 litre turbo can be found powering the 10th-gen Civic and Jade RS, for example, while the 2.0 turbo powers the Civic Type R.

He mentioned later that these markets were continually adopting more stringent emissions regulations, resulting in car makers switching their focus to engine downsizing. “China offers the added incentive of a tax break for smaller-displacement engines, further encouraging downsizing,” he explained.

But while the Chinese market is set to gain Honda’s turbocharged power, it looks like the rest of South East Asia (SEA) may not be so lucky. “Depending on the market and region, but particularly in Asia and other emerging markets, we will continue offering our naturally-aspirated lineup, which tends to be less costly. In South East Asia, we will supply our current lineup of naturally-aspirated engines,” Ohtsu stated.

With Honda moving towards turbocharging in many markets, it was anticipated that the Japanese manufacturer will be looking to gradually replace its 2.4 litre naturally-aspirated four-pot with its new 1.5 litre turbocharged mill. It seems likely that our market will continue to feature N/A engines for the foreseeable future.

Ohtsu did mention that he was also expecting Honda’s hybrid-powered vehicles to storm the global market, but claimed that in its attempt to achieve ultimate fuel efficiency levels, a turbocharged hybrid isn’t likely to take shape any time soon. “We expect the ratio of hybrids to grow, although for the time being Honda won’t use turbocharged engines in our hybrids,” he explained.

With turbo-hybrid powertrains out of the way, looking ahead, the Honda R&D chief said that it plans to continue developing pure turbocharged engines for greater performance and efficiency. “We’re just approaching the midway point in our plan. We eventually want to achieve a heat efficiency of 50% through lean turbocharging. We will focus on HLSI, or homogeneous lean-charge spark-ignition technology,” he said.

Honda turbo lineup 01

“Of the two leading combustion technology candidates – the other being HCCI, or homogeneous-charge-compression ignition – we have opted for spark ignition because we feel that HCCI is limited in terms of rpm, torque and operational band or range. HLSI is better suited to Honda’s engine concept. We’ve researched both, of course.”

To further elaborate, HCCI engines require no spark plug type of igniter to create a ignite the fuel mixture. A reaction is created purely by raising the density and temperature in the combustion chamber via sheer compression until the fuel mixture ignites spontaneously.

“If we achieve 50% heat efficiency, it would put our conventional engines on an equal footing with our hybrids. Using the JC08 test mode, the Honda Fit, for instance, would improve to 2.7 litres per 100 km from 3.9 litres per 100 km at present. This is an estimate, of course.”

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Chris Aaron

With an equal passion for fast cars and everyday workhorses, Chris Aaron maintains a passion for European makes, Formula 1, playing the electric guitar and spending endless hours on the PlayStation - first-person shooters and the Gran Turismo franchise are his favourites. He also finds it strange to have written this in the third person.

 

Comments

  • Eugene on Jan 05, 2016 at 6:22 pm

    Again…. Malaysia is given peanut engine…..

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 41 Thumb down 5
    • kapchai on Jan 05, 2016 at 6:31 pm

      Not only Malaysia lah – SEA. If you don’t need the complexity, why go for it? More expensive to maintain too

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 11 Thumb down 29
      • Which means those can afford continental and RON97, still be buying Audi/ BMW/ Merz/ Mini/ Volkswagen/ Ford/ Peugeot. Hehehe

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 24 Thumb down 2
        • schoolkid on Jan 06, 2016 at 1:24 am

          Turbo car doesn’t mean must use RON 97. Preve Turbo does not need RON 97 at least.

          Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 2
          • mgkn turbo cekai kot

            Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 1
          • 205nm on Jan 06, 2016 at 10:17 am

            Hahahaha preve torquey turbo engine still smokes civic n/a.

            Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 1
          • DonkeyKong on Jan 06, 2016 at 5:41 pm

            Bukan turbo cekai. Compression rendah & ECU yg digunakan ada julat ignition retard yg mencukupi utk mencegah knocking. So, RON95 tiada masalah digunakan dgn engine CFE

            Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 1
    • Due to our peanut government do care on the car emission control to protect the local car industry.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 12
      • Lowrpm on Jan 05, 2016 at 8:02 pm

        Uncle believes turbo is only for vroom vroom not related to drivebility

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 4
      • local on Jan 05, 2016 at 8:30 pm

        Current local car actually already achieve Euro 5 standard and ready for euro 6

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 6
      • Oh. That means god-country-jangan-persoal SG oso peanut Gov cuz the last I heard they oso is part of S-E-A.

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 1
    • Dr Mamak on Jan 06, 2016 at 9:27 am

      CVT is the real problem and fun killer

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 15 Thumb down 3
  • TopsyBoXyTurvy on Jan 05, 2016 at 6:37 pm

    Si pei sien after reading this news… :(

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 23 Thumb down 2
  • AShahriman on Jan 05, 2016 at 6:37 pm

    Do manufacturer think that we are so dump not to pay a little bit more for a turbo than normal NA engine (if given a choice), for obviously more efficient & saves money in long run?

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 17 Thumb down 2
    • Sgt Scoop on Jan 05, 2016 at 7:08 pm

      I think you and I would both pay more for turbocharged engines but the majority of uncles who buy Hondas in Malaysia probably wouldn’t.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 7
    • BLT_Club on Jan 06, 2016 at 2:24 pm

      By the way you spell dumb as dump, yes you are dump….

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 5 Thumb down 0
  • You have legislation to blame for that. The governments over her are not pushing for stricter emissions standards so they should not bother

    With that being said,, I always have a beef with car companies that do not provide a ‘world car’ or ‘world technology’ to us..

    I despise region engineering (avanza, Brio etc) as they are less safer and built down to a cost and a half the cars next to their western and japanese counterparts…

    The big 3 jap carmakers do this the most blatantly which is why I always avoid buying from them…. if the smaller guys such as Mazda can do it..I shouldn’t see a reason why they can’t…

    the SEA car market is one of the biggest in the world..it’s time it’s buyers got more intelligent..say no to low spec..old tech and unsafe cars…

    Well-loved. Like or Dislike: Thumb up 52 Thumb down 1
    • andrekua on Jan 05, 2016 at 7:58 pm

      How to push? Remember hicom lorry? Easily the most polluted engine, yet still passing inspection without bribing. Why? They really can’t fail something they just pass within months.

      Is Proton engine doing better? I don’t know, but it’s a big IF.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 6
    • Nosushi on Jan 05, 2016 at 8:32 pm

      Say no to vios

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 19 Thumb down 10
  • DPCraft on Jan 05, 2016 at 7:30 pm

    But atleast give us more powerful NA Engine like the US, 2.4l engine here only produces 226NM torque, while the US 2.4l gets 240NM+ torque. Current 2.0 is also underpower compare to competitors.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 2
  • andrekua on Jan 05, 2016 at 7:55 pm

    Good news for crony, bad news for consumers. I think some minister will probably pop up and say Malaysians prefer slower car because it’s cheaper. LoL

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 20 Thumb down 4
    • So means SG oso crony gov and LHL will say SG pipu prefer slower car becoz its cheaper,lol.
      Read back ur Geography book dude.

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 5
      • andrekua on Jan 06, 2016 at 12:39 pm

        LoL

        I know my English isn’t really that good but I didn’t expect someone could be doing worse than me.

        I said good news for crony because low cost but they sell expensive. I didn’t say thanks to crony that we are stuck with old engine. Did I say crony forced the NA engine on us?

        Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
        • Lolz. I dun dispute ur england, but ur geography is even worse, cuz South East Asia does just mean Malaysia, dude

          Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
          • andrekua on Jan 06, 2016 at 9:09 pm

            LOL… I dont really care what makes it into Thailand, Singapore, Philipines or Indonesia.

            I only care about what makes it into our Bolehland. I have been telling my mom her new Civic which she has anticipated would come turbocharged. Now its all gone up in smoke. Even a 60 years old auntie is passionate about Honda.

            Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 0
  • Will mac on Jan 05, 2016 at 8:16 pm

    So that confirms Thailand won’t get the 1.5 turbo civic. What a shame. That really opens the market up to the sportier Mazda

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 18 Thumb down 1
  • Abhanaa on Jan 05, 2016 at 8:58 pm

    Proton CFE oso Euro 5 Engine. Honda City Euro 2. Common Honda. Why dun wan gv us better engine ??

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 11 Thumb down 1
    • Mecha on Jan 06, 2016 at 10:31 am

      Remember many CVT gearbox in old city broken due to wrong gearbox oil? Maybe the mechanics here have not enough skills to take care the new turbo engine

      Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 0
  • Consumer on Jan 05, 2016 at 9:29 pm

    Is the SEA do not have enough knowledgeable technical support for this complexity turbo charged technology? i don’t see why is there a reason to not introduce it here. At least give the consumers to have more choices even though it could be pricier.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 0
  • samuel on Jan 05, 2016 at 9:29 pm

    T0 Honda R&D chief Keiji Ohtsu,

    Please be made aware that we Malaysians are not to be compared with other South East Asia countries. I believe your past experience from previous sales of the 9th generation brought you to think that Malaysians are not willing to pay more for better features. Let me tell you this that you had made a BIG MISTAKE. Most of us here are wiling to pay RM150,000 for the latest Honda Civic 1.5 litre touring series equipment with all the Honda Sensing Suite. I hope that this would change your mind to introduce the 1.5 litre turbo with Honda Sensing Suite here in SEA.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 11 Thumb down 16
  • FIST (Member) on Jan 05, 2016 at 9:33 pm

    Sod off Honda. I was looking forward for the 1.5 Turbo Civic

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
  • Badguy on Jan 05, 2016 at 9:36 pm

    Actually Honda should consider to bring in the 1.5 T Civic, for top spec at least…
    Malaysia consumers are always willing to pay a little bit more for better cars.
    Correct me if I’m wrong

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 17 Thumb down 0
  • Buy recon civic in 10 years time

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 1
  • Dont support honda anymore, double standard for SEA market, unlike germany marques apply the same for all engine specs, f30 328i is the same engine for here and US.. Lousy Honda.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 23 Thumb down 1
  • Sam Loo on Jan 05, 2016 at 10:23 pm

    As long as its not a kimchi, it will have good RV

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 17
  • alldisc on Jan 05, 2016 at 10:57 pm

    So sorry for Honda fans in Malaysia. A big loss to them.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 8 Thumb down 1
  • Honda is ripping consumer, once again.
    we can continue to use thier Old engine and the 5 speed old gearbox.

    or even using some sluggish soft cvt in the b-segment.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 8 Thumb down 0
  • schoolkid on Jan 06, 2016 at 1:37 am

    Maybe Malaysia is different. In Malaysia , 1.6L and below get only RM90+ roadtax compare to ~RM380 for a 2.0L. Besides that car below 1.8L displacement get lower excise duty tax rates. If qualify as EEV even cheaper taxes. So we might be an exception like how we get the JDM Civic Type R previous gen .

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
  • Mohammad Azri Azmi on Jan 06, 2016 at 4:51 am

    all other company are racing to produce cleaner engine. where are our local manfacturers stand in this matter? i have a concept that may revolutionize the fuel efficiency without designing a brand new block and header design. how can i pitch the idea to be developed? my idea focuses on piston deactivation concept while minimizing the lost in power. someone who can help me develop my design to be marketed please do contact me. thx.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • turbocor on Jan 06, 2016 at 8:21 am

    u want tebo but preve la…

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 1
  • Battu on Jan 06, 2016 at 9:13 am

    wow, feels like being discriminated as a SEA region. what, big Honda dont think we SEA people dont deserve their latest tech? seems like we only deserve cheap ugly ass car like brio, and dinosaur tech engine.
    Discrimination.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 6 Thumb down 0
  • sohhai on Jan 06, 2016 at 9:15 am

    Damn Honda. You were on a hot streak these past few years and could have cement yourself as the #1 automaker in SEA with the turbo engines but you blew it

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 2 Thumb down 0
  • chowhai on Jan 06, 2016 at 9:39 am

    Firstly, don’t Malaysia have the EEV incentive while Thailand has the CO2 emission tax break? Introducing the turbo engines can help to reduce the price of their vehicle and increase sales.

    Secondly, we can get a 1.6L Turbo VW Passat for only RM170k here which is slightly less than the 2.4L Accord. Arguably, you are also getting a better spec in the Passat compared to the Accord. So I don’t understand how the NA engines will be less costly

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 1 Thumb down 0
  • Kok Chi on Jan 06, 2016 at 11:05 am

    He mentioned ‘depending on the market & region’. I think for Malaysia, it would make more sense to have the 1.5L turbo here due to our road tax structure. I don’t think Honda would be crazy to introduce 2.4L engine here as the top range for a Civic as the road tax would be a killer for a C segment car.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 7 Thumb down 0
  • vodka on Jan 06, 2016 at 11:33 am

    I had high hopes when I saw the leaked pictures of the 10th generation Civic undergoing roadtests in Thailand with twin tail pipes (for US spec, twin tailpipes = 1.5T). Hope Honda Malaysia will bring in the 1.5T (eurospec) for the top of the line Civic here. Malaysian consumers are mature, and will buy this top of the line turbo Civic as a cheaper alternative to German turbo offerings.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 0
  • Rockybalboa on Jan 06, 2016 at 11:55 am

    Meaning honda japan doesnt give a shit on sea buyers, coz they know fools like us will still buy anyway, turbocharged or not. Don’t blame them, blame ourselves…

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 4 Thumb down 0
  • davidoff on Jan 06, 2016 at 12:22 pm

    mr ohtsu got trauma when saw all the bad response on cfe turbo, so no vtec turbo for sea esp msia soon

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 0 Thumb down 0
  • blaster88 on Jan 06, 2016 at 1:58 pm

    Both has it pros and cons….NA bigger displacement, heavier leading to higher fuel consumption and emission. Higher revs for the car lover…

    Turbos, smaller, lighter and more low end pull, fuel efficient and less pollutants in the air. More so can use lower RON. However, higher long term maintenance as there tend to operate at high temperatures esp in the tropics. Higher temperature and heat mean parts would less durable…you pick your poison.

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 0
  • gaviny on Jan 06, 2016 at 3:28 pm

    padan muka, honda fanbois still buy despite being fed taik, now honda also learnt ‘wah low cost , high profit’ lets keep this model

    Like or Dislike: Thumb up 3 Thumb down 1
 

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