Honda V6 offers fuel for thought
18 June 2003 The 3.0-litre V6 uses new i-VTEC technology which closes down half the cylinders when cruising or during mild acceleration. Honda says this significantly lowers fuel consumption and emissions. Making its debut in the Inspire, which sits above the Accord family car in Honda's Japanese line-up, the 250bhp engine is able to match the fuel consumption of the Accord's 187bhp 2.4-litre four-cylinder unit. That gives it a figure of 31mpg on the combined cycle and emissions low enough to provide a company car tax rating of 26%. Ford's Mondeo ST220 also uses a 3.0-litre V6 but returns 28mpg and sits in the 33% band, while Audi's 3.0-litre A4 manages 27mpg and has a 34% company car tax rating. Honda says the new engine won't appear in any of its British cars. The technology is also unlikely to be used in existing V6 engines in the soon-to-be-scrapped Legend executive and NSX sports car. However, next spring the Accord will get a new 2.2-litre diesel unit that meets strict Euro IV emissions standards, helping it avoid the Government's 3% company car tax penalty for diesels. The CR-V 4x4 gets the engine a year later. Lean petrol-electric hybrid technology used in the Civic IMA saloon will be offered across the rest of the Civic range within the next two years, although it won't make it to other models until 2006 at the earliest. |
Page 1
ESSENTIAL AUTO TRADER LINKS
RSS FEEDS 
Receive the latest news and features directly to your internet browser or RSS reader.
Find out more and how to subscribe
Bookmark this page with: