Honda Engines, The Little Engine that Could Do a lot!
I’m an avid Honda “junkie” for lack of a better term and a self proclaimed car enthusiast; I even enjoy getting my hands dirty in and under the car when it tickles my fancy. Being an avid “motor head”, I frequent car forums on the internet to keep up to speed on the latest and greatest all across the automotive industry.
Just the other day I was Googling for some Honda engine specs when I came across the Mugen Civic RR Concept; needless to say I was blown away! Suddenly something began to stir inside me as I scrolled down to the bottom of the page and read the comments left by other people. I was amazed at the amount of idiotic remarks regarding Honda’s and their “nonexistent” torque figures from what seemed to be MANY uniformed people and general Honda haters.
Look, I understand Hondas don’t make much torque, but what I find stupid are remarks such as, “I never realized ALL cars make torque except for Hondas!” When people argue that Honda engines don’t make torque, I ask, “In comparison to WHAT, exactly? A 5.7L HEMI, a 6.0L GTO, a 4.6L Mustang? What?” That question is typically followed by a blank stare, but occasionally there’s an “intelligent” person that responds with the words, Evo, STI, or SRT-4. My response to them is typically a chuckle followed by a straight face.
If you’re wondering why, you’re probably one of the 2 aforementioned people; the muscle car aficionado or the boost fanatic. If you’re STILL reading this with a blank look on your face, you need to Google the words displacement, boost, and naturally aspirated in relation to combustion engines.
Hondas, for those of you that don’t know, have for the most part been and will continue to be naturally aspirated or N/A. They’re built for economy; for the average Joe…with a few exceptions. A big portion of the cars they produce have 4 cylinder engines; these engines currently range from 1.7L to 2.4L. Muscle cars on the other hand typically have 2-3 times as much displacement!
Displacement is a big factor in the torque produced by an engine. So to say a Honda doesn’t produce any torque in comparison to an SRT-8, Z06, or GT500 really isn’t saying much. It’s the equivalent of me comparing a V6 Mustang to a Lamborghini.
Now you’re probably wondering, “Well, what about my Evo!?!?! That’s a 4 Banger and I can smoke your Honda!” Well then, let’s see. An Evo has a 2.0L, 4 cylinder, turbo’d engine pushing 14ft/lbs of boost, respectively. It makes a delicious 276HP and 279ft/lbs of torque. An STI has a 2.5L, 4 cylinder engine producing 300HP and a whopping 300ft/lbs of torque. And then there’s the budget priced SRT-4; 2.4L, boosted and pushing approximately 240HP. So what’s my point here? These freaking cars need to be boosted or have rather large engines to outperform a N/A Honda engine!!!
Lets Compare Honda Engines
Let’s take 2 production Hondas for comparison’s sake. An RSX Type S has a 2.0L producing 201HP and 142ft/lbs of torque. A Honda S2000 has a 2.2L engine producing 240HP and 160ft/lbs of torque. What’s the big deal here, you may ask? These cars are N/A!!! Honda makes the only cars that are near track ready from the factory. Honda makes the highest output per liter production engines in the world (excluding Mazda’s rotary engines which are in a class all their own). And although the engines don’t make the torque of a V6 or V8, they make the best sport compact “performance” cars in their class, but before I go any further, let’s make one more comparison to see just how much less torque Hondas make than competitors’ cars in the same class.
If you look at this list of cars, you’ll note that only cars COMPARABLE to the RSX Type S in terms of higher engine output are the cars with engines larger than 2.0L…and even then they can’t compete with the RSX Type S on the track or otherwise. Again, let me re-iterate that we’re talking STOCK cars. The only car that can match or potentially outperform the RSX Type S is the turbo’d Golf GTI. If I were to throw in the Integra Type R and Civic Type R into the mix, NONE of the N/A cars on this list would compare.
The point here is that although other manufacturers also make small displacement engines, none of them catch as much flack as Hondas; why? Because Hondas became extremely popular and help define the racing scene of the 90’s through now. Honda made daily drivers and with a few tweaks, we made them race cars. Many are quick to point out the lack of torque, but conveniently overlook the drivability, reliability, and performance that ONLY a Honda can deliver. Honda has set many standards and received many awards and “firsts” in the automotive industry, but such things are also overlooked more often than not.
So I challenge anyone to point out another N/A motor with the exception of a rotary (because it’s a totally different configuration) that could produce as much power as Honda’s K20 (Type S) and that is as “track-ready” from the dealer.
(to be continued…)
-DigitaLiquiD-
