First Drive: Honda hosts at Research and Developement centre

By Richard Russell
MOTEGI, Japan – For a company with a reputation for innovation and engineering, Honda has been surprisingly quiet on those fronts in recent years. No new engines, transmissions, hybrid, electric or plug-in systems in an era when everyone else in the industry is rushing them into production.

In what could be called a comeback or a reaffirmation of what put the company on the map, Honda is about to unveil a steady stream of new innovations that will find their way into everything the company builds, from lawn mowers and leaf blowers to motorcycles and cars of all sizes and stripes.

As if apologizing for its recent lack of news on these fronts, Honda hosted media from around the globe at its R & D Center here. We were exposed to a dizzying array of new products and ideas, most of which will find their way into your local Honda store in the next couple of years.
We drove a variety of new and future vehicles powered by a completely new family of four and six cylinder engines. We tried several new transmissions, a truly innovative all-wheel-drive system, various hybrids, including one without a transmission, pure electric vehicles and a sleek sedan powered by a fuel cell.

Honda is back
On the engine front, look for a unique combination of variable valve-timing, twin camshafts and direct injection that allow engines to run on the fuel-savings Atkinson Cycle without the loss of power or torque previously associated with that method. These include a quartet of new four-cylinder gasoline engines ranging in displacement from 1.0 to 2.4 –litres and a new 3.5-litre V6. The new 2.4-litre will first appear in the next Accord, late in 2012 and perhaps the new CR-V shortly afterwards.

We drove vehicles powered by a new 148-horsepower, 1.8-litre four that would be right at home in a mid-cycle version of the new Civic being readied for the 2012 model year and a 127-horsepower, 1.5-litre four destined for the Fit. In all cases these preliminary power figures are on the conservative side but considerably higher than current engines of similar displacement, while consuming 10 per cent less fuel.

We also sampled a Civic powered by a potent little 1.6-litre turbo diesel. Bring it on!
Honda R&D has come up with a trio of new CVT (Continuously Variable Transmissions) for small and mid-sized cars. Development has led to less of the “motor-boating” and “rubber-band” effects associated with CVT transmissions. Driven under normal conditions they feel like a normal stepped automatic, only when pressed hard on the track did they assume the CVT propensity to sound like a clutch was slipping.

It has also developed a seven-speed dual clutch gearbox.

Under the “Earth Dreams” banner, all of these engines and transmission will appear in stand-alone or hybrid applications across a wide range of vehicles of all sizes and shapes in the next two years.

Honda has developed the world’s most efficient two-motor hybrid system, one that allows a big family-size car to operate without a transmission with a resultant savings in space and cost.
It also turned us loose on the big oval of the adjacent Twin-Ring Motegi race track in an Accord-size sedan equipped with the new V6 sending 310 horsepower and 265 lb. ft. of torque to the front wheels and a pair of electric motors powering the rear wheels. In addition to the abundance of instant torque when accelerating the innovation meter was pegged by the fact the motors were programmed to send more power to the outside wheel in a corner and reduced power to the inside wheel.

Needless to say performance was more than impressive on the straights or in the turns. Look for this combination in a forthcoming replacement for the big RL sedan and a rumored replacement for the NSX sports car.