A no-compromise diesel from Honda
VW's new TDI engine is really good, but Honda's four-cylinder diesel is even better. This engine - which we expect to appear in the 2010 Acura TSX - is smoother than almost any other four-cylinder on the market, gasoline or diesel. It might just be the world's first no-compromise diesel: we drove a European-spec Honda CR-V equipped with the diesel and preferred it to the U.S.-spec gas engine in every way.
In terms of sound, the CR-V is almost unrecognizable as a diesel. Open the hood with the engine idling, and this engine ticks away as quietly as a sewing machine - and without the use of sound-absorbing engine covers. Blip the throttle, and the engine responds immediately; engage first gear, and it pulls hard to almost 5000 rpm. The rev-happy diesel displaces 2.2 liters and produces 140 hp and 251 lb-ft of torque - 90 lb-ft more grunt than the CR-V's 2.4-liter gasoline engine. Coupled to a light-effort, slick-shifting six-speed manual transmission, the diesel matches the automatic-transmission gasoline CR-V's 0-to-60-mph and top-speed numbers, Honda claims.
And then you have a look at the fuel economy. Flat-footing an all-wheel-drive diesel CR-V through the hills of downtown San Francisco for half an hour, we couldn't get the fuel economy display to drop below 25 mpg. More impressive, at a steady 65 mph on the highway, the SUV displayed a downright shocking 49 mpg - even better than its 41-mpg European highway-cycle fuel economy rating and almost double the gas CR-V's 26-mpg EPA highway rating. Honda simply can't bring this engine here soon enough.