Honda Amaze i-DTEC Engine

All engine parts reviewed to improve fuel efficiency

With all redesigned parts, Honda’s new diesel engine is smaller and lighter, has reduced friction between parts and achieves greater cooling efficiency. This enables dramatic fuel efficiency improvements.

Smaller and lighter

Honda managed to dramatically reduce overall engine weight by making individual parts as thin as possible while retaining the sturdiness required in an engine. A complete review of the layout also helped reduce the number of parts used. The result combines fuel-efficiency with agile and exhilarating driving.

Smoother engine movement

Pistons, crankshafts and connecting rods—core engine parts—are smaller and lighter, reducing frictional resistance between components. This improves fuel efficiency performance. Engine response to acceleration is also quicker, enhancing driving agility.

The right temperature faster

Engines use water pumped around the outside to improve performance. Water passages, flow rate and volume were reviewed and redesigned so that water would quickly reach optimum temperature. As well as improving engine efficiency, this enabled use of a smaller and lighter water pump, leading to greater fuel efficiency.

That Honda Cars India Limited (HCIL) has received phenomenal response to the compact sedan, Amaze, isn’t surprising, especially for its diesel offering with the brand new 1.5 l i-DTEC engine.

This Honda Amaze 1.5 L engineering marvel is the lightest engine in its category ,that enables greater reduction in the overall weight of the vehicle, and a much lower burden on the engine. Add to that friction reduction innovations that mitigate loss of energy and what you get is an unparalleled mileage of 25.8 Kmpl. Apart from better efficiency,our optimal alumunium engine provides better thermal management that helps reach ignition temperature faster, combined with a turbo charger that adds extra air and boost, and what you get is 100 ps @ 3600 rpm of sheer power and unmatched acceleration.

Honda Amaze i-DTEC

The Honda Amaze 1.5 l i-DTEC engine develops a peak power of 98.5 hp and offers a class-leading claimed fuel economy of 25.8 km/l. Key benefits of the engine are compactness, lightness, reduced mechanical friction and lower engine cooling system losses.

Unlike other diesel engines, an all aluminium construction has been used for the cylinder head and open deck block. Using advanced computer simulation, the block was designed to be lightweight and compact. A new high strength nitride crankshaft is designed to deliver higher strength, while lowering weight. In order to make the main journal and pin journal material thinner, high-strength surface treatment with nitride has been used. This combination reduces losses due to mechanical friction.

The piston skirt has been redesigned to be shorter and narrower and the smaller surface area makes the engine lighter. It also helps further reduce mechanical friction losses. While optimising the piston shape, the connecting rods too were lightened. Owing to the combined weight reduction achieved by the measures listed above, Honda claims a better acceleration in addition to higher fuel-efficiency. The overall reduction in mechanical friction is to such an extent that Honda claims the diesel unit to be at par with petrol engines of similar displacement on this parameter.

The common rail injection system can deliver an injection pressure of up to 1,600 bar. Coupled with solenoid injectors and finely controlled injection timing, the combustion process is more efficient. The cooling system too has been modified to offer better cooling despite a smaller size. Owing to a specially designed circulation route, water requirement has been reduced significantly and hence the water pump too has been made smaller. This directly translates into higher fuel-efficiency.

In order to complement the raft of engineering touches, Honda also developed new ultra low viscosity engine oil. The specially developed oil is claimed to enhance fuel-efficiency and improve engine reliability. Keeping in mind the dust content in various regions of the world, the design of the oil seal of the crankshaft has been changed.

While aluminium offers a weight benefit, it does pose some challenges in terms of sound insulation and absorption. We were told that apart from reducing mechanical friction a key measure to lower NVH was the removal of a balancer shaft. The balancer shaft is normally used in cast-iron engines to overcome the effects of sound and vibration arising from added weight and more moving parts.

Buy Honda Amaze available with Honda I-DTEC Engine