Acura Announces Clean Diesel Engine for 2009

Acura Clean Diesel i-DTEC Engine

Turbocharged i-DTEC engine at NAIAS

The new CAFE standards have caused quite a stir in the USA, in both a good and bad sense. Its a good thing that US cars need to become more fuel efficient with less emissions, and one way of reaching this goal is clean diesel.

Diesel is of course notoriously known for its polluting, but over the past years the cleaning filters have been researched and developed at an amazing pace. Acura has not been sitting still either and has announced at the Detroit Motor Show that the marque will offer a clean diesel turbocharged i-DTEC engine by 2009.

The first car to be powered by the new engine has not yet been announced.

Source: Honda

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Acura Will Introduce Clean Diesel i-DTEC Engine in 2009

Turbocharged i-DTEC Engine Displayed at the North American International Auto Show

Acura will introduce the new i-DTEC clean diesel engine to the North American market in 2009. The i-DTEC engine reduces noxious exhaust emissions while boosting power and fuel efficiency. A combination of optimized combustion chamber design and reduced injection time results in a clean, quiet engine that delivers excellent performance for an enjoyable driving experience. In addition, the i-DTEC engine meets the ultra-stringent U.S. EPA Tier II Bin 5 emission standards without the on-board storage of urea.

The i-DTEC clean diesel engine is on display exclusively in the Acura booth at the North American International Auto Show and will be utilized in an Acura vehicle to be named at a later date.

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Bristol411S3

Honda have been offering Diesel powered cars in the UK for some time.

January 15, 2008 7:46 am

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gabriel

the i-VTEC turbo engine can't turns with diesel. power at 6000 rpm is impossible with diesel (max: 4000 rpm)

January 15, 2008 8:51 am

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Blaconque

Acura and Honda are a realy special companies ...

January 15, 2008 9:17 am

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ipp

Gabriel: Strange tha the BMW 123d has 204hp @ 4400rpm, I'm sure it revs another hundred more.

January 15, 2008 9:40 am

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phobos

sure diesel engine offers the best fuel consumption, but the limited rev is still annoying for sport car

January 15, 2008 10:21 am

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NICKKOP

Go Honda/Acura! The Diesel Engine's lack of high engine speed capability can be easily compensated for with the right gearing kids... But I can agree nothing can compare with the soul-awakening shreik of an H22A, K20A, or F20C @ 7000-9000 RPM

January 15, 2008 2:24 pm

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NICKKOP

honda, if no other auto. company, may be able to engineer an ultra high-revving, high compression clean diesel engine. I wonder if this could ever compare to a DOHC VTEC gas motor, could it ever come close in driving feel, sound, or provoke as much joy??

January 15, 2008 2:29 pm

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benz_man

What is all this "high revving motor" garbage. Go test drive a VW 2.0T or BMW 335 with gobs of torque across a power plateau that starts at 1700 RPMs. Peaky, high revving engines are for noise and boy-racer graphics.

January 15, 2008 11:39 pm

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radmeister

I think the rpm is limited by the injection pressure, if they are able to surpass the Audi TDI which has a pressure of 2000psig and revs to 6000rpm im sure they get some decent performance and joyfull driving characteristics.

January 16, 2008 12:25 am

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NICKKOP

benzman: you are ignorant if you speak without knowing of what you speak.. definitely not peaky go drive a honda/acura with JDM 2.2 DOHC VTEC the torque band is very linear, believe it or not, it is very similar to a BMW I6 from the M3, YES, the M3 in a car weighing 2300-2600 lbs you would be amazed at the driving experience

January 16, 2008 1:54 pm

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NICKKOP

yes maybe not as refined but thats for women and old people... and benzman i am not just a honda freak.. It's that I am just not shallow... (as far as judging automobiles by brand name) My family owns vehicles from Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz AMG, Porsche, Audi, BMW, I just have owned honda cars and know they have made some good vehicles and amazing engines... open your eyes and ears..

January 16, 2008 2:12 pm

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benz_man

nickkop: I'm not a label whore, I named VW and BMW because there specific engines stand out. What is your definition of an amazing engine? I agree that Honda makes efficient, durable, reliable, light, free-revving engines. However, those are not the traits that make a dynamically outstanding powerplant. You want your torque band as low and usable as possible without overcoming available traction. Providing said torque on a plateau from almost off idle through 65% of the engine speed range (as these German motors do) is dynamically superior to catching a small(low displacement) torque peak after 70% of the engine speed range. The power is much more usable. And any comparison of a FWD car to an M3 is voided by the fact that the front wheels can't do everything...

January 17, 2008 4:55 am

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Hiromichi

What amazing in this engine is clean emission clearing EPA Tier II Bin 5 without using urea unlike most of German diesel engines which use stored urea named Bluetech, meaning you don't have to fill the urea separately from fuel. And of course as the nature of diesel, it is about 20% better in fuel consumption than petrol engine. Higher revving is fun, but what is priortized for this engine are good fuel efficiency and clean emission through a simple technical solution. Fun to rev is the next priority.

January 17, 2008 6:02 am

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Diesels are limited in RPM by the fact that they are long stroke. Since diesels use compression ignition and not a spark plug, they need a high compression ratio. Thus a longer connecting rod is employed. This adds mass, and since the stresses in the connecting rod are dominated by those created by inertia (read: heavier + quick change of direction = bad) diesels must run at lower speeds.

January 21, 2008 3:53 pm

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