[Red]

It is fairly guaranteed that the HRV will be getting Honda's newest version of VTEC, Earth Dreams. What remains to be seen is if we will be getting the 1.5L, the 1.8L or both. Regardless shall we look at what exactly Earth Dreams is?

Earth Dreams is the latest instalment of the venerable VTEC system that rose to popularity in the 90's because of its trick performance, now that technology has been further refined to accentuate efficiency. Honda claims Earth Dreams improves thermal efficiency and minimizes friction. Mind you Earth Dreams by itself is not simply an advancement of VTEC Technology, its the entire package.

Also baked into the Earth Dreams package are new turbo applications as well as the addition of direct injection.

Now lets focus on the two engines speculated, the 1.5 and 1.8L.

1.5L

The one and a half turbo is meant to replace engines of larger capacity. The long favored 2-2.5L natural fours will be slowly phased out in favor of these new turbo 4's. In certain applications an Atkinson cycle is utilized, its unclear if an Atkinson cycle will be used in the HRV, or Honda has gone the Toyota route and designed an engine that can run both the Atkinson and Otto cycle. That would certainly explain just how VTEC has advanced. What's lovely about these new Earth Dream engines is they are expected to pack more punch in the mid range than the old 2.0s.

1.8L

the one eight shares much with the 2.0L ED engine and also makes use of an Atkinson cycle like the 1.5L does. High capacity EGR on the intake and exhaust sides reduce internal friction by an undisclosed amount. Whats cool is that in certain applications Honda replaces a conventional water pump with an electric driven version which eliminates the need for a pully and takes even more friction out of the system.

Now what will be interesting to see is just how durable these engines prove to be. These modern GDI and Turbo engines while certainly efficient have shown several kinks in their armour already, albeit not from Honda, yet. GDI engines are known for their increase of carbon buildup on the valves which has plagued Hyundai's and some ECoboost engines already. As well the cam phasers and oil journals are extremely sensitive to dirty or gummy oil, once the phasers get gooked up it ruins the ability of the engine to advance and retard its timing for max efficiency/power. The last point I'm least worried about as Honda has copious experience with variable valve timing.

Quite interested to get my hands on one of these new engines, might just have to take a spin in a FIT...

 

[Ganbare]

Admittedly when it comes to engines it's mostly Greek to me, but for those of you who may know what all this means this is what I found out about the engines used in the JDM Fit and Vezel. Sorry but it's all metric. Also, I believe the engine in the Accord Hybrid switches between Atkinson and Otto cycles but it doesn't look like the engines in the Fit or Vezel do.

The gasoline Fit and Vezel have the same 1.5L L15B EARTH DREAMS (i-VTEC) engine (there is also a 1.3 available on the Fit but its safe to say we won't see that in the US in anything).
DOHC 16 valve i-VTEC
Displacement: 1,496 cc
Bore x Stroke: 73.0 mm × 89.4 mm (2.87 × 3.52 in)
Compression: 11.5:1
Horsepower: 96 kW (131 PS) / 6,600 rpm
Torque: 155 N·m (15.8 kg·m) / 4,600 rpm

The engines in the hybrid versions are a little different. The Fit has the 1.5L LEB *port injection* engine that runs on the Atkinson cycle. The Vezel has the LEB *direct injection* engine that doesn't run Atkinson. The specs for both are as follows:

LEB port injection (Fit Hybrid)
DOHC 16 valve i-VTEC
Displacement: 1,496 cc
Bore x Stroke: 73.0 mm × 89.4 mm (2.87 × 3.52 in)
Compression: 13.5:1
Horsepower: 81 kW (110 PS) / 6,000 rpm
Torque: 134 N·m (13.7 kg·m) / 5,000 rpm

LEB direct injection (Vezel Hybrid)
DOHC 16 valve i-VTEC
Displacement: 1,496 cc
Bore x Stroke: 73.0 mm × 89.4 mm (2.87 × 3.52 in)
Compression: 11.5:1
Horsepower: 97 kW (132 PS) / 6,600 rpm
Torque: 156 N·m (15.9 kg·m) / 4,600 rpm

 

[EricMartin]

It is fairly guaranteed that the HRV will be getting Honda's newest version of VTEC, Earth Dreams. What remains to be seen is if we will be getting the 1.5L, the 1.8L or both. Regardless shall we look at what exactly Earth Dreams is?

Also baked into the Earth Dreams package are new turbo applications as well as the addition of direct injection.

Now lets focus on the two engines speculated, the 1.5 and 1.8L.

1.5L

The one and a half turbo ... .

Are you sure the 1.5L used in the Fit and expected in the HR-V is turbo? I though it was direct injection but not turbo. Turbo would provide more than 130 hp and usually requires premium gasoline.

 

[vtec]

I think they can tune it to take regular gasoline, if it's not already done, it might be something to consider as we all know premium gasoline isn't cheap

 

[Red]

Are you sure the 1.5L used in the Fit and expected in the HR-V is turbo? I though it was direct injection but not turbo. Turbo would provide more than 130 hp and usually requires premium gasoline.

you're right I've made an error, the 1.5 comes in natural and forced flavors. The one expected in our HRV is the natural. However I wouldn't rule out the possibility of the Turbo as well sometime after launch, The natural is just too underpowered IMO.

As for i-VETC in the HR-V

here aren't any details about the engine lineup but in one of the spy shots we can see the 4-cylinder 1.5-liter i-VTEC engine which in the U.S.-spec variant is rated at 130 bhp (97 kW) and 154 Nm (114 lb-ft). The prototype's engine was linked to a 7-speed dual-clutch gearbox sending power to the front wheels.

admittedly this was from a european article, but they do mention a US spec version, which could or could not be spurious reporting..

 

[vtec]

the naturally aspirated engine is indeed too underpowered, you likely can't tow anything with it, at most maybe a small trailer for something like a personal watercraft vehicle, that's it.

 

[Topspot]

I highly doubt anybody planning on buying an HR-V are considering using it tow anything larger than maybe a snowmobile.

 

[Red]

I highly doubt anybody planning on buying an HR-V are considering using it tow anything larger than maybe a snowmobile.

well you still cant tow a snowmobile with underpowered. Figure a sled is average 5-600 lbs, plus trailer. Civic only has a 1000 lb tow cap, HR-V won't go much farther than that. I don't know about you but I surely would not want to be towing (toeing ) the limit...

 

[HRV-Fan]

^ what he said

I'm not sure if you have towed anything before but people do tow just about anything that can be towed with their vehicle within the limit, at least for most. I can see some guy that owns a some personal watercraft vehicle or something haul it up to his cottage every so often with the HRV, it's towing cap should allow for low demand towing like that.

 

[Red]

Even PWC's are heavy-ish. Ski's will range from 500-900 lbs plus trailer. So again you're WAY too close to the limit, of course we cannot say for sure, CRV if I'm not mistaken is like 1500 lbs...

 

[vtec]

I think what some of us are trying to get at here is that it cannot be that bad, not to a point you can't tow a single thing.

but of course there's some limit.