Engine falls very flat above 4k RPM. Its a good engine for an appliance, not even a hint of fun though.

 

Yea i was looking at a Ford Fiesta ST for a little while, i just couldn't get myself to buy it because it meant getting a smaller car (interior wise) that wasnt as versatile as my Fit. The seats, gearbox and steering felt pretty nice though.

 

I find the gearing/steering in the Fiesta very bad.

Seats though, get a thumbs up. Both the ST Recaros and the standard cars less bolstered seats.

 

It's simply a different kind of fun than many are used to. Some people dislike torque and prefer power. I can appreciate both camps.

Blame it on America's general reluctance for adopting diesels. It drives very much like a diesel. Having driven countless diesel rental car's in Europe, I can see exactly what they were trying to achieve. The powerband can be shifted readily with a turbo upgrade and tune as exemplified by the Formula Ford shown above

 

A Ecoboost 1.6 with that slick 6 speed gearbox in a Fit would be my kind of fun. :P Im not entirely sold on the reliability of modern Fords though...

 

This is very true. The allure of a high revving, NA powerplant will never fade for me.

I'd rather just have an S2000

My Fiesta felt like something catastrophic could happen at any moment.

Cliffs: "American" cars.

 

I rented a new Fiesta the other week.

I don't even know where to start with that thing. I was excited at first, and then so, so disappointed. There's only been three cars I've been in where I felt too big physically for the car:

S2000
Miata
Fiesta

and the majority of my life has been spent in 80s and 90s subcompacts generally, for reference.

It doesn't end there, but that was enough to make me never want one ever.

 

Good thing I caught that, I've been considering back and forth trading in my GE for a Fiesta ST. Now it comes down to keeping my A/T or getting into a GK M/T

 

I had more space in the Fiesta than in the Fit.

And fit perfectly in an S2000.

Get back into a GE M/T. GK

 

I have a long torso, body room in the S2000 was fine, head room was not. Same with the Miata. I can almost see over the windshield if I sit up straight in an NA or NB. Other than that, both cars were more comfortable than the Fiesta to me.

The Fiesta just felt cramped to me compared to the Fit, maybe because I don't have an armrest. I felt I had no place to comfortably put my arms even with one though. I even sat shotgun and it was the same thing, with the seat back all the way, less room than the Fit.

I did like the steering wheel.

 

Guess Honda's focus is on emisisons, fuel mileage, and reliability. Don't think they care much about turbo models as much. Their sticking to what they're good at I guess.

I agree, their racing spirit in their everyday cars has dulled a bit and they cars don't even look sporty.
The 15 Civic Type R Turbo looks promising but don't think its coming to the states.

 

Indeed.

I'm a little worried about the direct injection thing, too. That's why I got a '13 instead of a '15.

 

Im curious what kind of motor would come about if Honda used VTEC on the intake and exhaust cam plus VTC on each cam as well. More interesting would be using offset cam lobes to induce higher swirl or turbulence rates.

 

We need to get rid of the camshaft already. You can then have your cake and eat it too.

F1 Engines _ Valve technology

Some issues to resolve such as durability and noise. However, an infinitely adjustable valve provides a huge jump in efficiency and performance. Imagine switching from the otto cycle to an Atkinson cycle on the fly...

 

I wouldn't mind if they put the 1.8L in the fit though. I am sure it would get just as good gas mileage as with the 1.5L, probably better.


I do think a little turbo 1.5L like BMW would be juuuuust fine.
-bix

 

The S2000 is a wonderful car and was a show at what kind of power can be achieved using VTEC in road legal emissions passing cars, but it is at a sacrifice of fuel mileage. My dad's 2.4L accord gets better gas mileage. I can't say for sure though as I have only been in one as part of an autocross lol.

The S2000 did have an early form of VTC as well as Intake/Exhaust VTEC. The K20s in the last gen civic Si used Intake/Exhaust VTEC and VTC.

The reason why the Type-R is not coming here is obvious. Its like a $40k civic with 300hp and FWD. Anyone looking for that kind of power can get it in many ways that are cheaper in the US.

Honda is working on turbos: Honda Worldwide | November 19, 2013 "Honda Develops VTEC TURBO Direct Injection Gasoline Turbo Engine That Achieves Class-leading Output and Environmental Performance"

The 2.0L Type R engine is from that development. I doubt the next Civic Si will even get a detuned version of that. It would be a really nice turn of events if it did.

Honda is interested in using well developed technology to build mechanically reliable commuter cars in this country it seems.

The k20 in the last gen civic is now 15 years old basically. The k24 in the current civic si is at least 10. The current civic engine is 9 years old. All well developed and reliable engines. Unfortunately 150-160hp is not as impressive as it was when the Integra came out.

I doubt the 1.8L civic engine would fit in the Fit's engine bay. People have trouble getting K20s in them and it would make the car understeer worse than it already does lol.

100whp is roughly all the wheel horsepower that you can put down with a fwd car with the fit's weight with the gearing the Fit's transmission has. The extra power would be helpful in second and third for sure on an autocross course. Putting the in development 1.5L turbo in the new fit or fitting out that CRZ supercharger in the fit would be awesome. I would buy that in a heartbeat!! Still on the autocross course my times are comparable to that of the local fiesta ST drivers. So that extra power at least in autocross does not get you anything but more wheelspin. It really starts helping in 3rd gear.

I feel like selling a FI version of a Fit that would step on the toes of the civic si though . Even if it had less power since it weighs 300lbs less.

It is fun having a motor that builds power to redline like the one the fit has. As people have already mentioned many turbos these days can reach full engine torque at rpms as low as 2000rpm.

They put the turbo 4 in the RDX because a V6 would not fit in the civic based engine bay. It had good power, but it was too raw and had too much lag for the refinement of a luxury SUV and they didn't offer with a stick those knuckleheads.

Let alone turbos. The fit, civic lx and civic si may be the only cars that honda will sell with a stickshift in the next year or 2 lol. I think aerodynamics hold the Fit back from getting 45mpgs with the 1.5 more than anything. The 2012 Civic Lx M/T with the eco button gets 43mpg which is way up from the 35mpg my sister's 06 civic m/t gets with what is basically the same engine.

 

US Honda Civic to get Type R engine - Autoblog