it looks like the engine used in the Fit (the 1.5 litre) is the same engine that is being used in Honda's new 75hp and 90hp outboards. Obviously the outboards have been de-tuned a little bit (and I suspect there are some other differences given the nature of the marine environment, etc.), but I think this is actually a big statement in regards to how durable the Fit engine should be seeing as how outboards generally take much more "abuse" than a car engine ever would and they need to stand up to that type of use.

3,200 RPM on the highway is nothing compared to 5,500-6,000 RPM on the water for hours at a time

I thought it was interesting.

 

Do you have a link? As being a boat owner for many many years i would interested to see. I just dont see that being true. Out boards are not really the same as regular car motors. Usually alot smaller block and heads. Atleast for that size HP.

 

Yep, I haven't cavitated the prop on my Fit yet to see how it reacts on the street! When I boost this thing a little, we'll find out how well it handles about 6psi or so.

 

Very interesting. I'd love to see a link as well.

 

Well it all boils down to water. Pushing a propeller through water places a huge load on the engine and that load is continuous. Push a car through air is alot easier. Considering water is almost 1000x more dense, I have zero doubts as to why. Anyways that is cool, the other question is... do they have any hot rod parts from the marine division?
-bix

 

At honda marine, it says its based off of the lengendary civic engine.

 

There are loads of links on Google, but here are some:

Sport Fishing - Honda 75/90 hp Four-Stroke

Honda Fit engine now in the water - AutoblogGreen

Fit For a King

Should also add that the Honda Marine Canada site seems to reflect the new specs for the outboards. The US site would appear to reference the older models, which don't share the engine with the Fit. Perhaps the new outboards haven't quite hit US shores yet?

biscuitninja, I'd be shocked if there were any worthwhile upgrades available from the marine side of things, but I'm honestly not sure. I haven't heard much about stuff like that in regards to outboards with the exception of the larger 2 strokes. I think we'd have much better luck finding goodies from the auto tuner side of things.

I'm just happy that Honda deems this engine durable enough for the marine environment. They do make great, reliable outboards. I have no problem saying that even though I run a Yamaha

Enjoy!

 

I wonder if it really is the same engine...or perhaps it has some 'better goodies' inside? LIke better rods/pistons/cams? Anyone have the inside scoop?

 

Our director at work (boat enthusiast) and I talked about it at length at work just this week.

We found this link with quite a few photos of the motor with the covers off:

Honda Media Newsroom Images

Yes, same motor as the Fit, with differnent management between the two for different horsepower, change of intake and drysump to allow for vertical orientation.

EDIT, I was wrong on sump according to the spec sheet, it is a wet sump, I wonder how they did it, I would assume with the crank vertical they would have gone to dry.....learn something new every day!

Honda Media Newsroom Release: 2007 Honda BF75 EFI Engine Technical Specifications

Different internal motor parts? Dunno. I know Volvo used some motors for both boats and cars with some modification, mostly cam grinds to change torque band for the reason posted above (where the motor RPM is needed). They would make terrible street cams tho, the Volvo R was bad enough (terrible in town, trust me, I know) the M (marine) had zero low torque.

 

Cool link Spule 4, thanks for posting!