Best 4-cylinder diesel engine?...

[Don Roque]

Yes, that's the one. My wife has a Civic i-DTEC, at the time she got hers I had a Jazz Hybrid with the 1.3 IMA petrol engine. The Civic felt faster under all conditions and was always either equal or better on fuel economy, unless I was on a very specific route in the Jazz where I could coast and use a lot of electric assistance going downhill.

I have an Astra GTC 2.0 CDTi now, with 165bhp. It's obviously faster than the Civic but thirstier, more expensive to tax and rougher to listen to. So despite the Astra being the better drive, the Civic is no poor relation and when we're done with the i-DTEC I expect my wife will want to replace it with a 10th gen petrol Civic.

[PistonAFC]

Don Roque said:

PixelpeepZ4 said:

the honda 1.6 diesel i-DTEC i think is a pretty special engine..

zero road tax, 120bhp and 80mpg if driven carefully.

they respond well to remaps, 165bhp with no hardware changes.

This is a noteworthy engine (I think it wad the first 'Earth Dreams' Honda engine). They did a lot of work with it to improve over the areas where the old 2.2 let them down. The obvious compromise was the loss of about 20bhp or whatever it was, not a huge amount in the scheme of things given the change in displacement.

On the flipside, they put a lot of effort into reducing the friction in the engine to make it comparable to an equivalent petrol. The turbo was worked on to give it more flexibility, and the economy that you can get out of those engines is just staggering. I had nearly 80mpg out of one on a long run without any real effort to be frugal with fuel. They are a very smooth unit that is very nice to drive, for a diesel four banger.

Maybe you got lucky with the civic 1.6 diesel earthdreams engine but heard a lot of people had oil dilution issues with them and 2.2 eats the clutch.

[diesel piston]

Nowt wrong with a remapped GTD

[cerb4.5lee]

neverlifted said:

cerb4.5lee said:

LimSlip said:

The best 4 cylinder diesel engine is a dead 4 cylinder diesel engine.

True!

Absolutely!

I thought of this thread because I currently have a 2019 Volvo XC60 4 cylinder diesel loan car. Me and my Mrs have been laughing about how bad the noise is that the engine makes, and it is unforgivable for me to put such a lousy and rough sounding engine in a car with a list price of almost £50k!

So I've learned two things from this experience, one is that I'm going to be slightly less critical of the 20d engine in Bmw's. Plus I'm not going to slag off the noise that the V6 3 litre diesel engine makes in my GLC anymore, because compared to the Volvo it almost makes a pleasant noise!

[Maracus]

cerb4.5lee said:

I thought of this thread because I currently have a 2019 Volvo XC60 4 cylinder diesel loan car. Me and my Mrs have been laughing about how bad the noise is that the engine makes, and it is unforgivable for me to put such a lousy and rough sounding engine in a car with a list price of almost £50k!

I had the 2.0 D4 181 in my 2014 XC60.

Agreed, it's very agricultural, especially when cold.

[andburg]

PistonAFC said:

Don Roque said:

PixelpeepZ4 said:

the honda 1.6 diesel i-DTEC i think is a pretty special engine..

zero road tax, 120bhp and 80mpg if driven carefully.

they respond well to remaps, 165bhp with no hardware changes.

This is a noteworthy engine (I think it wad the first 'Earth Dreams' Honda engine). They did a lot of work with it to improve over the areas where the old 2.2 let them down. The obvious compromise was the loss of about 20bhp or whatever it was, not a huge amount in the scheme of things given the change in displacement.

On the flipside, they put a lot of effort into reducing the friction in the engine to make it comparable to an equivalent petrol. The turbo was worked on to give it more flexibility, and the economy that you can get out of those engines is just staggering. I had nearly 80mpg out of one on a long run without any real effort to be frugal with fuel. They are a very smooth unit that is very nice to drive, for a diesel four banger.

Maybe you got lucky with the civic 1.6 diesel earthdreams engine but heard a lot of people had oil dilution issues with them and 2.2 eats the clutch.

Had my civic i-dtec for over 2 years now, doesnt really do long journeys regularly and still manages to return almost 70mpg whilst also being far quieter than a diesel should be. Passengers are genuinely surprised that it is a diesel and I've been known to give my dad a heart attack by reversing down his drive while hes not looking and the car magically appearing.

I will say there is occasionally a judder from the clutch in first, but this isn't a Honda thing its an issue with almost any car with a dual mass flywheel.

I've had diesels for the past 15 years and this is certainly the best I've driven, even if i do miss the 5 cylinder thrum and power of the Volvo D5. It amazes me that nobody has licensed this engine to put into another car.

https://www.autoexpress.co.uk/honda/civic/92127/ho...

[nikaiyo2]

LimSlip said:

The best 4 cylinder diesel engine is a dead 4 cylinder diesel engine.

LOL

My first thought was isnt this a bit like asking what the best STD is.

[Mr Tidy]

nikaiyo2 said:

LimSlip said:

The best 4 cylinder diesel engine is a dead 4 cylinder diesel engine.

LOL

My first thought was isnt this a bit like asking what the best STD is.

Fair point well made!

I only bought them when I was getting a car allowance and business mileage paid for on the HMRC rates.