Honda plans gasoline engine for the CR-Z

Honda is set to provide the CR-Z with an all-new four-cylinder gasoline-engine option as part of plans to broaden the compact coupe's appeal in key world markets, including North America.

Currently available with just one engine option—a gasoline-electric hybrid system that mates a 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine with a brushless electric motor—the CR-Z is also earmarked to receive a turbocharged 1.6-liter four-cylinder engine currently undergoing development in Japan. The new unit, which is also planned for the Jazz, the Civic and the Accord, forms an integral part of an engine downsizing program instigated at Honda.

With forced induction and Honda's patented VTEC-i fully variable camshaft-timing system, the new 1.6-liter engine is aimed at providing the performance of a typical 2.0-liter engine. AutoWeek sources in Japan say the new engine is likely to be offered in two guises: a standard version making about 160 hp and a highly tuned version aimed at matching the 200 hp of the discontinued 2.0-liter four-cylinder used in the Civic Type R. The latter engine is likely to form the basis of a CR-Z Type R tentatively due out in late 2011.

Plans to go beyond the single hybrid-engine option for the CR-Z come as sales of the coupe have begun to sag in Honda's all-important home market. The Japanese carmaker's intentions to add a gasoline engine to the lineup were first hinted at with the CR-Z Type R concept revealed at the recent SEMA show in Las Vegas. Unlike the proposed production version though, that car ran a turbocharged version of the CR-Z's existing 1.5-liter four-cylinder.

By Greg Kable