The rise of forced induction is upon us. While turbochargers have been around for decades, they’ve only started dominating the world of mainstream cars.
For the 10th-generation Honda Civic rolled out for the 2016 model year, the Japanese marque has outfitted the EX model with a brand new 1.5-liter turbocharged engine. Mated exclusively with a CVT gearbox powering the front wheels, the 2016 Civic EX has 174 hp on tap. On paper, that doesn’t sound all that impressive.
However, as the crew at Hondata discovered, that engine is actually enough power to help it out sprint the 9th-generation Civic Si. Generally considered as the lesser variant of the Type R, the Civic Si has 204 hp from its naturally-aspirated 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine but at freeway speeds and from a rolling start, the Si simply cannot match its turbocharged and younger sibling.
What this all means is that we can expect to see improved performance across the latest-generation Honda Civic range. It is already reported that a new 2.0-liter turbo four will power the next Type R while simultaneously being used in the next Si, albeit detuned to around the 230 hp mark.
While turbocharging and supercharging a car often restricts its engine and exhaust notes, the performance improvements are quite remarkable.
H/T to CivicX!