Benchmarking a 2016 Honda Civic 1.5-Liter L15B7 Turbocharged Engine and Evaluating the Future Efficiency Potential of Turbocharged Engines 2018-01-0319

As part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) continuing assessment of advanced light-duty (LD) automotive technologies to support the setting of appropriate national greenhouse gas (GHG) standards and to evaluate the impact of new technologies on in-use emissions, a 2016 Honda Civic with a 4-cylinder 1.5-liter L15B7 turbocharged engine and continuously variable transmission (CVT) was benchmarked. The test method involved installing the engine and its CVT in an engine-dynamometer test cell with the engine wiring harness tethered to its vehicle parked outside the test cell. Engine and transmission torque, fuel flow, key engine temperatures and pressures, and onboard diagnostics (OBD)/Controller Area Network (CAN) bus data were recorded.

This article documents the test results for idle, low, medium, and high load engine operation, as well as motoring torque, wide-open throttle (WOT) torque, and fuel consumption during transient operation using both EPA Tier 2 and Tier 3 test fuels. Particular attention is given to characterizing enrichment control during high load engine operation. Results are used to create complete engine fuel consumption and efficiency maps and estimate CO₂ emissions using EPA’s Advanced Light-Duty Powertrain and Hybrid Analysis (ALPHA) full vehicle simulation model, over regulatory drive cycles. The design and performance of the 1.5-liter Honda engine are compared to several other past, present, and future downsized-boosted engines, and potential advancements are evaluated.