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Honda has developed the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) engine with Variable Valve Timing Electronic Control. This new engine was designed to further enhance power and efficiency: increased engine displacement and the use of a variable-length air intake manifold have achieved a 15% enhancement in power. In addition, engine fuel consumption has been reduced by 5% through a combination of reduced pumping loss due to inlet valve control for delayed closure, and charging stroke injection timing that harnesses the properties of gaseous fuel. As a countermeasure for tail pipe emissions, an exhaust manifold integrated with the cylinder head and a close coupled two bed catalyst have been used. As a result, the use of precious metals has been reduced by approximately 30%, and the vehicle with the new engine complies with CARB's AT-PZEV standard.

Honda has developed a 1.8-L VTEC 4-cylinder engine for a Flexible Fuel Vehicle (FFV) capable of running on any mixture of fuel with an ethanol concentration ranging from 20 - 100%. The distinctive characteristics of this engine include its use of a VTEC mechanism to supplement combustion by putting one intake valve inactive, immediately after startup, when operating with a high concentration of ethanol, and to provide high power output by operating with two input valves after warm up. The system also learns the ethanol concentration of the fuel and controls the engine precisely in accordance with the concentration. Thus it provides good drivability in all environments expected to be encountered in Brazil. This paper describes the CIVIC FFV and the technology adopted for it.

Honda has applied two innovative forming methods to the CVT pulley piston production - indentation forming and thickness addition by compression. As a result, an increased and uniform thickness throughout the product has been ensured during the press forming of hot-rolled steel sheets. Is is also possible to achieve selective thickness additions, double the original, wherever required. The work hardening effect eliminates post-heat treatment.

Three distinct types of diesel particulate matter (PM) are generated in selected engine operating conditions of a single-cylinder heavy-duty diesel engine. The three types of PM are trapped using typical Cordierite diesel particulate filters (DPF) with different washcoat formulations and a commercial Silicon-Carbide DPF. Two systems, an external electric furnace and an in-situ burner, were used for regeneration. Furnace regeneration experiments allow the collected PM to be classified into two categories depending on oxidation mechanism: PM that is affected by the catalyst and PM that is oxidized by a purely thermal mechanism. The two PM categories prove to contribute differently to pressure drop and transient filtration efficiency during in-situ regeneration.