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Honda reveals three new turbo VTEC engines, including Civic Type R 2.0L

It's fair to say that in recent years, Honda has been viewed as a laggard when it comes to engine and gearbox development, seemingly missing the boat on direct-injection, forced-induction and high gear-count transmissions, among other things. But under its Earth Dreams banner, the Japanese automaker is showing new vigor, with the latest proof being this trio of just-announced powerplants.
Measuring 1.0-liters, 1.5-liters and 2.0-liters in displacement, this array of three- and four-cylinder engines boasts turbocharging and direct-injection along with the latest iteration of Honda's famed VTEC variable valve timing hardware. "Most suitable for small-to-medium-sized vehicles," the largest engine is said to be good for more than 276 horsepower and will slot into the eagerly awaited Civic Type R, iconic red valve cover and all.
Unfortunately, few other details about the hot Civic's engine or any of the others are being made public at this time, and there's no official word about the engines coming to North American in the Type R or any other model. Given that all the engines are complaint with stringent Euro 6 emissions standards, they figure to be clean enough, and Honda says that these have been developed as global powerplants, so we'd be shocked if they didn't come ashore in new or updated products over the next few years... even if they leave the CTR on the boat.

2017 Honda Accord Hybrid First Drive

Honda waited until the Accord Hybrid was on sale for an entire month before inviting journalists out for a test drive. Usually, these events are previews, a chance for those in the industry to get an advance feel for what's about to go on sale. Not this time. The new 2017 Honda Accord Hybrid has been available at your local dealer for a month now. It's high time we got caught up. We were able to do just that at a drive event in Napa Valley last week. We can't say that the new Accord was a hoot to drive, but an Accord isn't supposed to be thrilling. It's supposed to sell boatloads of units a year, and that's why a hybrid version is so important. With ever-increasing fuel-efficiency standards coming around the world and an uncertain future when it comes to gas prices, having a car like this in the stable is obviously important. Of course, the future is only one side of the coin. As we said, the Accord Hybrid is on sale now, in a time of relatively low gas prices in the US, where sedan sales are being outpaced by CUV and SUV sales. This is the reality that the Accord Hybrid is facing. Honda, though, is confident. Just how good does the automaker think the new Accord Hybrid is? We'll guess about twice as good. That's because Honda execs said they expect to sell about 30,000 units a year, about double the volume of the 2014 Accord Hybrid. That's the official sales plan, anyway. The car went on sale June 15, 2016, so we're already off to the races. Sure, only 31 Accord Hybrids were sold in the second half of June, but we can't draw any conclusions this early in the process. Without a doubt, 30,000 sales is respectable for a hybrid (Toyota sold 30,640 Camry Hybrids in 2015), but let's just note for the record that Honda sold 355,557 Accords last year. If it manages to sell 30,000 Hybrids a year, and Accord sales numbers remain stable, that'll be just 8.4 percent of the overall total. The car should easily appeal to 30,000 buyers a year. The car should easily appeal to 30,000 buyers a year. The clean and attractive exterior design hasn't been massively overhauled from the 2014 Accord Hybrid, but why change what isn't broken? The headlights are updated, the front fascia has sharper lines, the taillights are more impressive – and that's about it.

Honda Civic Type R on track to smash 'Ring record, eclipse NSX

Honda has made some serious performance machinery over the course of its history, but few products have been as hotly anticipated as the upcoming new Civic Type R. Following a deep and proud history of Type R Hondas, the latest Japanese hot hatch is continuing its long striptease at the Paris Motor Show this week. But before it does, Honda has released this video clip featuring project leader Suehiro Hasshi - and he has some bold claims to make.
For one, he says it'll be the best Type R yet - and that's quite a statement considering some of its predecessors, including the almighty NSX Type R. Hasshi-san also reiterates Honda's aim of snatching the front-drive lap record at the Nürburgring away from the likes of Renault and Seat, and reports that the Honda team is on track to chew every bit it's biting off. In short, the new Civic Type R ought to be sensational.