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Honda Hopes New 120 HP Diesel Will Rival VW

Honda might be calling the 2012 European Civic hatch a completely new car, but it’s actually a heavily reengineered version of the old one, keeping the beam rear suspension that nobody liked, but dramatically improving on everything else about the car. However, the sixth version is also a heavily reengineered version of its predecessor.
2012 Honda Civic 1 photo
Photo: Honda
But it’s the engine range that is letting the Civic down, and is ensuring it won’t sell nowhere near as well as the Ford Focus or VW Golf. So what is Honda’s answer? According to Automotive News, it’s the recently revealed 1.6-liter 120 horsepower diesel that also produces 221 lb-ft of torque, but is reportedly only going to emit 100 grams of CO2.

“It is good if they have some sleepless nights because we have had sleepless nights,” says Honda engineer Junji Yamano. The bad news is that the unit is to be dropped into the civic in early 2013, by which time the car would have lost its novelty value.
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About the author: Mihnea Radu
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Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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