Honda Counting on Engine Efficiency

[Cardinal49]

Cute commercial. Not sure if it will have any impact on purchases. MPG is just one of the decision factors and 1-2 MPG really doesn't make much of a difference. I have a Honda mower. I have had it for 4 years and it is the best mower I have used or owned. I originally went looking to buy the Toro or the new Lawnboy (new at the time). The Honda was better built and more comfortable. Also, the Honda is made in the US, the Toro and Lawnboy were made in Mexico.

 

[cousincletus]

But this thread is about Honda and fuel efficiency. It's just another myth that imports are better in that category (like the quality myth). I have a Lawn-Boy that's 21 years old and still mowing on the original engine w/o a rebuild but only a new coil and rope for the starter. Lawn Boy is made in Galesburg, IL, USA.

 

[BrianWC]

The reason I posted this article was not to proclaim that Hondas were awesome fuel efficient cars and I want to have their babies. I posted it b/c I liked the fact that it seemed like Honda was thumbing its nose at the idea that there are no more gains to be made out of the internal combustion engine. I thought MOST of us would appreciate that sentiment.

 

[Cardinal49]

BrianWC - This is a great post and I am also glad to see that manufacturers are looking at further refinements on 100 years of proven performance. CC - Engine efficiency is more then MPG. GM and Ford have been making very fuel efficient cars for years. I think where the imports have been successful was in producing cars with significant power and good MPGs (especially out of their 4 cyl). GM and Ford have caught up. I do disagree about quality. It is not a myth that for the last 20 years or so Honda and Toyota have been on average making more reliable and dependable cars then GM, Chrysler and Ford. I believe that gap has decreased and in some cases no longer exist. It will be a few years however before we see the evidence. Lawnboy made a great mower. After the government issued new environmental requirements, Lawnboy had to kill the 2-cycle engine (those things ran forever if you could figure out the proper fuel/oil mix and maintenance). The company was bought by Toro and they are now standard mowers made in Mexico along with Toros mid/low priced mowers. At the time, their high-end versions had the Honda engine. I havn't done research on them in awhile so some of this might have changed. My father had a Lawnboy that I used for a small lawnmowing business (30yrs ago). It always worked great and had a very distinctive sound and smell. It is a shame they don't make them anymore.

 

[BrianWC]

Oh yeah, we had a Lawn Boy that ran for about 8 years. There was barely any green plastic left on it. Myself, I thought it was terribly complicated. But it was really cool...and I did hate the premix. I think my dad still has some sitting on a shelf somewhere.

 

[cousincletus]

^^^If it quit running, the problem was most likely the coil. That's the weak link on the Lawn-Boy. The engines seem to last forever if using good oil. I use Amsoil in mine at 65 or so to 1 ratio. There were some models that had bad plastic gas tanks, but that was a warranty repair. Mine is kept in a shed, so all the plastic is still in good condition. EPA killed the Lawn-Boy, but if you use the synthetic oil, it puts out surprisingly less smoke.

 

[VNTS]

You must be referring to the early 90's 3.0 mitsu engine that had dropped valve guides, that Chrysler sourced for the minis. The 3.3 and 3.8 pushrod engines are quite good from a durability standpoint but the OHC crowd sees them as old and out dated.

 

[440Magnum]

 Originally Posted By: VNTS

You must be referring to the early 90's 3.0 mitsu engine that had dropped valve guides, that Chrysler sourced for the minis. The 3.3 and 3.8 pushrod engines are quite good from a durability standpoint but the OHC crowd sees them as old and out dated.

Then that so-called "OHC crowd" is letting the glossy advertisement writers do their thinking for them. I could care less how the valves get actuated so long as the engine performs solidly. Chrysler Hemi and GM LS-series- wonderful modern pushrod engines. Ford modulars and Chrysler 4.7- wonderful modern OHC engines. All equal in my book. There's absolutely NO inherent dominating advantage to one or the other for most applications.

 

[440Magnum]

 Originally Posted By: BrianWC

The reason I posted this article was not to proclaim that Hondas were awesome fuel efficient cars and I want to have their babies. I posted it b/c I liked the fact that it seemed like Honda was thumbing its nose at the idea that there are no more gains to be made out of the internal combustion engine. I thought MOST of us would appreciate that sentiment.

And I agree with you wholeheartedly. I'm an electrical engineer, but I did pick up a little basic thermo along the way... isn't there a fundamental limit on efficiency for any heat engine that is fixed by the ratio of the combustion temperature to the heat sink (ambient) temperature? Stationary fixed-speed fixed-load turbo diesels have been getting really close to some fundamental limit like that for a number of years now. I don't think any manufacturer is going to get around that, but it would be nice to get as close as possible with engines that operate over a broad speed/load curve.

 

[Steve S]

 Originally Posted By: Cardinal49

Cute commercial. Not sure if it will have any impact on purchases. MPG is just one of the decision factors and 1-2 MPG really doesn't make much of a difference. I have a Honda mower. I have had it for 4 years and it is the best mower I have used or owned. I originally went looking to buy the Toro or the new Lawnboy (new at the time). The Honda was better built and more comfortable. Also, the Honda is made in the US, the Toro and Lawnboy were made in Mexico.

I try to buy made in U.S.A as much as possible. Sometimes a better product is made offshore . Pay now or pay later.