Citation:

Stuhldreher, M., J. Kargul, D. Barba, J. McDonald, S. Bohac, P. Dekraker, AND A. Moskalik. Benchmarking a 2016 Honda Civic 1.5-Liter L15B7 Turbocharged Engine and Evaluating the Future Efficiency Potential of Turbocharged Engines. SAE Technical Paper Series. SAE International, Warrendale, PA, 11(6):1273-1305, (2018).

Impact/Purpose:

A key technology being used today to meet emissions, performance, and fuel efficiency targets is boosting via turbocharging followed by a reduction in engine displacement or "downsizing". To understand the current performance of modern turbocharged engines , EPA conducted an engineering benchmarking study of a 2016 Honda Civic with a 4-cylinder 1.5L turbocharged, gasoline-direct-injection (GDI) engine and continuously variable transmission (CVT). EPA’s benchmarking study of this vehicle included both chassis dynamometer and engine dynamometer testing to measure vehicle emissions, assess engine combustion, and determine engine efficiency across a broad range of operating conditions. The first phase of this study focused on engine benchmarking. The benchmarking of the engine included 1) development of engine dynamomter test methods, 2) incorporation of test data into a set of complete engine efficiency maps, 3) evaluation of the engine in EPA’s ALPHA vehicle energy model, and 4) comparison of the Honda 1.5L engine to other advanced turbo engines. Test method development was necessary in order to allow a light-duty vehicle engine with a sophisticated electronic engine management system to properly operate external to a vehicle chassis using an engine dynamometer, thus allowing evaluation of the engine across a broader range of engine speed and load operating conditions. The benchmarking data was then used to provide powertrain data input for modeling greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions using the EPA ALPHA Model. This work was conducted in support of EPA's Light-duty Vehicle GHG Emissions Midterm Evaluation.

Description:

As part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s continuing assessment of advanced light-duty automotive technologies to support the setting of appropriate national greenhouse gas standards, and to evaluate the impact of new technologies on in-use emissions, a 2016 Honda Civic with a 4-cylinder 1.5-liter engine and continuously variable transmission (CVT) was benchmarked. The test method involves 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 OBD/epid CAN bus data were recorded. The paper documents test results with EPA Tier 2 and Tier 3 test fuels for idle, low, medium and high load engine operation, as well as motoring torque, wide-open throttle torque, CO2 emissions and fuel consumption during transient operation. Particular attention is paid to characterizing enrichment control during high load engine operation. Results are used to create full engine fuel consumption and efficiency maps and estimate CO2 emissions using EPA’s full vehicle simulation model, ALPHA, over regulatory drive cycles. The design and efficiency maps of the 1.5 liter Honda engine are compared to several other past, present, and future downsized-boosted engines and potential advancements are evaluated.

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