Honda released today the specifications of the European version 2012 Civic, together with new images of the hatchback. Honda also announced that the world premiere of the 2012 Civic hatch will take place at the Frankfurt auto show in September, 2011. The European 2012 Honda Civic hatch will be powered by a 2.2-litre i-DTEC engine developing 150 PS and 350 Nm of torque. Honda says that the new engine emits 29g/km less CO2, which is good news, especially for the its British customers who will benefit from free road tax for the first year. The CO2 emissions level of the 2012 Civic hatchback is rated by the Japanese manufacturer at 110g/km.
To achieve such low CO2 emissions, Honda improved the oil flow through the engine to reduce
circulation loss. The materials from which the engine is made have been revised to reduce friction. The 2012 5-door hatchback Civic, when equipped with the manual transmission, gets the Idle Stop technology which reduces the CO2 emissions by 5g/km.
To further improve the efficiency of the 2012 Civic, Honda revised the aerodynamics of its 5-door body, through extensive wind tunnel testing. Honda also says that the new 5-door Civic also has an improved high speed stability.
Katsushi Watanabe, Civic's engine development leader, says that their main goal was to reduce CO2 emissions, without compromising the high performance character of the car.
We'll have more details on the 2012 Honda Civic hatch as soon as they're available.
