Honda's big news for the Paris Motor Show is of course the all-new Civic Type R, but other than acting as a halo over the range and making journalists and petrolheads alike salivate at the prospect of Honda's first turbocharged Type R it is likely to have limited appeal.
Of much more import will be a series of new engines that the Japanese company will unveil in Paris, all under the 'Earth Dreams Technology' banner. (Can someone please have a word with whoever in marketing comes up with these things?)
From an Irish perspective the biggest news is the phasing out of the 2.2-litre diesel engine with a more powerful version of the rather good 1.6-litre i-DTEC unit taking its place. How much more powerful? Well how about 160hp and 350Nm of torque? Mated to a four-wheel drive system the new engine will debut in the CR-V SUV, though we wouldn't be surprised to see it make its way to the Civic at some point too. With the standard six-speed manual transmission this unit produces 130g/km which is an 11 per cent improvement over the old 2.2-litre engine. Opt for the new nine-speed automatic gearbox and CO2 climbs by 5- to 135g/km, but this still represents a 25 per cent improvement over the old 2.2 with an automatic transmission.
The existing 120hp 1.6-litre i-DTEC engine will continue to be offered on front-wheel drive versions of the CR-V and is also set to make an appearance under the bonnet of the HR-V 'prototype' in Paris. A second HR-V will be fitted with a new 1.5-litre petrol i-VTEC engine, which, unlike the diesel, can be paired with a CVT automatic transmission.
That pairing is repeated in the Honda Jazz supermini, which will also debut a new 1.3-litre i-VTEC petrol engine.
Anything else?
The new engine family will begin to appear on the market from March next year with the 1.3-litre i-VTEC the last to arrive with the new Jazz's debut in autumn.