When Honda Embarrassed GM by putting CVCC on an Impala and crushing EPA tests - sort of

Comments · 1K

• AL

  @AllCarswithJon · 3 years ago · pinned

  MAJOR APOLOGY:  In the video I erroneously said during the development of the CVCC Honda was developing it's first 4-stroke engine. That is wrong (as many of you pointed out). I script/outline videos and during my research on this I obviously mis-typed something and didn't catch it in editing.

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• TH

  @Thomas63r2 · 3 years ago

  This may interest you: there was large unintended engineering mistake made by the big three as they entered the smog era in the early 1970's.  One of the ways American engines changed as you mentioned was to reduce the compression.  That in itself was not a bad idea - but the way most American car companies did that was to slightly drop the top height of the piston.  This dramatic increase in the quench height was a disaster for power and fuel mileage, and for drivability and emissions.  It is much better understood now how important it is to have a tighter piston to cylinder head measurement, especially on wedge shaped combustion chambers.  A closer quench height reduces emissions, while increasing power and fuel mileage. There is more to it than my simple explanation, but the science of what happens in the combustion chamber was still an elusive topic in the 1970's.

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• 5T

  @5tr41ghtGuy · 3 years ago

  By meeting EPA standards <b>without</b> a catalytic converter, Honda likely realized significant savings on per unit material costs. Subsequent success of Honda as an automotive manufacturer suggests that they made sound engineering decisions.<br>On the subject of the Impala retrofit: I&apos;m guessing that a properly engineered CVCC system for a Chevy 350 would have taken a tremendous amount of development, but may have produced better performance. &nbsp;I speculate that the only reason Honda did this was to promote the possibility of GM licensing CVCC technology. &nbsp; Anyone who was familiar with GM engineers at the time knows that they suffered from severe &quot;not invented here&quot; syndrome; this was never going to happen.

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• GI

  @gino5037 · 3 years ago

  I had a CVCC in an Accord and Civic one of best engines I&apos;ve ever had. &nbsp;SUPER Simple, Reliable and Insane MPG too bad the chassis rusted out...

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• NZ

  @nzxt1234 · 3 years ago (edited)

  volvo was early In 1978, the &nbsp;Volvo 240 earned the recognition as the USA&apos;s Cleanest Car from the California Air Resources Board. In 1976 Volvo Cars presented a world first in the environmental area – the three-way catalytic converter with Lambda sensor for exhaust emission control. &quot;The most significant breakthrough ever made in the control of vehicle exhaust emissions”. So said Tom Quinn, chairman of the California Air Resources Board (CARB), when the 1977 model of the Volvo 244 equipped with a Lambda sensor system was launched on the American market in the autumn of 1976,

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• MA

  @markbanash921 · 3 years ago (edited)

  I&apos;m a chemist and it&apos;s fascinating to see the shift in the gases emitted, especially in the changes in carbon monoxide and carbon dioxide. &nbsp;These two gases are related to each other in something called the Boudouard reaction, and their admixture can be affected by the temperature in which they are formed. &nbsp;Any data related to engine heat management would be very interesting.

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• CA

  @carlm8821 · 3 years ago

  Thanks for this, never knew about or heard this story. Growing up during the 1970’s, American car manufacturers didn’t seem to take the Japanese auto makers seriously and for the most part not many American car buyers either. They were considered ‘novelties’, toy cars and can even recall some friends of family going as far as calling them ‘tuna/sardine cans’, and jokingly mocked them compared to ‘REAL’ American cars! Oh I’m sure the Japanese manufacturers were quite well aware of this and throughout the 70’s and 80’s, stopped at nothing to change all those perceptions and misconceptions. Fast forward to the 1990’s and later some of the greatest small performance cars are from Japan, and while the American Auto makers are in a mad scramble to go FULL EV, again, Japanese manufacturers know it’s not the answer - just yet, and opt to go with PHEV’s and a few BEV’s just to say they have them on the market and ‘appease’ markets and regulatory demands for them. But ultimately, where the big three dominated the industry, it was their shortsightedness, and stubborn arrogance that led to the makers of rinky-dink, toy cars to dominate the auto industry and most American roads and highways today!

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• PA

  @patrickclawson9622 · 3 years ago

  Fascinating story... and I did know about it. &nbsp;My first car was a CVCC (possibly an SB-1) and it effected my opinion of every car I owned, afterward. &nbsp;Insane fuel economy at a time when gas was not cheap. &nbsp;Better, is was light and fast with the impressive practicality of being a hatchback. &nbsp;The auto world could really use Mr Honda&apos;s kind of thinking, today.

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• NA

  @narcoosseefl · 3 years ago

  Fascinating story - I didn&apos;t know about this. &nbsp;One point of contention: I see this all the time when people compare fuel economy, where they say something like &quot;1 MPG is a small difference&quot;. &nbsp;Whether that is true or not depends on the size of the number. &nbsp; &nbsp;For the CVCC vs. Stock at 45 MPH, the difference is 24%! &nbsp;That&apos;s huge.

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• JA

  @jameslaidler2152 · 3 years ago

  Am I the only guy who rewound the video to rewatch the black XJ Jaguar go by in that tailpipe shot? I &nbsp;love Jags.

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• JI

  @jimeb2jim256 · 3 years ago

  My buddy picked up a 1964 Malibu with the straight six in the mid 80’s. For kicks they did an emission test on it and punched in that it was an 87 Chevy (Corsica I think). It passed.

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• DA

  @damnyankeerebelprepper1324 · 3 years ago

  I owned a &apos;73 Impala....great back seat.

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