I was flabbergasted driving a 2023 Honda Civic Sport during a trip to Thailand, easily one of the best-balanced cars I’ve driven. Makes me wonder if that model is using the same engine they’re talking about here
Toyota 5A was in production 1987–2006, and IIRC was licensed to Chinese manufacturers afterwards. The A series as a whole lasted 1978–2006. Less modern than Honda K, but these were lovely engines. They just won't fail as long as you replace parts on time.
Engines used in general aviation have interchangeable parts from almost 100 years ago. You could warp a Lycoming engine mechanic in from 1942 using your time traveling phone booth and he'd be able to fix your 172 of any vintage.
One of the interesting quirks of the Honda K-series is that it spins “backwards”. If you try to mate one to a different transmission (or try to mate a different engine to a K-series transmission), it’s going to give you, uh, interesting results! Lots of people found out the hard way when they used their Fast & Furious inspiration to do JDM swaps :)
I don't think that lack of reliability is the key factor for why new motors are still being developed. Fuel efficiency or changing emission standards are two points that come to mind that drive further optimizations.
Funny considering the K20A1 started off with a dogshit reputation and chain tensioner issues just like the F-series engines in the S2000 that honda refused to learn from.
But thanks to aftermarket support you can get third party parts to fix any issue with the K-series, and even see people turbocharging to get them north of 1,200hp. We've got a local guy with a k-swapped Acura NSX that is an absolute monster of a car.
So what? The Rolls-Royce & Bentley L-series engine was made from 1959 to 2020, 60 years, (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rolls-Royce–Bentley_L-series_V...), and was only replaced because of mergers and change in ownership, not because of its capacities. It of course evolved quite some during that production span.
25yr is "meeting expectations" for any mass market[1] engine designed after about the mid 1970s or so.
A design that is both not fundamentally flawed in some way and cutting edge enough for its time to not quickly rendered obsolete the steady increase in expectations should go far longer. A design that is "ok" and cutting edge will probably go 20-30yr. A design that is behind the times, and very good (easier to not make wrong design decisions when you're not on the cutting edge) will probably do 20-30yr as well.
[1] i.e. not some specialty truck or sports car thing that could become not worth making due to a shift in market conditions for the few segments where it's applicable.
That's a series of engines, not a single model. The FIAT FIRE [1] series has been in production for 36 years from 1985 to 2021 and, maybe you wouldn't expect it from FIAT, those engines were reliable.
In the couple years I've owned my (now) 10 year old wee-Fiat I think I've opened the hood once, when I first bought it, just to confirm the engine was actually there. Other than that, what engine?
Probably should pop it open (heh, Fiat Pop, no pun intended) to fix the headlight which has been out for about a year but it was a lot easier to get a (free) veteran's plate than poke around in there and you pretty much have to commit vehicular homicide in front of a cop to get pulled over with a veteran's plates so... I mean, it came with an extra headlight for a reason.
But, yeah, tiny little engine for a tiny little car which does it's job without issue, what's not to love?
Fiat FIRE engines are reliable workhorses, but they arent cool nor overbuild like K series. You can tune NA K20 to over 250 whp, or 400 whp turbo with _stock_ bottom end. Same reason 2JZ are legendary with stock bottom end good for at least 600 whp.
I’ve noticed Honda puts an emphasis on reducing stress. I have a 20 year old Honda which still runs fine because everything about it seems “overbuilt” - other owners say it runs fine without coolant, oil, etc - just keeps plugging along.
The headline isn’t really true. The K series of engines has been in production for 25 years but it has been redesigned along the way.
The article mentions this further down:
> The K20C is Honda's current-generation of the K-Series range, upgraded to deliver strong real-world efficiency and long-term reliability across the Honda and Acura catalogs. It's also a redesign that meets stricter global emissions rules and tighter thermal demands that come with modern turbocharging.
The original K20A has been out of production for a long time.
Each iteration of the engine shares a lot in common with the previous iteration, but the redesigns have been significant enough that I wouldn’t say it’s accurate to claim that one engine has been in production for 25 years.
I strongly suspected it was going to be a Honda before even clicking the link. I traded in my RSX-s many years ago for Cherokee because kids. I miss that car, that was a lovely engine even though the low-end torque was a bit anemic.
What's impressive isn't just the longevity, but how gracefully it's evolved over two decades while still feeling relevant in today's turbocharged, emissions-strangled landscape
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[ 0.25 ms ] story [ 75.3 ms ] threadIt's a big engine for that little car but I'd completely forgotten about them over the years.
It's wild that people are still doing this: https://potentialmotorsport.com/
I might have to reserect that dream. :D
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UN7tl7nhV0s&list=PLp0KnUFYB-...
https://www.gmperformancemotor.com/parts/19433032.html
But thanks to aftermarket support you can get third party parts to fix any issue with the K-series, and even see people turbocharging to get them north of 1,200hp. We've got a local guy with a k-swapped Acura NSX that is an absolute monster of a car.
A design that is both not fundamentally flawed in some way and cutting edge enough for its time to not quickly rendered obsolete the steady increase in expectations should go far longer. A design that is "ok" and cutting edge will probably go 20-30yr. A design that is behind the times, and very good (easier to not make wrong design decisions when you're not on the cutting edge) will probably do 20-30yr as well.
[1] i.e. not some specialty truck or sports car thing that could become not worth making due to a shift in market conditions for the few segments where it's applicable.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fully_Integrated_Robotised_Eng...
Probably should pop it open (heh, Fiat Pop, no pun intended) to fix the headlight which has been out for about a year but it was a lot easier to get a (free) veteran's plate than poke around in there and you pretty much have to commit vehicular homicide in front of a cop to get pulled over with a veteran's plates so... I mean, it came with an extra headlight for a reason.
But, yeah, tiny little engine for a tiny little car which does it's job without issue, what's not to love?
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Kent_engine
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saab_H_engine
https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.redd.it%2Fn...
The article mentions this further down:
> The K20C is Honda's current-generation of the K-Series range, upgraded to deliver strong real-world efficiency and long-term reliability across the Honda and Acura catalogs. It's also a redesign that meets stricter global emissions rules and tighter thermal demands that come with modern turbocharging.
The original K20A has been out of production for a long time.
Each iteration of the engine shares a lot in common with the previous iteration, but the redesigns have been significant enough that I wouldn’t say it’s accurate to claim that one engine has been in production for 25 years.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Volvo_Modular_Engine