Creating the Bin-5 diesel

Progress made in lean-NOx trap technologies helps make engines a viable option for U.S. light-duty diesel market in 2008.

Honda's 2003 entry into the European light-duty diesel market helped intensify the competition in an already red-hot segment. So too did the automaker's announcement last fall that its 2009 U.S. diesels would meet the U.S. EPA's ultra-stringent Tier 2 Bin 5 emissions standards in all 50 states without urea-based selective catalytic reduction (SCR).

Honda's 2.2-L four-cylinder i-CTDi, the company's first passenger vehicle turbodiesel, has been widely praised for its smooth and quiet manners in the European Accord. Now, the engine, which has begun the long process of durability testing for EPA certification, has ignited a new round of industry discussion on the optimum technology strategies aimed at delivering Bin-5 diesel compliance