New Models Curb Japan’s Turbo Lag

While U.S. and European nameplates and increasingly Korean models have offered turbocharged engines for several years in the U.S., Japan-based carmakers are just now starting to use boosted engines, Automotive News reports. The newspaper notes that Toyota and Honda don't have any turbocharged cars, and Nissan has only two: the GT-R supercar and Juke crossover vehicle.

Japanese companies have eschewed advanced powertrain technologies, such as turbos and direct injection, in part because their engines already were very efficient, analysts say. But AN says producers are beginning to reach the efficiency limits with naturally aspirated engines and likely will make major changes by the end of the decade.

Honda's first U.S. turbo is coming this year in the new Civic small car, which will offer a boosted 1.5-liter four-cylinder engine. The turbo four-banger also will be available in upcoming versions of the Accord midsize sedan and CR-V crossover vehicle.

Toyota will begin offering a boosted 2.0-liter four-cylinder engine instead of a V-6 in a few Toyota and Lexus cars, according to AN. But it says the company's high-volume four-cylinder engines will continue to be naturally aspirated. To optimize power and efficiency, Toyota's future four-bangers could be larger Atkinson-cycle mills teamed with direct injection and continuously variable transmissions, the publication speculates.

Nissan will be even slower to embrace turbos, according to the report. It says the carmaker will continue to rely on CVTs and increasingly use direct injection to boost fuel efficiency.