Honda Will Introduce Turbo 4-Cylinder VTEC Engines

2015 Honda Civic Si Coupe (Credit: Honda)

Some Honda fanboys in their excitement have made wild statements in the past that VTEC is superior to turbocharging when it comes to raw performance, which to say the least is a dubious claim. Soon enough, those same enthusiasts will be able to enjoy the wonders of forced induction combined with their beloved VTEC after Honda announced it is going to create an entire line of four-cylinder engines featuring the two.

Those VTEC Turbo engines will be coming out by the end of the year, thanks to a $340 million investment in the company’s engine plant that is located in Anna, Ohio. A third assembly line is being added just for the forced induction power plants, showing that the company likely expects them to be at least fairly popular with consumers.

There are a number of questions surrounding the turbo Honda engines, and for right now the automaker isn’t commenting on them. One of them is the matter of which models will be offered with a forced induction setup. Considering that the announcement was for four-cylinder engines, there are only three models in the current lineup that would definitely not be possibilities, the Ridgeline, Odyssey, and Pilot, with everything from the Fit to the CR-V as a potential turbo candidate.

Another huge question is whether or not the announcement means the United States will finally get the Civic Type R. The prototype Type R that previews what will be hitting other markets around the world boasts a 2.0-liter engine that kicks out about 300 horsepower. That kind of performance would make the Civic a hot option for people in the United States who have a need for speed.

As stated before, consumers won’t have too much time for speculation since turbo engines will start rolling out near the end of 2015, potentially marking a new era for Honda.