- Honda Car Owner's Manual


85
EMISSIONSSTANDARDS
We know that Honda has gone to great lengths in engineering the Insight in the pursuit of low
emissionslevels,butjusthowlowhavetheyactuallyachieved?
Therearetwomajorcategoriesofvehicleemissionsthatpeopleareconcernedabout:

Airpollutingcompoundsthatcontributetosmogandarehealthhazards
Thesearethecompoundsmeasuredbythevariousemissionsstandards.TheInsightiscertifiedtomeet
theULEV(Ultra-LowEmissionsVehicle)standardwhensoldinCaliforniaandsomeotherU.S.states.We
aren'tawareofanydifferencesinthecaritselfassoldelsewhere.
Asthechartbelowshows,independentmeasurementshavebeendoneontheInsight,whichshowthat
itisfarbetterthantheULEV(andevenSULEV)standardinsomeaspects,whilebeingjustaboutexactly
attheULEVlevelinhydrocarbonemissions.
TechnologyintheInsightthatallowsittoachievetheselevelsinclude:
• Carefulcomputercontroloverfuelinjectionandignitiontiming.
• The VTEC-E valve system, which produces a high degree of swirl for very complete
combustion.
• Thehead/exhaustmanifold/catalyticconverterconfigurationthatallowstheprimarycatalytic
convertertogetuptooperatingtemperaturesquickly.
• Thesecond(NOxabsorptive)catalyticconverterdesignedforlean-burnconditions.
• Thevarioustechnologiesthatleadtoareductionofthetotalamountoffuelburnt.

Greenhousegasemissionsbelievedtocontributetoglobalwarming
Carbon dioxide is the primary "greenhouse gas" of concern in vehicle emissions. Carbon dioxide
emissionlevelsarenotcurrentlymeasuredbymostemissionsstandards.
Theamountofcarbondioxideproducedisdirectlyproportionaltotheamountoffuelburned.Assuch,
itistheInsight'ssuperiorfuelefficiencythatallowsittoachievethelowestlevelofCO
2
emissionsever
achievedbyamass-producedcar.


InsightEmissionsLevels
Smog-CausingCompounds
Greenhouse
Gas
Hydrocarbons
Carbon
Monoxide
Nitrogen
Oxides
Particulate
Matter
Carbon
Dioxide
Category
TOG
(1)

g/km
(g/mi)
NMOG
(2)

g/km
(g/mi)
CO
(3)

g/km(g/mi)

NOx
(4)

g/km(g/mi)

PM
(5)

g/km(g/mi)
CO
2

(6)

g/km(g/mi)
InsightEmissionsLevel,
AccordingtoHonda
ULEV
(ascertifiedinCaliforniaandsomeotherU.S.states)
80(129)
InsightasIndependently
TestedonDynamometer
0.03(.05) 0.12(0.2)
None
detected
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