Honda Del Sol Features You Need To Know

The Spanish name del Sol translates (of the sun) in this case referring to the car’s opening roof. The car is a 2-seater Targa top manufactured by Honda in the 1990s. The car uses the Honda Civic platform and was the successor to the Honda CR-X. Honda Del Sol debuted in 1992 in Japan, the United Kingdom, and the United States. The car comes with a removable hardtop that is stowed in the trunk and a retractable rear window. Manual and automatic “TransTop” roofs were available. Honda’s new del Sol is an innovative open-air competitor to the Mazda Miata and the Mercury Capri, among others.

During its debut on the Japanese car show “Best Motoring” reviewer, Keiichi Tsuchiya declared the Del Sol SiR to be the most important Japanese sports car for a decade. Performance specifications for the Japan Domestic Market SiR give the two-seater a 0-100 km/h (62 mph) time of 7 seconds and a standing quarter-mile time of 14.7 as reviewed by Option magazine in 1992. The Del Sol SiR was seen in Japan as one of the first naturally aspirated mass production cars to output more than 100 PS per liter and the first with an electronic Targa roof (Transtop model).

The small car boasts of a trunk rated at 10.5 cubic feet without the roof back there. With the panel stowed, you still have 8.3 cubic feet of room, more than either the Miata or the Capri. The liftover is relatively high, but that is a result of the structural parts that make the Honda’s unit-body more rigid than many other convertibles. Production and sales ended with the 1997 model in the United States and 1998 in the global market.

The Different Trim Levels
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The Honda del Sol was first introduced to Japan, Europe, and North America in 1992 for the 1993 model year. Trim levels in the United States were initially limited to the S and Si models powered by SOHC Honda D-series engines while the Japanese market received the SiR powered by a 170 PS (125 kW; 168 hp) B16 SiR-II DOHC VTEC and featuring optional LSD.

The base “S” model (called the VXi in Japan from 1992 to 1994 but after 1995 called the VGi) came with a 1.5 liter SOHC 16-valve four-cylinder engine and rode on 13-inch steel wheels, available only at Honda Verno Japanese dealerships. The Japanese VXi/VGi versions came with a Honda D15B-VTEC engine. This was an entry-level VTEC engine that produced 130 PS (96 kW; 128 hp), matching the power of the 1.6 Si version. Despite the body resemblance to a mid-engine car design, the Del Sol shared a front-engine design with the contemporary Honda Civic.

The “Si” (called the “ESi” in Europe) model came standard with a 1.6 liter SOHC 16-valve four-cylinder engine. The Si also came with 14″ alloy wheels, which were offered in an optional body-color-matched paint scheme on Samba Green models, power side mirrors, cruise control, rear disc brakes, wider tires, and additional front & rear anti-sway bars. Depending on model and market, the options included a rear spoiler, custom floor mats, an automatic transmission, power steering, heated mirrors, front fog lights, traction control system (Japan Domestic Market only), a limited-slip differential (Japan Domestic Market only), and air conditioning.

The Exterior Design
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Honda Del Sol is sleek, rounded, and possesses a strong family resemblance to the rest of the ’93 Honda line. It features cat’s-eye headlights and auxiliary driving lights in the center of the soft nose which is a trademark of the Del Sol. The steeply raked windshield shape and placement, along with the shape and placement of the side mirrors, direct airflow around the passenger compartment. The rear roof support forms an air dam that helps minimize the buffeting that occurs when wind flows along the side of the car and whips into the cabin.

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