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If you are not having problems, the theory is that the update will postpone ever having a battery problem. If you are leery about getting the update at all, don't get it until you are having problems, or at some time before the warranty expires, whichever comes first.
I see the recal events every morning, and sometimes during mid-day driving. Hottest August on record here, by the way.
Average mileage has increased from ~38.5 mpg (consistent for the last 3 summers) to ~41.5 mpg now, though. The recals look more like a forced charge event to me; the IMA boost is available within a few minutes and the SOC goes back to full bars after about 7 or 8 miles of driving.
I can't complain at this point. A 3 mpg improvement in a terribly hot month is pretty impressive. Sorry everyone else is not seeing the same results.
By the way, I always get better mileage by NOT using cruise control. However, I often use it anyway for convenience.
Mileage: driving 75-80 around 40mpg, or less if I drive like an idiot (eg. trying to go faster up hills than down hills. Funny how so many people on the road do that)
driving 65-70 around 42
driving 55-65 around 45.
subtract 2 mpg or so if AC is on.
subtract another 1mpg if temp is over 95.
Being desperate, I decided to top my next tank of gas with Premium Unleaded. Wow! What a big difference it made. The car took off with much more pep, but at a cost of more $$. The next tank of gas, I switched to the midgrade Unleaded (89 octane) which costs less, and I found that the car still drives with the same pep as using the Premium grade gas. Now after 30 days, I am really loving this car. With the midgrade gas and the computer having time to adjust, the car just drives great. Gas milage has not changed much, and my last tank averaged 41 mpg. This is great considering I live in a hilly area in Southern CA, and it's also summer weather. The extra 2 octanes gain from regular to midgrade really made a big difference on this small gas engine. An extra 10 cents per gallon more is a small price to pay. The car drives much better than before the software upgrade, and the hybrid engine seems to blend in much better than before the upgrade. Just give it some time for the computer to adjust, and try using a higher grade gas.
The performance will not improve and Honda will not do anything to fix it. I spent months trying to resolve it, with numerous trips to the dealer and lines of bull.
You are correct. Acceleration is dangerously inadequate. Trade it and never buy Honda again!
http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-honda-20100815,0,4626507,full.story
I took it to my Honda dealer and they said that the IMA system checked out fine and they couldn't do anything. I repeatedly said that there is a problem despite their equipment saying it was fine, and that they needed to drive my car for a few days. I filed a complaint with Honda and their response was that I had to go back to the dealer and have them test drive it as I requested. I feel like I'm getting the run around. I'm going to see if the dealer will test drive my Honda and then consider the next step.
That may not be what certain posters are trying to achieve.
If you GOOGLE Civic Hybrid Class Action you will find links to several cases - one was just expanded to include owners with defective IMA batteries at Chimicles firm.
I have even gone directly to Honda America to ask for a cut-rate on fixing my IMA battery that died JUST outside the warranty window. They are not budging, just holding out as long as they can because they know litigation is inevitable with this many consumers. They'll bide their time, eventually settle and give consumers as little as the have to.
I will NEVER purchase another Honda again after this indefensible, unethical treatment as a long time customer.
Mileage has increased from 38.0 to at least 42; hand calculation on last tank of mostly city driving in hot weather was 42.6. I do have lack of assist at times especially when Temps are over 100. I get occasional drops in bars from 4 or 5 to 2 in hot stop and go driving. Usually charges back-up fairly fast once out of stop and go traffic.
Conclusion - assist can be very marginal in stop and go driving and with temps of 100 deg and over. Fuel mileage is improved to a level I didn't expect in the hot weather out here. I don't like the performance degradation in hot weather and sometimes rapid discharge to 2 bars in hot weather and stop and go conditions.
I've gotten the same speeches regarding temperature, driving style, etc, that others have reported here. It gets below 60 deg F at night for maybe a week, my wife's commute hasn't changed, but whatever, I'm a slow learner.
Finally, over the last week I've watched the indicated charge swing wildly from 1 to full and back, while the charge/assist gauge sat silent. The car reverted to cranking from the forward battery a couple days ago, and the engine light came on. Since then, the IMA light has come up a couple of times before staying on steady.
I plugged in my code reader and got back a P0A7F. Based on previous comments on this thread, I'm anticipating that the dealer will perform the s/w fix first, after which I'll PRAY that the system will croak again.
Re: the safety issue, it's absolutely true that when you get used to merging into traffic with a functional IMA, it gets real sporty when you step on it, and it ain't there.
So far I love the CR-V and am getting 26-27 mpg with no worries.
So far I love the CR-V and am getting 26-27 mpg with no worries.
BTW, I picked the CR-V because I could really use the space - another problem with the HCH.
The IMA battery in my wife 's 06 so far works as it should be, she does not get the 46 to 47 MPG she used to get the first four years since she got the car, she now gets 42 MPG, so the mileage has dropped a bit. she could sometime get 51MPG on highway stretches with the cruise control on over a 500 mile trip. That's also gone now. We are are just wondering when the Battery will start conking out. We have an other 9k before the extended warranty expires, but it seems in Connecticut the IMA battery is warranted 10 years. I have not had the update installed. To me getting a new battery with the update is not a fix, if the mileage drops like all the other owners claim. So it's a bit of a catch 22, hopefully the battery last the way it is now or Honda comes up with a solution.
Not software solution since hardware is the problem, I don't see them giving out 90 000 new redesigned Batteries. So getting rid of the car may be the solution, have Honda buy it back. I'd get a new Insight if the battery was a better design. I don't want to trade one problem for an other. This really sucks.
Honda Service Bulletin 09-025
My '06 has exhibited the same recal problems this summer. Frequent recals, loss of assist, but no IMA light yet. I'm due for service, but don't know what to do about the update.
It appears from the bulletin that two symtoms will trigger a battery replacement. The IMA light must remain lit, AND the recorded freeze data of the IMA temperature sensors 1,2, or 3 must be above 68 degrees F.
If those two conditions aren't met, they are directed to clear the error codes and do the software update.
The recals seem less frequent with cooler weather but the big picture is Honda seems to be saying that it is ok for the performance to vary widely and to be unsafe due to weather conditions and software upgrades as long as the IMA light is not on. This is unacceptable.