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Honda Civic Hybrid Driving Tips & Tricks
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Comments
However, at 2:00AM with zero traffic on a rural highway with maximum speed about 50 there is plenty of reaction time.
Or, while stuck in grid lock stop-and go traffic.
Read this:
"Click".
That's all the time required to get back to D, at least with CVT.
http://cartalk.com/content/columns/Archive/1996/September/05.html
Bird2
Honestly, the idea of driving with one of your control capabilities intentionally "shut of" is pretty scary. My Dad taught me to be a defensive driver. Do I have to add "beware of hybrid drivers on downhill stretches because they're hypermiling" to the watch list???
And the point the Car Talk guys make about excessive use of brakes is a great one. If you're "free wheeling", the ONLY thing controlling your speed is your use of the brakes. I once made the mistake of not paying attention while coming down from Skyline Drive in Virginia. I was touching the brakes now and then instead of downshifting to keep the car under control. Well, it was a gorgeous early morning, there were no cars around. What's the problem. The problem was that at the bottom of the couple of miles of grade, unbeknowst to me, was a traffic signal. By the time I reached that light, the heating of the brakes had pretty much rendered the brakes useless. When I saw the red light, I stepped on the brake and pfffffft... nothing. I got REAL lucky that nobody was coming at the time I swooped through the intersection. And fortunately the road level out and I was able to get the car slowed up enough to the point where I had control of the speed and could run slow enough to let the brakes cool down enough to where I had SOME stopping power.
But hey, it's your neck, not mine.
And if you make your car out of balsa wood and crepe paper, you can get great mpg. Isn't mpg all that matters? ;-)
As far as the poster who thought it was okay to coast at sometimes, and the driver can determine that; what other law allows people discretion to make choices like that? Because few people are on the road at times, is it then okay to speed? is it then okay to drive slightly over the DWI limit? is it okay to drive in the breakdown lane if you think it is clear?
Everyone thinks they are smarter than average and know better. But obviously that is not true. And the least smart amongst us are more likely to not realize their limits, and believe themselves to be geniuses. So we try and make things simple, and tell people to obey the laws, and that way they don't have to waste their time. Its amazing how many experts the internet creates - read a couple of links or postings in 15 min. and you know more than the people who are educated and study highway safety for a living.
Take a manual shift and leave the car in gear, but push in the clutch, if you are really concerned about getting back in gear. Your fail-safe mode is if you take you foot off of the clutch.
Then again of the three handling characteristics: Braking, steering and acceleration , the least used in a critical situation is acceleration.
If I were the judge and IMOHO, we are making much to do about nothing , Neutral indeed does saves gas, imposes minimal if any additioanl risk and it is time to move on and let go all the negative, by the way unsubtantiatied, discussion about shifting into neutral to save gas. The Neutral shift wins and the trail is dismissed.
If you guys are trully manual shift driver and you really are hypermilers then shifting to neutral can save gas. I think shifting into neutral with a CVT or stnadrd auto or a shift gate, if pretty stupid. My experience with variousautos is that you are not always assured you are moving the slector quickly to the right gear. The push buttons on the steering wheel or a +/- gate shift between gears and not to neutral.
I think a MANUAL SHIFT Honda Civic Hybrid or a MANUAL SHIFT Honda Insight could gain additional miles per gallon by coasting in Neutral.
Personally I am neutral about this issue,
MidCow
I'd say you used pretty bad judgment.
You traveled out of gear driving on a couple of miles grade, not knowing what is at the bottom, not realizing that your brakes would heat up to the ineffective point, and it causing you to "swoop" through an intersection.
Poor driving judgment like that can get you or others killed.
Hypermilers should be the least of your worries: I've never heard of hypermilers showing such poor judgment.
What really caught my eye was "But hey, it's your neck, not mine" because you completely distort what I am doing:
2:00AM, max speed 50 down to 20MPH on an almost level, familiar road I travel many times a day 365 days a year is not poor judgment, nothing as you have described.
rfruth,
"coasting in N is illegal in some states unsafe and does very little (if any) good in the MPG dept"
Coasting in N is only a small part of what I'm doing.
What I am doing has very, very good results- see my post:
misterme, "Hybrid Tips: Optimizing mileage" #231, 31 Mar 2005 9:04 pm
As for the illegal part, did you exceed the posted speed limit? You know those limits are placed for safety sake. How about rolling a stop sign? That's illegal too.
Have you ever tailgated a slow driver? Surely that's dangerous and is one of the leading causes of accidents..
kernick:
When you do any the things listed above do you think you are smarter than average and know better? Genius?
If I'm in the far right lane of an unclogged 6-lane freeway going the speed limit enjoying my 90MPG segment as most others just gas it going +10 to +15 over, tailgating each other in the speedy Left lanes among other things then who is it that thinks they are smarter than the law?
Are you among them? I hope not.
And for what it's worth, from the post prior to yours, the claim of being able to get a car out of neutral and into gear in milliseconds may qualify as THE single most outrageous claim I've seen yet. Reaction time is measured in TENTHS of seconds at best. And that's just to get the process started of stepping on the brake or releasing the clutch or whatever it is your about to attempt to save yourself.
My comment about it being your neck distorts nothing. You're taking a risk that I simply wouldn't take for some fractional gain in mileage. Just as I wouldn't take the risk that some of the tuners take on public roads with their vehicles. We're going to have to agree to disagree on this one I'm afriad.
.
I'm not aware of any mountain roads that have space for parked cars. (Yes, I was discussing coasting in neutral down a mountain.)
troy
But if you don't like those, then just go back to whether it is legal or not in your state. If it's illegal, the point is moot - you don't do it. Just as you stop at a STOP sign whether other cars are there or not.
I think everyone could get much better mpg if they didn't have to stop at signs or lights when they didn't see anyone coming. Do you endorse that people ignore those laws if it doesn't make sense to stop at those times. Because someone doesn't see the sense of a law, they can ignore it?
Back to topic: anyone hear rumors about the new Civics? Are all the models including the hybrid getting mpg increases? Will they still have those annoying timing-belts?
I know that many people have the desire to increase MPG in their HCH and originally wanted to provide tips for improvement, that's why I posted in the Optimizing thread:
misterme, "Hybrid Tips: Optimizing mileage" #231, 31 Mar 2005 10:04 pm
The only comments I've received are that I'm rude with my driving and liken it to riding brakes out of control down a steep grade or renegade law beakers.
You say that you averaged ~80MPG in your Insight, so you know that what is described here is exaggerated and misrepresented, and even by the staff.
So let it go.
.
When I'm driving my Beetle or Dodge, I go 80 in a 70 zone. Do you really think I'm going to obey the "no coasting down hills" rule, when I don't obey the speed signs? I suspect you do a fair amount of speeding too, so please don't lecture me about obeying the law.
I'm going to continue coasting in neutral, in order to boost my MPG. I don't see anything dangerous about it, and my top coasting speed is only 80 which is no more dangerous than the several thousand *other* drivers doing 80.
troy
me: I didn't think otherwise. The issue was whether you were right or wrong to do so from a safety / legal standpoint.
In what way does a timing belt "annoy" you?
I mean, they get replaced every 105,000 miles but other than that, they keep pretty quiet and don't cause much trouble.
#1 Take a large box....
#2 Search car from stem to stern and place all items not necessary for safety or comfort in box..
#3 Place box in Garage...
#4 Check all tyre pressures are correct for load in car e.g. higher if car is heavily loaded (See drivers manual
#5 Remove lead weight from right shoe
Here endeth the lesson
P.s. this works with any vehicle... hybrid or otherwise
Question Is the Honda I4 or v6 an interference engine ?
In other words if a timing belt breaks is there possible valve damage ?
105,000 miles or 110,000 miles is a pretty long time and changing a timing belt as opposed to not ever changing a timing chain shouldn't be a beig dela.
YMMV,
MidCow
I missed that part. If the speed limit is 45, then I wouldn't consider 40mph too rude... maybe, "if there is nobody following".
But those aren't the speeds I travel. If I drove at 45, I would get over 60mpg. I have for stretches of 20 miles when behind a slow moving truck. On those same roads, my unfettered speed is 60-65, not cruising, but accelerating and decelerating with the curves, and I get 48mpg.
I'm not ready to substantially alter my driving habits for the extra 20% mileage increase. Check back in another six months ;-)
I set the cruise control of my '06HCH at 30mph and drove for about three miles on a level surface without stopping.
During that period the EV mode engaged two or three times as evidenced by the MPG gauge pegging out and two bars showing on the Assist gauge. Wasn't able to travel more than l/4 mile continuously without it reverting to the gasoline mode but it does work.
Conditions permitting I now use the cruise control when driving for an extended distance in a 30mph zone, its very easy to drive 5-l0mph over the speed without the cruise. So I reduce the chance of being stopped for speeding plus a micro mpg saving :shades:
This gives an extra .4 gallons in the tank. Also on the fuel indicator when the gas tank light comes on you are supposed to have two gallons left, or another 90-100 miles amazingly.
I don't agree. I find the Honda Civic LX with 4 speed auto to be noisy and poor accelerating in the city by comparison to my 2003 HCH.
Because of the CVT, the HCH glides from a stop, and never has the sound of a struggling little four cylinder pulling at uncomfortably low RPM against an automatic transmission.
If your Civic ICE was running in low RPM, then you don't understand Honda engineering.
The engine consumes a comparatively large amount of fuel cold vs warmed up.
I park heading-out (Backed in) to avoid the extra load on the engine right after starting cold.
In fact I keep load as light as possible. For example I could park right next to the exit gate at work. I'd start up, drive a few feet to the gate, then drive .2 miles uphill to a traffic light.
Instead I park on the 2nd to the top level of the deck. I start, put in D, nudge a little gas to get her rolling, then switch to N. (This is 2:30AM and the lot is vacant for safety). I'll roll @ about 3-5MPH down 3 levels of ramps, still in N until I get to the gate, then shut her down.
Leaving the gate I roll in N again on an abandoned street about .1 miles where I get onto the regular road then baby it for the first 5-10 miles.
Yes I know this is quite extreme but I get quite extreme results from my efforts. My last tank figures:
Beginning 69,676
Ending 70,659
983 miles
Pumped 13.79g to the rim
71.28MPG
Gotta baby that engine in warmup for maximum efficiency and makes a big difference.
I'm going for a 1,000 mile tank this time before cooler weather sets in. I missed it last time by 17 miles!
So far I've traveled 643 miles and have 1/2 tank left so I have a pretty good shot at it. Dash says 70.8MPG for those miles.
Wish me luck!
2004 Honda Civic Hybrid CVT
-Steve
Under certain circumstances the '06HCH will run in the battery only mode at speeds of less than 30mph but only for a very short distance, 1/2 mile would be exceptional, 1/4 mile is more likely.
The trick is to manipulate the accelerator to around 40-50mph then deaccelerate to slightly under 30mph and watch for the MPG Indicator to max out at 100 and hold steady. You will then know you're in the battery mode. Every time i've tried it usually kicks in at 25mph. You'll hear a thud like sound when the engine reverts to the gasoline mode and the MPG Indicator will drop.
It has long been my opinion that Honda's claim about the battery only mode is technically correct but misleading, the effect on FE is minimal.
At the auto car wash it typically takes 10-15 minutes to complete the transaction and drive off, depending of course on how many vehicles are ahead of you in line. Once the car is on the rolling rack and in neutral I shut the ignition switch off until the car is off the rack. I then restart the car, pull it outside, and shut it off again while the attendants wipe it dry by hand.
The practice has two benefits: it reduces fuel wasted idling, and second it reduces the amount of pollutants that the car wash personnel are exposed to. The manager at the car wash says i'm the only person that she is aware of who follows this practice but concedes it is a good idea.
The other fuel saving tip is, weather permitting, if it is necessary to wait several minutes at a railroad grade crossing, I shut the engine off until the train passes
I live in Chicago and my gas mileage dropped from over 43MPG in the summer to 38MPG in the cold weather.
Is there anything I can do to better my gas mileage in the winter.
What other cars do you normally drive (or did you drive before getting your hybrid)?
It should be noted (for your sake) that Car and Driver recorded 0-60 MPH at 10.8 sec. for a full battery charge, 12.3 sec for a partial charge.
Similarly, a Civic LX Manual Transmission model made the same run in 7.7 seconds.
The basic Civic is pretty quick, the hybrid is just, well, not.
I don't understand what you mean by the last part. What is the three-button setup that you mention, verses the two-button setup?
Before I bring it into the dealership, I'm wondering if anyone else had this problem and what it might be?
Thank you in advance.
I took my Civic to the dealer when the auto stop stopped working and it's there that this was noticed. Personally, I think this is a glitch that should be fixed in a software update. I understand why it doesn't work when you press the defrost button. The AC comes on and the fan runs at full speed. But in the above mentioned ventilation mode, no extra resources are called upon.
Sue
Once you get the car and learn to use the instruments on the dash to maximize the MPG, you can see improvement if you want to.
If you are a "dash from red light to red light ZOOM ZOOM ZOOM" type driver, however, you are better off not getting a hybrid car.
Good luck either way.
This problem has persisted with my 2006 Civic hybrid and also with a brand new 2008 Civic hybrid I test drove recently.
Have other Civic hybrid owners noticed this problem?
Owners of HCH, please let me know if the following is normal:
1. When stopped completely (say at red light), the car sometimes goes a bit backward when foot is released from the break -- like in manual transmission cars.
2. At lower speed (less than 25 mph), the car does not move smoothly like a non-hybrid car does. I can feel the perceptible jerk.
Then there is the small matter of dealership that never gave me two keys (I have just one), and did not give me the manuals either. Will contacting Honda do any good?
- John
Congrats on the new car! I bought my '09 HCH back in June. The only time the car has moved backward for me when taking my foot off the brake is when I've been on an incline (same as with a regular car). Also, I've never noticed any jerkiness at lower speeds, I'll pay attention next time I'm in the car.
When I purchased my car I was given 3 keys - two regular keys and one valet key. Have you contacted the dealership about getting the keys and the manuals? If so, what was their response?
I hope this helps!
With the car going backward, this does not happen always. But, it happens on the flats road as well.
The jerkiness is perceptible -- I can feel it in my belly. Please drive at slow speed and see if your car hesitates -- almost as if it can't decide if it needs to accelerate or decelerate.
Also, could you please tell me which manuals did you receive with your car? I was given a 2009 civic manual (not of hybrid). I checked Honda's website at http://tinyurl.com/nhfddo, and I can see that there are following manuals and user guides related to the hybrid that I believe I should have been given (my car came with navigation):
2009 Civic Hybrid Navigation System Owner's Manual
(English, Paper, 31SNC820)
2009 Civic Hybrid Owner's Manual
(English, Paper, 31SNC630)
2009 Civic Hybrid Quick Start Guide
(English, Paper, 31SNCQ30)
2009 Civic Hybrid Service History
(English, Paper, 31SNCM30)
Did you receive all four of the above?
J
I'm so sorry for the delayed response - I forgot to set myself email notifications! I did pay attention to driving at slower speeds two separate times. Once, after I first started the car it seemed to act slightly jerky. Second, after I'd driven for a while and that time, I didn't notice any jerkiness at all. Both times were at speeds 20-25 mph.
I did receive all 4 of those manuals as well as these add'l booklets:
2009 Warranties - 31SNCW30
Consumer Information - 31H06801
Hope that helps!!!
MsAdventure
the MPG Indicator at the bottom dash display indicates 33 mpg. I have not reset any trip meter readings. We have combination city and highway. Outside Temps. 101 degrees, its summer in SW Calif.! The dealer tells me that the car needs a break-in period of at least 5,000 miles to begin to get the good gas mileage. The owners manual indicates 600 miles break-in. The Electric Motor kicks in at take off's from a dead stop, and accelerating above 3,000rpm. When coasting/free-wheeling, the EM is charging the battery. Has anyone else experienced low mileage on a new 2009 Honda Hybrid? Should I wait until the Odometer turns 5,000 miles, and then complain about low mpg? My wife and I are retired. We don't drive like teenagers anymore! I have not yet measured gallons divided into real miles yet, but will on the next tank fill. The very first tankful, I did, and it matched the MPG Indicator in the Dash. Any Ideas? I think the Dealer is Full of It!
I did call Honda last week, and complained about not receiving a single manuals from the dealership. The rep from Honda said something about the dealer communication. No word from anyone (Honda or dealer) yet. I am not sure what my options are if I don't get them!! :confuse: