Is there any way to improve acceleration on an '06 HCH II? I find the car to be dangerously underpowered when trying to merge / pass / get out of the way in California-- especially on a hill. I nearly got hit the other day because of the lack of acceleraton with my car.

I read one person on the forum decided to sell his HCH for this reason (and got flamed by other posters). Is there any way / aftermarket device to get just a little more oomph out of the car (even if it cuts into gas mileage)?

Thanks,

- Frank

 

Oye.

Here we go again.

 

I swapped in a K&N air filter about 10k miles ago, and the car at least *feels* a little more peppy, but I'd be hard pressed to say it has had any measurable impact on my overall FE, or if a couple pulls on a dyno would confirm that there really are more horses.

 

Yeah, trade it in for a Civic EX (or Si). The HCH aftermarket (if there ever is one) will be devoted to making the car slower and more efficient.

 

True.
However, the HCH2 IS still a CIVIC, although the engine is smaller and unique. It is still an internal combustion engine (ICE), so typically-tried things can be tried here as well. K&N air filter, Cold Air intake, exhaust tuning & backpressure reduction, adding a turbocharger (although I highly doubt anyone makes one for it). If you search on this site (and others dedicated to the 8th generation Civic [hint]), you may get some ideas. A few folks here have tried the K&N air filter, and the exhaust tuning, and the Cold Air intake (use search).

However, this is not and will not ever be a quick car. There are plenty of vehicles even slower than the HCH2, so I don't think it should be considered a danger.

One tip - try NOT using the IMA battery power unnecessarily. The electric motor CAN provide decent instant zip when the accelerator is mashed, but ONLY if the IMA system decides to give the IMA battery's juice to the electric motor. The car's acceleration is pretty lethargic with JUST the ICE (without that boost from the electric motor). If managed well, the IMA boost is there when needed. Your MPG will improve too

 

Thanks for the good info!

With regards to controlling the use of the IMA battery power, do you mean simply not driving too aggressively so that there's still battery power when you need to go up hills / pass / etc? (Or is there something more specific I need to do to control the IMA battery use?)


Thanks,

- Frank

 

yeah, thats what he means. Dont drive aggressively unless you need to.

BTW, Frank. I live in the bay area as well and I feel like I have enough power if I really wanted. It can accelerate pretty well, sure not as fast as say a mustang, but if you dont drive dangerously then it should be fine. Oh, and I live by one of the worst merges I've ever seen and I need to take it everyday to get to work. I think its a 6 degree incline thats about 40-50 meters long and a merge within 25 meters after the incline. Worst than that is the merge from 580 east to 680 south.

 

Yeah, that's what I mean. (is there an echo? )
Also, "still having battery power" means at least 3 bars, preferably more. This is because when the IMA battery is below 3 bars, it does not like to be used. The IMA system tries really hard to maintain the IMA battery's SOC (State Of Charge), so as not to get too low. It helps the IMA battery's overall life.

If you DO NOT see the ASSIST (white-ish bars) when you're needing that extra boost, then it most likely is because your SOC is too low.

If you DO see them, and the accelaration is still not acceptable, then either:
(1) there's an issue with the car itself,
(2) try aftermarket products to try to increase performance a little,
(3) you'll have to learn to adapt,
(4) drive another vehicle.

 

I'll have to check the number of bars (I didn't know you really need 3), though I generally never run the IMA battery down that far. Actually, 99% of the time, the car is fine to drive. It's the 1% emergencies / odd situations that worry me. There probably have been issues more than 1% of the time (again, mainly on hills), but I've also changed the way I drive because I know the car can't get me out of the way as quickly as my old Saturn SC2 (4 cyllinders).

So it looks like I'm going to try the K&N filter next. Is this as easy as changing the filter around a carburetor?


thanks,

- Frank

 

You could also down shift to the "S" gear (Second... note this is not 2nd gear its a lower gear set) and floor it. Don't worry about hitting the red line, the computer will prevent that and you will have plenty of power to do anything you want.