Some impressions after 6 weeks driving the HAH for 4000 miles: one 1200 mile trip, mostly interstate at 65-80; most of the rest highway commutes of 40+ minutes at 50-65 mph with few stops, rolling hills, the rest short trips in town with some stop and go. Except for a three day period of 20-25 degrees, most driving temps were in mid 30s to mid 50s.

1. It’s a Honda Accord, our fourth since the 80s. The first three were 4 cyl manuals, the last two LX models. Similar feel of the road that we like. Drivers preferring a GM sedan “cushioned” feel might call the HAH a little firm, maybe even harsh. Steering on the HAH may be a little “softer,” than on our 1999 Accord, but that could just be the difference between a new car and one with 137,000 (trouble free) miles. Handling and cornering are steady, predictable, reassuring. It’s a good skunk and deer dodging car, beneficial where we do most of our driving. It (and previous HAs) can handle abrupt steering changes at 65 mph without loss of control. The really BIG difference is the change from around 150 hp in the 4cyl to 255 hp in the HAH. A serious temptation to use, the HAH brings back memories of my first car, a 1957 stick shift Pontiac V-8 which would zip up to 80 in second probably too quickly and too often. From 55, the HAH is quick in getting around a pickup with stock trailer and two other cars reluctant to pass in a short passing zone. It zips up to 80 impressively from 50, and will cruise at 80 quietly and smoothly.
Interior is very comfortable, the roomiest of all our Accords, back seat leg room very impressive. Leather smells good.

Body style has a recognizable connection back to Accords of the 80s, and there’s good news-bad news about that. Accords don’t look flashy or old; they look like Accords. The roof line, A pillar to C pillar, is nearly identical to that of our 99 Accord. The head light enclosures remind me too much of an early 90s Civic I owned, and I didn’t like the “cat-eye” look even then.

Accord dependability. We’ve put 150,000 plus miles on our previous three 4-cyl Accords. The 1988 still used no oil, got close to 30 mpg, with original clutch (we like 5-speed manuals) at 184,000. The 1999 performs much the same as the 1988, though with only 137,000 miles. The 2005 HAH has its work cut out for it, but the first 4000 miles have been typically Honda, routine and problem free.

2. HAH schizophrenia. I’m torn between punching it to pass, or treating the gas pedal like an egg to keep the ECO light on. For now, the ECO side is winning. Most of the time I’m driving without cruise control, keeping an eye on the green ECO light. I’ve had two consecutive tanks of 34 mpg, and I just finished a 60 mile trip, half into a 20 mph headwind (back, wind was lighter, about a 10 mph or less push, 70 degrees), with 35.3 showing on the trip computer, about three miles in town, the rest highway at 55-65, no mountains, but plenty of rolling hills. The trip computer mpg was still going up, leading me to think that under moderate speeds and conditions 35+ mpg is a reasonable possibility. Trip computer mpg and math mpg over ten tanks have been mostly within 1% of each other, sometimes TC more, sometimes less than math mpg. At the gas pump, I accept the automatic cutoff and don’t add more gas, so pump variables could account for the TC and math mpg variations.

On the other end, 40 miles of short, town trips (10 miles or less) in 25 degrees yielded 21 mpg. The hybrid benefits aren’t available until the engine warms, and until then the HAH is a pretty hungry, 240 hp, six cylinder, mid-size car.

In the middle, I watched a 33 mpg trip get whittled down to 31 by some city rush hour stop and go, but with some very noticeable IMA assist that kept it from dropping further as did the autostop feature; IMA seems to “volunteer” more at 15-45 mph with mpg benefits; I’ve learned I can “call” IMA with more abrupt throttle pressure, but this may not produce immediate mpg benefits; when the traffic moved steadily at 35-45, the mpg started climbing again.

I’m still learning the car which is still set up as it came from the dealer. I’d add that my wife put up 33+ mpg numbers going to DFW airport, including about 20 minutes of thick traffic and some stop and go; she said, “I drive it just like I drove all the others,” which is to say, she’s not a lead foot (tho she likes the HAH’s passing punch), but neither is she an ECO game player. Once warmed up, the HAH seems to respond o.k. to just being driven prudently without any particular attention to hybrid features, and that’s good news for the way most people drive.
Lewis

 

Lewis,

Thank you for the detailed post of your HAH! I read every word and I am glad that I have not been able to get in one. Even though I have a '04 HCH an '05 HAH would be hard to pass up. I hope it stays true to HA standards and the gas mileage keeps going up!

Billy

 

Hi Lewis:

___Nicely written article indeed … I hope that your FE improves as you get even more miles on her.

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net

 

Nice write-up and one I'll probably quote numbers from.

I'd like to ask, though, do you find you can coax the car into ECO (I assume that's what the 3 cylinder mode is) quickly (after warm-up) or is it something the car is more or less reluctant to do until you've been at a steady speed for a while?

 

Lewis, thanks for the great information about how the Accord Hybrid handles.
Would you be interested in writing out some of the abbreviations and then submitting it for publication in the Learn section?

 

Evan,
None of the hybrid benefits are available until the car is "warm." I assume that the engine must run long enough to raise some fluid temperature to some specific level. Perhaps those with Scan Gauges can give some precise numbers on this question? What "warm" numbers must exist before the hybrid features become available?

On some 25 degree days in Iowa, it took about 10 minutes of 30-40 mph driving for warmup; last weekend with the outside temp near 70, it took 2 minutes or less.

Here's what I observe on start (which is still very strange to me with no sound of a starter turning the engine over; just turn the key; engine is on). The hybrid light row has no activity out of the three possibilities:
green bars to left= hybrid batt recharging;
green ECO light at center= Variable Cylinder Management (VCM) is deactivating 3 cylinders; blue bars to right= Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) is providing battery power.

I don’t have Navi, so the averaged trip computer (updated every 10 seconds, according to Honda) is my reference point. On my daily commutes on 30-40 degree mornings, if it’s early in a tank of gas, no matter how carefully I drive, I lose around 2 mpg in the 5+ minutes of warmup, which does include some hill climbing. Usually, I’m driving around 45-55 when the first signs of hybrid activity occur–green bars to the left, indicating hybrid batt charging. I don’t recall ever seeing any of the other hybrid indicators appearing first. There seems to be some delay before the other two features are available, about a minute I’m thinking.

After the magic warmup threshold, if I throttle back a bit, the green ECO light comes on. If I’m going at speeds less than 50, I often see a sudden IMA surge right after the ECO light comes on. This is what I mean by the IMA “volunteering.” Though it’s not harsh, I do feel a noticeable power surge from the IMA and notice some mph gain. The IMA assist stops as suddenly as it started. After that, again in speed ranges of 50 and below, the IMA “volunteers” on slight grade elevations, with more or less bars of assist depending on steepness of grade; sometimes the ECO light goes off during this kind of IMA activity. I see very little IMA “volunteering” past 55 mph, even on grades steep enough to cause ECO to go off. I can choose to “call” IMA here if I want.

I hope I’m getting around to answering your question. Until the car is warm, nothing you do can call the hybrid features into action, and warmup time is relative to air temp and rpm of the engine (btw, does anyone think this car has a really fast idle on cold start? I’m using the brake backing out of the driveway.).

For me, green bars to the left appear first, followed within a minute by the other two signs of hybrid features. As soon as IMA has once appeared, I can “call” it by throttle pressure. Slow gradual pressure won’t call it usually, even with a hill. But, if I press the throttle more firmly (still nothing near the floor or WOT), I can call the blue IMA bars up, and I’m getting better at “selecting” how much throttle will call how many bars of IMA. I do think that the best mpg is attained by driving to keep ECO on as much as possible, and a soft pedal foot and practicing what Wayne and other experienced hybrid drivers on this board call “driving to load” are effective ways to “call” and control ECO.

On hills with gradual grade, I’m getting more and more impressed with how little backing off the throttle and slowing I have to do to keep the green ECO light (and use of only 3 cylinders) engaged. But, if the hill is longer or steeper and I have to give up too much speed to keep ECO, I “call” IMA by increased throttle, and by controlling throttle pressure, I’ve been able to keep IMA boost up a fun, twisty, 3/4 mile hill, actually increasing speed, and losing only about one to two-tenths mpg. After this hill climb, my batt bar level is usually down to 2 bars, indicating that in serious, tall climbs, the battery charge to power IMA wouldn’t last past a couple of minutes at most (I’m guessing here).

Of course, after warmup, you can call IMA for passing; you don’t have to go to WOT to get all the blue IMA bars lit up. I notice about a tenth mpg loss after a spirited pass (50-80 mph surge fairly quickly, not a gradual pass since I’m mostly on two lane roads). Easing the throttle after such a pass will produce both green bar batt charging and the ECO light.

I notice a lot of IMA “volunteering” in stop and go, 10-30 mph conditions, and I’m not aware of anything I’m doing to “call” IMA there. Though mpg goes down in stop and go conditions, the combination of IMA and motor shutoff at sub 5 mph and stop helps minimize the loss. MPG goes up immediately and quickly at 35-45 if you can avoid stops and keep ECO on.

Let us know what you are experiencing with your HAH; I don’t want to be the only one blathering on about what surely will be a passing obsession with the ECO game :=).

Lewis

 

Jason,
Thanks for asking and glad to oblige. I'm assuming the edit you have in mind would be more conventional journalism style: Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) first, and thereafter, IMA ok? Same for all other acronyms?
Lewis

 

Wayne,
Thanks much. I'll keep working on the FE skills. I'm very curious to know whether you got to play with mileage in someone's HAH who wanted to observe your FE tactics. A previous thread I can't put my finger on right now. I think you said something like "lemme at it with 50 in the Michelns and some syn oil," or something like that....
Lewis

 

Yes. And if there are any changes you'd like to make so that it's in more of an article form, be my guest. All the better!

 

Thanks again Lewis,
I don't have a HAH, but like to learn what I can. I think you answered my question. Basicly I was seeking out how much ability the driver had in manipulating the cylinder deactivation for maintainance of maximum fuel economy. Sounds like it's fairly easy to do and that there's enough physical and visual feedback to allow it to be accomplished.