I have a friend who bought an '05 HAH about 3 months ago. Can the callibration update be done for that car? I realize he'd have to pay for it and wouldn't get the extra tax credit, but can it be done? He's a little disappointed with his mileage. In mostly city driving it's around 23 mpg.

Thanks!

Donald

 

I don't believe so, but maybe if we bug Honda enough, they'll release an update for the '05 as well?

 

It's hard to understand why this update woudn't benefit the '05s as well???

 

You may have noticed that the EPA mileage for the '06 HAH is less than for the '05. I have a feeling that the software update will simply bring the '06 up to the better mileage seen in the '05.

 

Citywolf,

I don't think so. The rebate doubles for the 2006 with the calibration update versus the '05 and early '06. Those rebates are based on mileage improvements over similar cars. I think it's a real upgrade.

 

donald_s,

I agree that the mpg change is real. The credit calculation requires some bit of a move in the mpg to get the change. I did some math based on the law (Energy Policy Act of 2005) and posted the results.

Mike

 

What's also interesting, as I noted in my thread about getting my 06 HAH updated, is that the fuel economy numbers for the 07 HAH are better than for the 06: 28/35 vs 25/34.

When I was at the dealer yesterday getting my car updated, I picked up an 07 Accord brochure and the 07 fuel economy numbers are right out of that document.

 

It's moments like this where I wish the milage database would provide per-model-year information.

It'd be useful to know if the '05 -> '06 mpg difference was testing procedure or functional change. The tax credit not changing '05 -> '06 (pre-update) seems to imply that it was a testing/reporting procedure thing instead of a functional difference thing, but Google has been unhelpful in clearing up the distinction.

It's also funny because the EPA hasn't posted the '07 mpg numbers as of a day or two ago. Glad to see they're out.

Mike

 

200 miles so far on my software update and only about 2mpg improvement. Maybe it will get better.

 

Average, city, or highway?

If average, depending on what your mpg was before, 2 mpg is a 6-8% increase in fuel economy. For a simple software change that's quite a significant improvement. In addition, any improvement is likely to have most effect on city fuel economyand I believe that the numbers I quoted for the fuel economy of the 07 HAH bear this out.

Nevertheless, it does seem that my highway fuel economy has improved by 1-2 mpg since the update.