Hi NASAgineer:

___Those steady state speed FE readings are going to make some of the HCH-I owners breathe a sigh of relief tonight as there lean-burn at a slow highway cruise is worth a bit more unfortunately

___In any case, try and come up with your best rate/range for a LS P&G and see what you can do with a no-assist HS Pulse acceleration so those about to embark on a hypermiling quest in their own soon to arrive HCH-II’s will have an idea as to what to shoot for …

___In regards to the acceleration rates, any time you have to use the pack for acceleration assist in the IMA based Honda’s, there is a price to pay later on to pay back the pack. Longevity reasons alone should tell you to lay off the pack on accelerations as much as humanly possible. You really do not want to find yourself with Insight like pack failures 4 or 5 years down the road let alone the absolutely excellent fuel economy during accelerations when taking it real easy …

The HCH w/ a CVT is a darn nice hybrid to hypermile!

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes

 

Hi Wayne; This is one of the (Best) post that I have had the "Pleasure" of reading that you have done on (GreenHybrid). You know why? It's where you did the "Link" to the Thread on (The CVT HCH). That was one of the easiest Threads to follow and very down-to-earth for a Non-Hypermiler. I actually understood what you were saying and enjoyed reading it along with the other comments from members. You-Did-Good

Anyway, Thanks for doing the Link back to the CVT HCH and I did not realize that "Mr. Baleno" had that hidden Talent of his. That Instrument Cluster as you pointed out in your Post Xcel looks (Factory). Very-Cool

Great-Post;

Terry

 

It was noted above not to go heavey on accelaration to save the batteries. This is not true, the pack is made to last the life of the car. Some early failures were from the heat in the Insight, a simple fan temp control fixed that.
I test drove the 06 and just di a 4 mile round the block only getting 49 mpg. I own a 03 HCH and get 55-60 all the time with a high of 74 on a round trip. I was not overaly impressed with the 06. I still can't fold down the rear seat, or go in all electric like the Prius. I may get a Prius when I finally trade soon.
Jim

 

Hi Jstack6:

___The pack in the 00 – 06 Insight was/is made to last the life of the vehicle as well and the multitude of pack failures have very little to do with heat or fan configuration. If you want to receive higher FE, lay off the pack. Or you can take you own advice and receive a bit lower

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes

 

I think we (Arizonies) have a local problem. The packs are not made to withstand more than 140 F (says so right on the door column), yet the interior of our cars can exceed that on any summer's day. The problem is made worse by having the pack mounted under the magnifying glass of a back deck window of the Insight. I hope there is less of a problem with my 2005 HCH. I, too, considered the Prius, but my HCH has a couple of inches more legroom, and I need all I can get!

 

Hi BillR:

___Just a recommendation but you really should consider cracking those windows when sitting in the open sun. There is no way around it. I cracked them whenever I saw anything above 75 degrees here near Chicago …

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes

 

You bet! We all do that here (hybrid or not), as it hits 115F + every summer! Some folks have put screens in the back, and some have tried a solar powered fan you roll up in the window, but I'm not sure of the results...

 

Nice thread everyone. I can reproduce the assist/charge/cruise modulation with high FE by subtle accelerator input in my HCHII, although I haven't taken data.

FWIW the HCHII has an 8yr/80kmi warranty on the batteries.

Some other HCHII stuff:
Owner's manual says FAS is triggered by decelerating below 8mph, subject to fuzzy logic conditions [my words] (temp, SoC, etc.). I've had it FAS when slowing in traffic and not intending to stop, although for stop-and-go traffic it gets funky because it won't FAS unless you get your speed above 8mph.

Owner's manual says to use Second (S [Why not 2?!]) gear in stop and go traffic to prevent frequent FAS cycling causing accelerated IMA wear. FAS doesn't seem to be possible in Second, it leaves the ICE on when stopped.

There is an underbody panel for aerodynamics that requires "special tools" to remove in order to do oil changes on the HCHII. Not sure if that is uniqe to the hybrid Civic, different from HCHI, or not. Does anyone know if the typical fast oil change places have this "tool" or 0W-20 oil for that matter?

 

Well, the term FAS is Forced Auto Stop and it's a manual technique hypermilers use to induce AS- auto stop. I think you are really refering to the normal IMA Auto stop ability.

S on the drive selector is for SPORT. It allows a higher than normal transmission ratio, ie: higher engine revs for that overall "sportier" driving experience. Plus, it inhibits Auto stop. There is no 2 because there is no second gear, because the transmission ratios are continuously variable.

 

Thanks 9G-Man - yes, I did mean autostop and not forced autostop, my mistake. Not sure if there is a way to manually autostop an HCHII without turning off the ignition.

The owner's manual calls the gear S (second); no matter. I don't know if I can bring myself to associate anything like a "sport" mode with a 115hp passenger car, but so be it.