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Nice car but auto stop issue....

Created January 11, 2009, at 2:18 am by slugger85

I really like this 2008 model even though it is completely different than anything I've ever owned before such as SUV's like Jeeps, Ford Escapes, and fast Mustangs. The Honda is a very well made car in every way, in my experience it has respected the great Honda reputation for manufacturing quality, and over the last 15,000 miles the car say's I'm getting 52 miles per gallon. Nice car but I have a long standing issue with the auto-stop function.

The auto-stop is a great idea but this car seems to be very picky in how it views this subject. My complaints involve how much pressure I input on the brake pedal and mostly when it is applied. It's kind of hard to explain so I'l try to provide some examples.

1) While coasting to a stop I'll gently apply the brakes and just before jerking to a stop I'll lightly let off the brakes in order to stop more smoothly and the motor will restart.

2) When stopped (brakes applied) for what I think is a long time the motor will not shut off even though the motor is idling.

3) And, sometimes when the engine is off at a stop with the brakes applied the motor will restart even though I did not detect a change in my foot pressure.

Even though these may appear to be minor complaints I'm relaying my frustration since I'm trying to maximize fuel miles per gallon with this car. As you may understand this whole miles per gallon thing has turned into some kind of game where I want to beat my best 52 miles per gallon over the last 15,000 miles in a 2008 Honda Civic Hybrid. My car is white and it is really a cool totally high tech car - but the Mustang will low tech completely smoke it in every way except miles per gallon and auto shut-off.

Any suggestions?
And don't tell me to better modulate the brake pedal. Sheesh! Give me a break.

Slugger

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MSantos
Senior Member

3 years ago

Hi Slugger;

The autostop "pickiness" is not without reason. All and more is explained here:

http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=18185

...and here:

http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17560

Cheers;

MSantos

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slugger85
Junior Member

3 years ago

Thanks MSantos!

Great info!

And, I really like the idea of blocking the front grill in colder temps especially since the car's mileage has dropped significantly recently. I didn't realize how much the outside temperature affected gas consumption. My cars' mileage has dropped from 52 to 47 mph over this past month which seems to relate to the drop in outside temperatures.

Are there any pictures available that show the proper placement of grill blocking material? I plan on blocking 50% of the grill since outside morning temps tend to be around 32 degrees and evening temps 50 degree-plus which correspond to my usual daily 30 minute commute times. I'm a DIY guy but a good picture would be helpful.

Thanks again!
Slugger85

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MSantos
Senior Member

3 years ago

Hi Slugger85;

Would this do it as an example?

http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7937

Cheers;

MSantos

WampaStompa

3 years ago

I drive a 2007 Honda Civic Hybrid and I feel your pain. After driving my wife's Prius I really miss the ability to creep forward at a light or even a stop sign with a few cars slowly rolling forward where you never really stop. I think Honda is missing an opportunity here to increase the MPGs by making the Auto-Stop feature remain until you step on the actual gas pedal. Depressing the brake, in my opinion, should not restart the engine.

As far as colder weather, I drive about 12 miles mostly highway to and from work and I'm lucky if I Auto-Stop at the stop sign near my house/work. It just takes longer for the car to warm up and you sacrifice auto-stop. Tomorrow it will be -20 when I'm on my way to work!!

The funny thing is I average about 40 MPG during these really cold days and I complain about gettng "terrible" mileage.

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EloiseLayla
Junior Member

47 weeks ago

It's a nice car indeed and I 'm very happy that I could drive it. I asked a friend, who sells Jeep Philadelphia cars about these auto stop options. He told me that he thinks Honda used this to stop the engine to overheat.

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max trembley
Junior Member

45 weeks ago

I've heard a lot good reviews about this car. But in the same time a lot of people complained about the prices. Especially the European ones. 19.380 € seems to be too much for a normal pocket. I've also observed that Honda is very admired in the car rentals area.

Oliver

43 weeks ago

Let's all donate a car for these prices. In my point of view the prices are not as big as you think. And as far as I know, a lot of Europeans choose to buy a car by using the leasing as a payment method. This way, the big prices that you are talking about are amortized and no one is complaining.

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CyLindsey
Junior Member

36 weeks ago

Yes, I agree that the HCH 2008 is a great car. I have believed that the producers could fix this problem, but a friend of mine, who works at a New Hampshire used car dealers agency once told me that there are very few things one can do about that. I hope that the next models wont´t have this problem.

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