Hi Gar1138:

___Don’t worry about needing an indicator to tell if you are in lean burn or not. Just max the FCD at all times and you will be in lean burn more often then not. All HCH’s have lean burn, only the 5-speed in the Insight’s has it, and 1 regular Civic Coupe has it available today. As all have mentioned, when entering lean burn, you will see the FCD jump. You will also see the sag and the slight acceleration during the NOx purge but it is usually very short lived.

___Since you are a relatively new Hybrid pilot, you will begin to get the feel for her as more miles are placed. Whenever I see the FCD running a bit lower then expected, I look around at the trees, bushes, flags, or dust and debris on the road as it is being blown about by traffic in front. More often then not, these signs will tell you have a head wind even though not 5 miles before you actually had a tail or no wind at all. It ticks me off of course but in the grand scheme of things, just do your best using the FCD to teach and you will come out far ahead of the next guy … Head wind or not!

___Good Luck

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