I bought a 2006 HCH last week (which also happens to be the first car I've ever owned), and I had a few questions that I was hoping someone could answer.

1. When parking the car, the Auto Stop engages when I come to a stop, but then the engine restarts when I shift from Drive to Park. Is it ok if, when I come to a stop, I shift to Neutral (or stay in Drive), turn off the ignition and then shift to Park to prevent the engine from restarting? (I noticed a few posts regarding this issue from last summer, but I just was curious if there were any more recent opinions).

2. If I drive the car conservatively in the city (ie stay just below the speed limit, accelerate gently after stopping at traffic lights/stop signs), but don't intentionally use any EV mode "tactics", how often can I expect to activate EV mode?

3. When you lock the car twice within a short period of time (5 seconds or so), the horn beeps on the second locking. Is the beep on the second locking purely for the benefit of the driver? In other words, does the security system activate on the first locking? (Based on the driver's manual, I think that the answer is "yes" to both questions, but I just want to be sure that I am interpreting it correctly).

1. Nothing wrong with that. In fact, it's what I do, with the exception that my pattern is:
- D to N
- Pull hand brake
- Car off
- N to P

2. You probably won't. I've never been able to accellerate in EV-only, though the "Pulse and Glide" is possible when folks aren't riding your tailpipe.

3. Not sure, but I think you're right. Look for a second blinking red light.

Someday I might even beat that wascally kenny!

No whammies... no whammies... no whammies...

I just looked that up this week. You can press the button twice and have it beep just to confirm that it is locked.

I accidentally found myself in EV mode several times on the first or second trip in my '06. If you are very gentle with the accelelrator you may see it every now and then, if you're not, you probably won't.

The more I get use to my HCH the more I can easily get into EV mode. I get it at many speed. I'am able to ev up to 85km/h. Most of the time, I cannot accelerate but sometime, I'm even able to gain speed, slowly but it increase.

Also at slower speed, I cannot achieve more than 3-4 bars of assist but at 85km/h I can easily maintain 4-5 bars of assist.

Soleil24
Quebec, Canada 06 HCH owner