for those who are technical geeks or for anyone who is just interested, here is a link that explains in good detail what's new and improved on the 06 hch vs. the 05. in reading the article, i am amazed at what honda has managed to accomplish with the civic's engine. be sure to read the section on the hybrid. the article covers all the powertrains for the entire civic line. i just love knowing that my hch can idle 3 or 4 cylinders and has two spark plugs per cylinder - lol.

http://hondanews.com/CatID2013?mid=2...41013&mime=asc

Thanks for that link, that is the most I've seen about the engine. Some of the special friction and wear reducing features of the 1.3 make it sound like it could be even more dependable than the typical honda engine.

Thanks. That was a good read and very informative.

Great link! Thanks.

Retired: 2/11/06

I couldn't find a reference to this in the link and I'm just curious how that works...and why not two cylinders?

Eric

'06 Magnetic Pearl HCH w/nav

'04 BMW M3

'05 GMC Sierra 1500 Denali

you'll find this on page two of the article under "Civic Hybrid Cylinder Head: 3-Stage i-VTEC with Variable Cylinder Management (VCM)":


"The previous generation system in the 2005 Civic Hybrid uses 2-stage VTEC that provides normal valve timing and 3-cylinder idling. The 3-stage system adds high output valve timing and 4-cylinder idling. The high output valve timing contributes to the engines increase in output of 9 percent, while the added cylinder deactivation reduces pumping losses by 66 percent to help improve electrical regeneration capability by 1.7 times."

i'm not certain if the car actually has both 3 and 4 cylinder idling. Based on how the article says "adds" i'm assuming it does but it may not. they may not be doing 2 cylinder idling because of the added mechanics needed. additionally, it may not yield that much improvement in engine efficiency. i get the impression that they had 3 cylinder idling mainly for brake regen but wanted to improve its efficiency so they added 4 cylinder idling. if that's the case, there may never be a time when 3 cylinder idling is needed.... maybe if you're cruising along a street at some speed above 35 where the battery motor doesn't have enough hp but the ice doesn't need but 1 cylinder's worth of power but that would seem pretty rare. just my 2 cents.

cheers,
neil

When I read this article, my understanding was that the 3 cylinder idling was a 2005 HCH feature as opose to the 2006 HCH that have a 4 cylinder idling.


But that's just my understanding.

Soleil24
Quebec, Canada 06 HCH owner

Please look at the wondeful video of the cut-away engine and IMA in 3D.

It runs for about 12 minutes and is worth saving to watch several times over. As they say "a picture is worth a thousand words"

http://world.honda.com/news/2005/4050705_b.html

The use of the word 'adds' is a bit misleading because the 06 HCH does not have 3-cylinder idling.

The 05 and earlier HCH has 2 cam modes:

1- normal
2- 3-cylinder idle

The 06 HCH has 3 cam modes:

1- low output (high FE mode)
2- high outout (performance)
3- 4-cylinder idle (valves sealed)

Also, the 06 seals the valves in idle mode to reduce pumping losses, but the earlier models do not.

That video kept me sane while I was waiting for my car to be built.

There's one thing the link *doesn't* tell me, and I've been really trying to find out - the engine code for the 1.3L + IMA. I can't find it anywhere, and I'm about to put it on my 'list for Torrance', when I call them.

For those who are asking - I'm not talking about error / diagnostic codes, but manufacturing codes. For example, the 1.8L in the DX/LX/EX is known as the R18. The 2.0L in the new Si is a K20 (more specifically, K20Z1). But for the life of me, I can't find the alpha-numeric code for our engine.

I've been calling it an R13 - but I can find no prior references to that anywhere. Usually, you can look at the emissions sticker under the hood - but I can't discern any codes there that I can interpret, either.

Does anyone know ? This is really bugging me (yes, I know - what's the big deal. Humor me...lol

Mark

Sometimes we could all use a little less

My hybrid automobiles:

Current:
2006 Honda Civic Hybrid (CVT, w/o Nav)
Magnetic Pearl / Blue - 008661, born 12/28/05
Mods: Neck pillows, Garmin C330 Nav, Draw-tite 1.25" hitch (for bikes, not towing!), Pioneer Inno XM receiver via Aux jack, OEM mud flaps, more to come!

Hypermiler status on 3/12/06 @ 3077mi.

Previous:
2005 Honda Accord Hybrid (5AT/Navi)
Desert Mist / Ivory - 001254
Retired 1/21/06 - LMPG 34.1

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