I thought I'd give you guys some of my first impressions of the car. I got mine this past weekend, and it's silver with the blue interior and the Navi. There were only 3 on lots in California when I found this one, and my wife and I had to drive about 300 miles to go get it! Here are my thoughts about what I like and what I don't like:

The Good:

1. LOVE being able to drive 350 miles and still have a third of a tank left!
2. LOVE the look, great modern design all around.
3. I really like the Hybrid wheels, definitely makes it unique. I've gotten quite a few looks here and there driving it around.
4. The Navigation System is so cool, and really helpful at times. My wife and I put in our home address while up in Bishop, CA, and it got us all the way home in Ladera Ranch, CA. Three times it spoke up while my wife and I were talking, telling us about an upcoming turn/exit we needed to take. Each of those times we would probably have missed our exit. I didn't even need to pay attention to where I was going, really. It even found us a McDonald's so that we could get some lunch on the way.
5. Can't wait to get my carpool stickers, sent in my application today!
6. New car smell....*sniff*....."aaahhhhhh"....
7. Seats are really comfortable.
8. LOVE how silent the engine is when stopped.
9. Handles really well...the cornering is impressive!
10. Wipers are fast and strangely cool the way they work...used them tonight.
11. Steering wheel Navi and Radio controls...so nice.
12. Lotta' room in that trunk! 'course, I'm used to the trunkspace of a Jeep Wrangler, so every trunk is roomy for me.
13. LOVE how you can't see the hood while you're driving...makes it feel like I'm in the cockpit of some futuristic machine!
14. Doors, door handles...most of the car feels very solid.
15. Fit and finish of the interior feels high quality...love the blue interior, and the cupholders are the best I've ever had.

The Bad:

1. The CVT is very strange...I catch myself letting off the accelerator at times because I'm not getting the downshift that I'm expecting...feels like I'm pushing the car too hard. It feels like it revs too high sometimes.
2. I could do without the autostop...it's strange, but I'm getting used to it. Otherwise, the braking is great and the car stops on a dime.
3. Can't find a "seek" button to search for the next radio station...can only "tune" at .2 increments. I use "auto sel" to find some stations, and that's cool, but I just want to be able to seek through to find the next available station. Maybe I'm just not aware of how to do it.
4. Wish they included Navi-cleaner...it's already all fingerprinted up. I'll need to pick up some LCD cleaner or something.
5. Thought the engine was going to have a little more pickup than it does...that was a little disappointing, but I didn't buy it for power. I bought it for the fuel economy, so it's zippy enough for me.
6. The lowest setting on the intermittent wipers still isn't enough of a delay for me at times.
7. Not enough insulation in the floor...the road noise on rougher highways is pretty loud. It's such a quiet vehicle otherwise, so I wish they had spent a little more effort on that.
8. Acceleration is sometimes a little sluggish if I hit the gas too early after letting off the break. Seems like it needs a good half-second delay so that I don't push the engine before it's fully started.
9. Hood latching mechanism feels very tinny, not that solid.
10. Doesn't seem to be a good place to put coins...the couple of places that are available don't work 'cuz the change just slides around the whole time.

Well, there are my thoughts. Overall, I really love the car and am glad I got it. Most of my criticisms are very petty, and I know will not bother me over the long term. I would like to know if people agree or disagree on what I've shared.

Thanks for reading,
Todd

Todd,
Welcome to GH ! You gave a good summary of your impressions. Please remember to enter your mileage into the database after your first tank. Enjoy your new ride!
Regards,

Don
Best tank 67.5 mpg (555.5 mi.)
Best trip 91.5 mpg (42.2 mi.)

Todd: You must hate the uphill from 5 on Oso or Crown Valley eh?

Congratulations, Todd.

To use the SEEK feature, press and hold momentarily the Tune UP button. I think the radio "Beeps" when it goes into SEEK mode. The other thing you can do is select SCAN which will go to the next station, stop for about fifteen seconds or so, then go the next station. It keeps doing this until you hit SCAN again.

2005 Honda Odyssey EX-L RES & NAV - Desert Rock Metallic

2006 Honda Civic Hybrid NAV - Magnetic Pearl

2007 Toyota FJ Cruiser - Black Cherry (First Toyota, Third non-Honda)

Hello,
I think Ladera is on the other side of the 5. The climb on Oso and Crown Valley go to Nellie Gail and LN. And yes, there are many hills in South OC to kill FE. As I think about it, there are hills off Oso and CV going thru MV but being a single occupant vehicle the HCH is pretty nimble around all those SUVs there.

Mike G.

Hi Todd.

I live in LA and bought mine up in Bishop too.

Congrats.
Can you tell us what the price was.
MSRP?
Under MSRP?

Need fewer troops to support.
Drive a hybrid.
Best tank 71.65 MPG.

Before this car I spent two years learning hypermiling on my 2004 HCH1.

Congrats Todd,

Just a quick note on the CVT. I've noticed that too, where when I want it to downshift and it seems like it revs REAL high (its been close to redlining on its own). Don't worry about it. The CVT takes into account your throttle position, engine speed, incline, and a host of other variables. It wouldn't damage itself unless you floored it clear into the redline, and even then the rev limiter would cut you off. In any case, the CVT is different. Its not like a conventional tranny in that you feel that jolt when you drop down in gears, it instead senses all those things I mentioned, adjusts the timing, and selects the best drive ratio to achieve the speed it assumes you want to go at. You also have to remember that this engine is TINY, so it can rev MUCH higher than say, a big block or a small block on a domestic (I assume your Jeep had an in-line 6 in it). The engineering and designs of Japanese motors are different. The bore and strokes are much smaller, making them good rev motors. Don't worry about pushing the motor, Honda's aren't known for being modded out and going all kinds of crazy speeds for nothing. Those plants are pretty sturdy, and our HCHII is no different. Enjoy it.

Todd;

Just picked mine up this past Saturday. like yourswlf the cvt is different to all of us that have not ever driven one.

Congats on your New Ride.

Terry

tigerhonaker
2007 HAH
__________________
Click on Pictures to Enlarge:

Congrats on your HCH II!! Thanks for sharing your impressions and welcome to the forums.

Retired: 2/11/06

Thanks for the replies. Actually, it's handling the hills pretty well where I live in Ladera...although it does tend to rev pretty high going up.

I got it for $23,400...$500 under MSRP for the HCHII w/Navi. Made it worth the trip, plus I didn't have to join the long lines of people trying to get one around here.