Once in a great while I feel a jerk like the one you describe, only when hurridly accelerating from a stop. It's happened perhaps 4 or 5 times in the last 18 months or so- which makes me think that this is not the same problem that you have. It sounds to me as if the difficulty you are describing may not be quite the same one that other people here are dealing with by changing the way they release the brake. I hope that the people at the dealership are able to help you, because you shouldn't have to put up with something like that.

i am not a technical person, but i notice that when i let off the brake from a stop, it takes a second for the forward motion to begin on its own, without pressing the gas pedal. once i feel it "engage", i can accelerate normally. if i hit the gas before this engagement, i get a lurch. is this what you are describing?
i think it has something to do with the cylinders closing during autostop and opening back up when you let off the brake. you need to give it that second for the closed cylinders to open.

Note to Self: Stay out of assist!

Whew! I thought I was the only problem that had this problem with My 07 Civic Hybrid. I talked to my Service Advisor and he said this is a "normal" problem with all the Honda hybrids. He said it has something to do with the big magnets that engages the engine and transmission after the "auto stop" kicks in. He let me borrow a brand new hybrid and it did exactly what my car did. He also had the mechanic loosen and tighten the transmission mount which kind of helped. It only happens when I release the brake pedal real fast and stomp on the gas pedal. Try releasing the brake pedal slower during the break in period and that should "seat the magnets".

Hi,

Thanks again to all who replied.

Well, the problem persisted and we took the car back to the dealership. But first let me recap and sort of revise the way I described the problem initially.

The "jolt" (actually we now call it "harsh engagement") occurs most often when you are rolling to a stop with your foot on the break. Once the gas engine shuts off and the IMA light starts blinking WHILE THE CAR CONTINUES ROLLING, the problem occurs just as the brake pedal is released BEFORE stepping on the gas.

Example: If you're slowing down for a red light and your foot is on the brake and you are almost at a stop, the engine shuts off but the car is still rolling, the traffic light turns green, you release the brake and the car jolts very roughly.

This problem does not occur as often after the car has come to a complete stop and the brake pedal released, but it does happen occasionally.

So anyway, the service manager took it for a test drive and said that he felt what we were talking about. He suggested that we drive the car for another couple hundred miles and if the problem persists or worsens, to bring it back in. He said to give the car a chance to "break in" and that he believes it will improve over time. So far we only have about 300 miles on the car.

I'm not so sure we're happy with that answer but we're going to follow the recommendation for now. But if the problem does persist we're definitely taking it back because it is very unnerving and we feel that it shouldn't be happening on a brand new car.

Will post again as things progress.

Thanks!

PS) As for gas mileage, we've been getting about 36.5 for the last week or so. The best mileage we got was the day we bought the car - 45.6. But we haven't been ablt to break 40 since. It has been very cold though.

Thanks for the update! Yeah, the cold weather and the fact that you're breaking in a new car (which is behaving strangely) are probably to blame for your sub-par mileage. Too bad! I wish you better luck with it in the future. I know that other people have reported odd results during the break-in period, but that jerking sensation- not pleasant. I can understand your hesitation about following the service guy's advice, but if it does go away on its own, that would probably be the best possible result, right? So I'm hoping for the best for you!
Take care.

you could meet w/ another owner in your area, and take a ride in their car for comparison purposes, to see what "normal" is. if you let us know what area you live in, i'm sure someone will step forward to help.

Note to Self: Stay out of assist!

I agree. There is certainly a different "feel" under the condition you describe. I'm totally used to it and expected it. Your harsh engagement may be *more* harsh than others', and may need an adjustment. It is the gas engine starting up and meshing with the CVT transmission WHILE the car is rolling. It's trying to do an RPM-match kind of thing - sort of like downshifting a manual tranny without slowing down the vehicle. If you're near DFW (Texas), I'd be happy to compare rides!

Steve

STOP terrorism - Drive a HYBRID

Vehicles:
350 miles a week ------------ 2006 HCH II, Magnetic Pearl, w/NAVI (born on May 25, 2006)
350 miles a month ---------- 2003 Mazda Tribute ES-V6
350 miles a year (for now) - 1986 Mercedes 560SL

i'm at 600 miles already and it's much smoother now.

Hi,

We are in the South Jersey area but thanks for the kind offers. Actually we're thinking about going back to the dealership to test drive the HCHII demo again, just to see.

On a more positive note, we went for a long drive on the highway this past weekend and got our mileage up to 44.4mpg (according to the display). That made us real happy.

Again, if this turns out to be a defect with our car we will post the findings here on this thread.

Thanks!

Aha- going back for another test drive- brilliant! Saves having to find someone local, that's for sure. Let us know how it goes!