I don't know if this has been mentioned. But I find if I turn the fan off as I come to a stop that I can coax Auto-stop at much colder external temperatures that would normaly be possible.

Normaly autostop doesn't work if the temp is <40F aprox. Using this technique the auto-stop has reported to have kicked in at temps as low as 4F. Once the car is autostoped you can turn the fan back on. However, since the engine isn't running the air starts to slowly come out of the vents cooler (not cold just cooler).

I have an 03' CVT. Not sure if the trick works on other models.

My hydroponics experiment

You ever notice how hard it is to lip read cartoon characters?
"Crazy is what the sane call Delta Flyer"

Tom: have you tried this in recerculation mode? i found that it goes to EV quicker than flo-thru. Dean

No. I am talking about civics auto stoping. The prius is a different animal. I will see what effect recirc has though. maybe its possible to use recirc instead of turning off the fan.

My hydroponics experiment

You ever notice how hard it is to lip read cartoon characters?
"Crazy is what the sane call Delta Flyer"

That is pretty much what it says in the Owners Manual. Less then 40degF and the cabin can get too cold during extended autostops, less then 32degF and the engine/cat can get too cold to work efficiently during even short autostops. During an extended autostop the car will turn back on if the engine temp falls too much as well.

Later,
Droid

Is this 'feature' really necessary? If the car gets cold, I can just let my foot off the brake momentarily to restart... the same stupid thing applies to the defrost mode. Nice thought honda, but I really don't need you to do that thinking for me.

Thanks for the tip!! I live in Southern Ontario, Canada. The temperature today was 25 degrees F or -4 degrees C. Just out of curiosity I tried turning the fan off before I got to the light. I worked like a charm. The engine has to be warmed up of course for the auto-stop to work.

Thanks again!!

I've been playing with this more. I've been able to go down to 17F or so and have autostop come on using this technique. I found if I have my temperture set too high it will blead too much heat from the engine. I have my knob set to about 70 right now. I'll probably increase it notch by notch to find out the optimal setting.

I've been doing great mileage wise since I started using this. Near 45 or so mpg (down about 5mpg from 70F which is quite liveable for the winter).

My hydroponics experiment

You ever notice how hard it is to lip read cartoon characters?
"Crazy is what the sane call Delta Flyer"

This post is all observation and opinion so take as you wish.

I caught this thread from another: http://www.greenhybrid.com/discuss/auto-stop.5091.html

Yeah, I know I'm a Prius driver talking to Civic drivers about their animal, but after reading this thread, it seems that there is something of a similarity between the Prius and the Civic in getting auto stop to work during the winter. Engine temperature is key. It seems that both vehicles will run their ICEs until they reach an optimal temperature. And both will run their engines to provide hot coolant for cabin heat. I'm not surprised that Civic pilots can coax their auto-stop during cold weather by "deactivating" their climate control system. I can also get my ICE to turn off at stops by turning off the climate system. Now, this only works if the ICE internal temp is inside the bounds expected by the ECUs, but it still will accomplish the same thing.

I'm glad we have something in common.

It has been said:
Hybrid drivers come in 3 flavors, greenie, techie and cheapie. Pick any 2.
2005 Prius, Melinium Silver over gray, package 5 (AI)

Exactly. Though even when the engine is at operating temperature and in the bounds expected by the ECU, the civic will not auto stop under about 40F. This trick circumvents that logic in the ECU.

My hydroponics experiment

You ever notice how hard it is to lip read cartoon characters?
"Crazy is what the sane call Delta Flyer"

Can the heat postion be in defrost? i am such a new driver forgive the question. Thanks