I recently purchased a 08 civic hybrid and i drive highway about 70miles a day and the car has ~1000 miles on it.

Some questions, i want to make sure if it's normal or not
1) My battery gauge never fully charged, is this common for you. There is one bar missing. Not sure if calibration error
2) Does your car get somewhat jerky at low speed, it's like the engine is trying hard to get up to speed. It doesnt happen all the time
3) my IMA is somewhat jerky when it's cold, i feel a jerk everytime it starts. Just anoying.
4) how long should i warm up the car before going? our temps so far ~30F
5) when i brake hard, i hear "errrr" sound, like electronic sound
6) i get around 44mpg highway which is okay.

Thank you, i tried search but not much came up. So far, not too impress with it, probably should have gotten an accord or normal civic.

RE:1) You won't often see the battery "full", unless you are flat out attempting to make it full. I wouldn't worry about the battery too much, the car has a good routine for making sure it stays within a certain, optimal range.

RE:2) I don't think its so much that it's jerky at low speeds, more so that it is (more) noticeable at these speeds. I believe what you are feeling is one of two things. 1, the valves are closing on the engine in order to avoid consuming gas. 2, the regenerative braking is being deactivated and you are moving to traditional braking.

RE:3) Well I don't really have a decent response to this one, it's cold. You don't operate so well when you are cold either. No car does, no human does. It's just flat out COLD, on an otherwise warm planet.

RE:4) Don't warm up AT ALL. What a waste of gas! If the engine thinks its too cold to operate, it will adjust the rpms on its own; it will protect itself. If you are really worried about longevity or MPG/FE, get a block heater, that is the only decent solution in cold weather.

RE:5) Yeah that's a weird noise but normal.

RE:6) Is okay? That's very good MPG in comparison to the regular civic or accord. Much less in cold weather.

In general, if you are looking for higher mpg. May I suggest tarabell's article as a solid starting point.

I'm impressed with 44 mpg in 30 degree weather and its still in the 'break-in' mode! Seems fantastic!
#2, are you slowing down or speeding up? I only ask because you describe it as 'engine is trying hard to get up to speed'.
How do you find the seats - since you are doing 70 miles a day?

let me sign this: currently an accord driver, hoping to be a hybrid driver soon!

Thanks for the reply
Would that damage the car by not warming it up? to get all the fluid flowing normally. What is block heater?

i only go like 65mph or lower on highway to get 44mpg. I set CC and watch people pass

It usually happens during speeding up 20-30mph range. It feels like engine is trying hard to accelerate. It doesn't happen all the time, only 2-3 times since i had it. It seems to occur when i don't warm up the car.

Oh the seats lack lumbar so not the best but ok. It doesn't hold you.

I don't think you could let it warm up/idle long enough to get it flowing normally? Maybe if you let it idle for about half an hour? To get it truly warmed up it's going to involve some higher RPMs and at that point you might as well be driving and moving around on that gas rather than just revving it in the garage/driveway.

It's safe to assume that Honda's engineers/designers have already lost more sleep over this (wear and tear on cold startup) than we ever will.



Block heater info.

i usually let it runs for about 5 min or if i'm lazy about 2-3min.

I would let it run for about 5 seconds (max) and then take off. I think the whole warm up your car bit is something that was promoted by "Big Oil" to, well, sell more oil/gasoline. A lot like the 3,000 miles per oil change, very unnecessary and wasteful. As a result, the supermajors get more money. It may not seem like a lot of oil/gasoline, but when you multiply it by the number of cars on the road it really adds up quick.

Unfortunately a lot of people think just because they are now use to the jerkiness and other minor issues other people should accept that....

I will say all of that is normal for this car, but for a regular non-hybrid version it is NOT normal.

Answers in BLUE
Some questions, i want to make sure if it's normal or not
1) My battery gauge never fully charged, is this common for you. There is one bar missing. Not sure if calibration error

This is normal because the car is not a plug in type, you will never get full bars unless you probably go down a long downward hill


2) Does your car get somewhat jerky at low speed, it's like the engine is trying hard to get up to speed. It doesnt happen all the time

I believe you are referring to a creeping speed. Kind of feels like a manual transmission about to kill the engine?? I have felt that going through parking lots at a creep speed (under 5 miles w/no foot on the gas or brakes). Again this is normal for this HYBRID car, not for REGULAR automatic transmission gas version.

3) my IMA is somewhat jerky when it's cold, i feel a jerk everytime it starts. Just anoying.

Normal for this car again.


4) how long should i warm up the car before going? our temps so far ~30F

It depends. I am use to warming my cars up. Unfortunately, this is the opposite for the Hybrid. You will find that an engine block heater will be needed in cold weather if you want heat in the car while driving... I have gotten use to wearing more clothing layers in my Hybrid because it doesn't warm up fast like regular cars... An engine block heater is a module that is dealer installed with a 110v standard household plug which hangs off the front of your bumper. You plug it into your house outlet to heat the engine.

5) when i brake hard, i hear "errrr" sound, like electronic sound

Normal, sounds very Star Trekky

6) i get around 44mpg highway which is okay.

You are doing something right, I get 33mpg. But my commute is only 10-12 miles one way

----
1987 Chevy Spectrum - 200,000+ Miles -Junk Yard
1994 Honda Civic DX Coupe - Truck Hit it
1998 Acura 2.3 CL - End of Lease
2002 Acura TL 3.2 - End of Lease
2004 Acura MDX - End of Lease
2007 Mercedes ML350 -Lemon
2007 Honda Civic Hybrid w/Navi - Active

antinouskalisto:

By the way, awesome advice !!!!


civic4me:
There's absolutely no technical or economic benefit to let the car idle for the simple purpose of warming up. If anything, idling actually harms the car, the environment and finally your pocket book.

How come?

Here's a link for an explanation and additional official advice: Why idling is bad.



Cheers;

MSantos