I live in O.C. and contend with hills and freeways everyday... still get over 50 all the time. As Kenny said, driving slow is one way to do that. I can't quite do 50... I'm happier in the upper 50's to low 60's... so I trade off MPG for the convenience of speed. Some prefer to go 70+, but their mpg falls off very sharply. This car seems "tuned" to be in the low to mid 50 mph range for the best mpg.

You absolutely cannot harm your car by driving it "like a normal car"... you just won't get the great MPG and fuel savings!

I follow the oil change maintenance minder. Any dealer who recommends changes at 3,000 miles is just after your money. Most changes should occur at the 8,000 - 9,000 mile range.

The car has a decent security system with special keys that won't allow the car to start unless the correct transmitting key is used. No one can "hot wire" or use a slide hammer to pull the ignition switch... the car just won't start this way. For the most determined thieves (really, anything can be stolen if they try hard enough!), I have insurance. The car is replaceable! The only thing I'd be pissed about is that the carpool stickers couldn't be replaced if the car was stolen!

Relax and enjoy your new car!

 

Definetely relax and you will enjoy the car. Don't be afraid of it... it's an ordinary car with extraordinary features! My wife had the HCH for it's first 3 weeks and drove it like she did her previous (and current) car. She guns it at the lights, and hits the brakes at the next light. Even with this excessive driving style, she still attained 38mpg and 400 miles/tank. She put the first 1,000 miles on it.

Now, I can't yell at her, because I was an even worse driver... always going 85 on the freeway, and 60+ in town. Gunning it at the lights, riding everyones butt. While my wife had the HCH, I was learning how to drive better in my Cavalier by using this site to put some of the techniques that were applicable into use. Of course, I ended up getting my best mileage on my last tank in the Cavalier before trading it in for my wife's car (2007 Pilot)!

The HCH is on it's 6th fillup, with just over 2,500 miles, and of course each tank is getting better and better. Right now I am at 300 miles with exactly 1/2 tank (on the LED fuel gauge) left. So I can expect an easy 550 to 600 miles this tank. I am slowly becoming a hypermiler . I have yet to do an oil change... I plan on doing the first at 7,500 miles, and every 7,500 - 10,000 miles after that. My goal is to continue to learn the car, and let the car tell me what's going on to overall improve my driving mileage.

So, what I'm trying to say is you can drive it how you feel like driving it... it just depends on what you want to get out of the car!

As far as a security system... you have one built in with the key/ignition system. As far as recovery, don't waste your money on the lo/jack or any passive systems. If you have the money, go for an active system... but in reality, don't stress about it... that's what insurance is for! Just be aware of your surroundings because even though car thefts are down with the new technology... car jackings are up so the thieves can get the keys directly from you!

Enjoy your car!

 

Thanks to everyone for the advice. I feel much better after reading these posts, going through the manual, and driving the car around a bit. Learning to check all the gauges and trying to maximize mileage is going to be a tough but fun task. I’m just going to take it easy and see how it goes during the break-in period.

The oil is going to be interesting as well. I’ve always been an every-3000-miles person, but I think I’ll take a deep breath and see what the maintenance minder has to say. The manual says follow the maintenance minder unless it hasn’t come on after 12 months. I admit I might get antsy and change it at 5000 and then do what the maintenance minder says after that.

I’m still undecided about security systems. I’ve heard that signals from alarms and GPS locators can interfere with the navi since they are mounted under the dash near the navi GPS. This is definitely bad. Has anyone noticed any trouble with the navi after installing aftermarket alarms? Especially since I’m also considering installing an iPod integration unit which also mounts under the dash (this one seems to be the best I've seen).

 

I believe the factory puts a special additive into your new car's oil.
It is best to leave it in the full recommended initial interval.

It is better for your engine to NOT change it early.

 

As far as the oil goes, there is nothing special about the factory fill, it is just 0-20 mineral oil.

Please minimize your pollution contribution by only changing your oil every 10,000 miles, and on your first change, replace it with synthetic lubricant.

Absolutely nothing bad will happen to your engine by keeping the oil in there for 10K miles. But if you are still a skeptic take a look at this oil analysis that I had done on the factory fill after 10K miles:



The less used oil we have in the environment, the better.

 

I think the molybdenum is the factory additive in the first tank.

 

The Big Bad Oil Debate

Here is the result of my research into oil changes. The information is for hybrid vehicles (specifically the HCHII for my purposes), so if you have some other kind of vehicle, this information might not apply to you. While some unanswered questions remain, the situation is a lot clearer to me. I hope you find this info helpful. Thanks to Orient Express for posting the oil analysis results.

Oil Change Indicators

Oil Analysis -- The best way to know if you need an oil change is to get an oil analysis. An oil analysis will tell you if the oil needs changed by showing the amount of wear on the oil. The obvious drawback is the increased cost and time required to get oil analyzed.

Miles -- The second best indicator of need for an oil change is to base it on the number of miles driven. This method approximates oil wear based on the number of miles traveled. This approximation can be inaccurate because it does not include factors that can affect oil life like temperature and dusty conditions.

The Maintenance Minder considers some factors other than just miles driven, but it is important to remember that it is not physically testing the quality of the oil. The Maintenance Minder is basically a glorified miles-based calculation; still the best indicator other than oil analysis, but not foolproof.

Time -- Time is the worst indicator of when to change your oil. Time approximates wear by approximating miles likely traveled over a period of time. This can be wildly inaccurate because not everyone drives the same number of miles in a given time period, and, even after approximating miles traveled, this method suffers from the same problems as miles-based calculations.

Oil Debris & The First Oil Change

During the break-in period there will be increased debris in the oil. The oil analysis provided above by Orient Express tends to show this. The curious thing is that several of the values are way above the Universal Averages (even adjusting for the fact that the averages are for 6600 miles, and this oil change was apparently done at 9150 miles).

The question is whether this increase in debris poses a threat to the engine. If so, then the first oil change should be performed early in order to get rid of this additional debris. If not, then there is no need to worry or change the oil earlier than normal.

There are people firmly on both sides of this debate, but I have not seen any proof one way or the other as to whether this additional debris causes increased wear on the engine or reduces engine life. (The oil analysis basically states that the oil is as expected after 9150 miles; not whether it would be beneficial to have changed the oil at a different time, and doesn’t say anything about the state of the engine).

Filters

The manual suggests changing the filter every other oil change. However, every other reference I consulted recommended changing the filter every oil change.

Ironically, I found several suggestions that you might be able to get away with changing the filter every other time if you changed the oil often (every 3000 miles), but due to the long intervals between oil changes on hybrids, it is probably a good idea to change the filter every time.

Especially after looking at the oil analysis posted above, I think it’s a good idea to change the oil filter at the first oil change.

Factory Oil

The one thing I can state with certainty is that there is nothing special about the factory oil Honda uses in their new cars. I spoke with four dealers and called Honda of America to ask if there are any additives or special features of the oil they put in their new cars.

I was told clearly by HOA that the oil in new cars is regular 0W-20, without any additives or special properties. I was also told that nothing special is added to the factory oil or engine to assist the break-in period or perform any other special function. Three of the four Honda dealers I called repeated this same information. The fourth Honda dealer didn’t know if there were any additives and advised me to call HOA.

 

I bought a hybrid to save commuting time and enviro' emissions. I feel great about doing both ... especially saving time!

For giggles, here are my driving stats from yesterday:

• 405-105 HOV-lane, driving with traffic, 60-75 MPH - 23.8 miles, 47.8 mpg
• "Kenny-style," far right lane, 50 MPH and below, last leg of commute to driveway - 6.7 miles, 72.0 mpg. Granted, it's skewed because the car was warmed up and I didn't need to accelerate to 50 MPH, but 'tis what it is.

Drive slow, drive fast ... just do it safely. As a So. Calif. driver, I respectfully submit that driving 50 MPH on the freeway is not doing it safely.

 

Here's a questions for you SoCal drivers... how does the HCHII do on over grapevine? I'm planning on taking the HCH to Disneyland from Sac and I'm only concerned about the 20 minute uphill portion. I know on the 30 minute downside I will kick in some crazy mpg, which will hopefully offset the hellish uphill climb! I will probably run the SoC down after about 2-3 minutes!! I guessing I can make it from Sac to Disneyland (about 450 miles), then back from Disneyland over the grapevine and fillup on the other side (another 150 miles) since it's all highway driving, and I will keep it at about 70-72mph. However since my family will be in the car, the added weight, plus they HAVE to have the A/C on (I'll turn it off on the uphill side of the grapevine), I may not make it 600 miles on the tank!

 

I go from San Jose to LA all the time on I5 and the grapevine section does not give me any problems at all. I just go about 50 the whole time. I usually get about 50 - 52 mpg per tank on the drive, and that is with my 16" EX tires, and 70 mpg cruise on the flat section going south (with the wind). On the backside I usually only get 48-50 mpg.