I'm very pleased with my 2006 civic hybrid, but I do wish its accelerated a bit faster. Has anyone done or heard of any modifications to improve performance? I realize this would likely impact fuel economy but I'm willing to take a modest hit in gas mileage in exchange for better performance. I probably can't afford it and it may not be feasible, but my fantasy would be to add a few more NimH batteries and crank up the power of the electric motor.

Thanks,

Derek

 

The one thing I've done that I suspect helped performance was to check the valve clearances:

http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=17946

If they're right on spec. there's no gain, but if they're a bit loose I think you'll realize a slight gain in performance, when you tighten them up. Be careful not to go too tight.

 

Thanks for the info. This is a easy and inexpensive fix.

 

Are your batteries well-charged each time you experience slow acceleration? If you tend to drive fast, maybe it's just a case of low battery charge. I try to minimize battery drain (assist) except under extreme conditions. I seem to recall the 0-60 acceleration times for the HCHII could vary by as much as 2 seconds or more depending on the state of battery charge.

 

You can use the 'S' mode and you can get a K&N Filter, both at an expense to NVH.

Or consider an '10 Prius.

nf

 

To make an analogy, that's like taking a gas car and putting a bigger gas tank on it--if your engine is small, having more gas availible isn't going to make it any faster--it's just going to let you go further. That's the real "problem" with the IMA system--it's a small motor without a lot of power. It does it's job very well for what it's designed for (motivating a small sedan efficiently without completely awful acceleration), but it isn't really ever going to be a power source.

If you were to add batteries, AND make a change to the car's assist logic, it would be effectively like adding a turbo charger to a gas car--you're not increasing the engine size, but you're increasing its ability to consume energy. Unfortunately, the HCH computer has proven to be a tough nut to crack for people trying to decrease assist, so I would guess it's going to be tough to increase assist. The other problem here is that the regen capabilities wouldn't be able to keep up with the increased power demand, so you would need plug in ablility.

Increasing the HCH's power would be a lot more easily addressed on the engine side than the motor side. A less restrictive intake/exhaust system would allow you to add power when on the gas, and most likely increase efficiency when hypermiling. However, you're also going to be putting more emissions out the tail pipe so that kinda defeats the purpose of having a green car.

I dream of a day when you can buy a car like a kit of Legos and put in whatever electric motor and battery system you want--someday it will happen!

 

"You can use the 'S' mode"

That's a very good point. And it will have little impact on your overall mileage used judiciously, say just for freeway entrance and steep hills.

 

Not worth the bother. I had one in for about 10k miles, and could detect no meaningful difference between it and the OEM for acceleration or efficiency.

 

Two questions. What is a K&N filter? What is required to make the intake/exhaust less restrictive? I would consider doing this if I could get modestly better acceleration if the tradeoff wasn't a huge increase in emissions.

 

K&N Air Filter:
http://www.lmgtfy.com/?q=K%26N+Air+Filter

Your actual mileage may vary on the K&N. I had one on my Mazda Protoge and didn't notice much of an impact from performance, but the engine sounded better, and I think my mileage went up slightly (this was before I was tracking things religiously though).

Regarding the intake/exhast, I come from a turbo background (Subarus) where this can make a huge difference, but it is going to be less for a normally aspirated car. For an N/A car, you're talking about a muffler replacement and a cold air intake of some sort. Search around the performance Civic websites and see what they are doing to their cars--this will give you an idea of the cost/benefit.