Well the update in my opinion neuters the car, and makes it much harder to abuse the battery. I have driven them with and without the update now and my butt dyno can tell a difference. I'm guessing a solid 12 sec 0- 60 after and my car can pull 9.7 sec 0-60's right now I want to stay under 10 for these nasty southern ca. onramps lol.

I feel if I am aware of my battery and it's special requirements, being undersized and all and treat it right, I should get similar usage time out of it and still have that extra oomph Honda was initially going for in order to compete with prius.

 

My 06 feels no different than when new. Still has got the same power as it has always had. I think it is good for a 1.3 ICE. H

 

Well its good to know it doesn't effect cars with good battery packs that way….. The one I drove was on it's last leg and the Honda dealer told them it would fix it, which well made things worse.

 

Top five things..

#1 as another said...get ready to be disappointed. Many have left these forums as owners after disastrous dealings with Honda over their batteries. If I could get rid of mine, I would...but they won't even fix my car sufficient to CON someone into thinking it's running normally - despite having several years and many miles left on my extended OEM warranty. Those that remain here are generally not experiencing the problems that so many of us have had to endure.

My car was flawless for 4 years and then went south in a week to the 28mpg golf cart that it is today.

It's not every single car, but if it winds up being yours...you're screwed.

 

I purchased my 2008 with 18k about 6 months ago from a local Honda dealership. I guess not knowing any better and keeping an eye on the mpg gauge, I learned how to drive the car a certain way (grandma it pretty well accelerating, feather your foot until you find the sweet spot to maintain speed between 30-60mph, coast / lightly brake as much as possible, avoid the highway, etc).
After a few hundred miles, my average mpg was about 47, then I read about "the update". Terrified, I called my dealer and it turns out the car had already had it applied! It actually explains the whole story, whoever had it first must have driven it a certain way, got the update, their mileage went to s**t so they traded it in. It really does seem the update is not a big deal provided your battery was healthy when it's applied. I've since gotten a little better at driving it and I average 48-50 most tanks. Winter hurts it by 4-5mpg, but I live in Florida so that wasn't much of a stint.
Also it's flat as hell here, I think hybrids are made for flatland, I can't imagine owning this thing in Denver or somewhere hilly.

Good luck with your car!

 

I bought a 2008 and had a very similar experience. Love the "golf cart" analogy.
Many on this site like to blame the drivers for the HCH's failure to achieve anything close to the fuel economy and performance of other hybrid cars.
Instead do this, ask some Prius owners how *drastically* they had to modify their driving habits to even get 40mpg, which many post-update HCH owners could not even dream of getting.

 

I think most HCH owners would agree that Honda's hybrid system inherently requires more driver involvement and expertise to maximize the car's fuel efficiency. While that is a distinction between the Prius and the HCH, it is not a design flaw per se.

 

I agree with Two Tom. I for one do not appreciate some on here making assumptions that I or other HCH drivers are somehow responsible for the decrease in fuel mileage. I have seen the performance drop on my 2009, I have had one battery crash and the second is also crashing, so don't sit there and tell me it is my driving. You sound like a Honda service tech.

 

It is your driving. Why??? cause in the beginning I drove my car like every other brickhead around me and that is why my battery pack started acting on me even before I got the update.
then I found the good advice (ignored the whiners) on this site and others and made a few changes to my driving cause if others can get there money's worth out of there hch2's then I'm sure not too stupid to do it too. So I begin learning about how to make my soc healthier and also become a better driver; one thing lead to another I even with the constant recalling my FE went up. my driving got better and I was more money.
then I got the software updates that made everyone go nuts, and my car started recalling almost every day and I was pi$$ed ; I decided that instead of complaining I would listen to those who always give out the good advice cause if it worked before then it would work for me again, right? I understood what the updates are for and I even helped the software do its thing. Now my battery pack is doing much better and I get better mpgs. There's no other explanation and my results are all I need to know why some have better results than others.

by the way I'm still learning and steven is right on the money too.

ks

 

Just a sec: Honda's design is not bullet proof enough that driver behaviour can break the battery? That goes back to Honda's doorstep. Driver behaviour will effect mileage, for sure. But it should not toast the battery.

Honda's mis-step, imho:

Their battery is too weak, and vulnerable, for it's purpose. And their design taxes it too much, in an attempt to salvage decent mileage.