New Accord "Econ" button

I think that's backwards, it retards the upshift, and also governs how fast the throttle "opens" (injectors don't exactly open, but whatever).

My first take on it is that it helps a little in driving about town, but my recent commute has taken me deep into gridlock every day, and if anything it seems to be hurting mileage there.

I detect a lack of engineering maturity in the tuning of this engine transmission system, it works great in very narrow ranges and poorly in between. I mean the car is driveable but the mileage falls off dramatically.

Has Honda ever updated their engine computers as part of standard maintenance? Given another year, I'd expect them to do better.

J.

because, of course, your shiny new $30,000 toy came with absolutely no owner's manual whatsoever.

Or if it did, it's still in its original shrinkwrap--because after all, you know how to drive. Why would you need to read up on the details of the second largest single purchase in your life?

;) but i don't have your ability to deliver real passion on this topic...

thanks for saving me the effort.

Strangely enough, I opened the book and it did NOT say, "A marijuana leaf lights up on your dashboard and your car slows down, have a nice day, dude."

J.

Strangely enough, no rational person would look in the owner's manual for "marijuana leaf".

A rational person who wanted to know what that light was would find it in the owner's manual within ten seconds.

But then, an IRrational person would make up terms out of thin air ("marijuana leaf") and sit there and whine that the universe is not serving him by shoving the information in his face while he sits there, motionless, like Jabba the Hutt.

Or on their dashboard for it, yet there it was.

I don't suppose the fact that it went on immediately when I pressed the econ button, might be a hint.

Actually, now that you mention it, that's pretty much what I think SHOULD have happened. I wanted a blast of trumpets and a choir of angels announcing to me and everyone within a hundred yards, that I was now doing God's work on Earth by economizing my Accord, and so maybe the cars behind me shouldn't honk their horns quite as much, and that little old lady might as well cross in front of me, and all the chicks in town should give it up for anyone as obviously sensitive and caring as me.

Jeez, I just wrote Honda's next tv ad ...

J.

For those of us outside observers that don't have one of these vehicles (and so no owner's manual), what does the MANUAL say the ECON button does?

I know what ECON does on my 2003 Civic hybrid, but an obviously engine shutoff is not what happens on the Accord. I did have the impression from some reports about the other Honda models since the 2003 HCH that ECON how agressively the cruise control behaved. Is this true of the Accord?

I do not have the manual in front of me right now so I can't relay what it says word-for-word, but in essence it adjusts transmission shifting behavior (on an automatic) and makes some adjustments to the climate control system (namely throttling back the blower a bit). There are probably some other changes it makes, but in general they are just minor tweaks to the car's behavior that sacrifice some performance for a marginal improvement in MPG.

Actually I just decided to go the other way and try the "sport" setting, which oddly enough is not a button but a shift lever position

- as if it wasn't all drive by wire anyway.

In my current gridlock commute, it seems to cost about as much as the econ button saves, maybe 5% or so - but it makes the car FAR more driveable! It lets the revs go up faster, and it keeps the revs up around 2000 instead of letting it fall to 1000 when you coast.

But it feels like an entirely different vehicle, and the best-behaved Honda tranny I've had since the manual in my 1987!

J.

Actually I just decided to go the other way and try the "sport" setting, which oddly enough is not a button but a shift lever position

- as if it wasn't all drive by wire anyway.

In my current gridlock commute, it seems to cost about as much as the econ button saves, maybe 5% or so - but it makes the car FAR more driveable! It lets the revs go up faster, and it keeps the revs up around 2000 instead of letting it fall to 1000 when you coast.

But it feels like an entirely different vehicle, and the best-behaved Honda tranny I've had since the manual in my 1987!

J. For my preference, the 6spd would be the way to go. Doubt there is an ECON button with that option.

Again I don't have access to the Accord manual, but are you sure that this is the "sport" setting". For the HCH the "S" position on the shifter is sometimes called "sport" by people, but it is not that. It is intended for what used to me marked as "2" on the older

3-speed automatics, and is a mid-range position used when you want some engine breaking, but not as much as you would get from the "L" (low-gear) setting. If you use it in cases where you are not looking for engine braking it is going to to increase engine revs and gas consumption. Some people feel that it makes a car feel "sportier" by making acceleration a little jerkier. (Something the auto reviewers seem to think is a plus.)

Yes, it is the "sport" setting.

Previous use of this alternate position included keeping the trannie out of overdrive, along with the stuff you describe, but other makes have offered a number of different shift algorithms for years, Honda is just playing a little catch-up here.

I had occassion to try it on the freeway the other day, and along with whatever else it does it does keep the CVT out of "overdrive", runs another 1000 RPM at freeway cruise speeds and reduces the (instanteous indicated) mileage by about 20%.

J.

as always. Toyota's had this button and this behavior for 30 or more years.

To this day I'm astounded that my father's 09 MDX, a $50K vehicle, didn't come with keyless start. And don't get me going on Honda radios.

There's zero reason for this setting to keep the revs up on the freeway doing a steady cruise. Lunacy.

Well, if you're Speed Racer in your 180hp 3000-pound 4-banger Accord, it's nice not to have to jerk it out of overdrive, especially as the normal mode resists being kicked out of any gear it's in. But hey nobody is going to be doing Speed Racer in a stock Accord, so I agree, it's bad programming. ALL THREE MODES are bad programming, but each shows what CAN be done with the machine.

But I guess it requires an act of Congress to change the tuning, so stuck with it I guess we are, can't download better from iTunes.

J.

It's a CVT, fer chrissakes. You're not "jerking it" out of anything.

cue jim beam rant: this "simulate a traditional automatic with a cvt" marketing bullshit is not just retarded, it's actually offensive.

i don't want my cvt to "simulate" traditional shift points - it defeats the whole point and purpose of cvt! better use of the money they spent on "marketing research" that drove this stupidity would have been tp print a nice glossy brochure to go with the car explaining cvt and the benefits it brings. "real" cvt behavior is completely acceptable to prius drivers without "simulation" retardation - not everybody is as stoooopid as the marketeers think they are.

bingo.

That would be assuming that the automotive "journalists" would/(could?) read the brochure.

Unfortunately, too many of the people publishing/airing reviews are.