Honda Accord Hybrid

I tried the Honda Accord V-6 Hybrid the other night.

Very strong acceleration, well beyond needs.

What was cool:

-stop at a light, engine shut off; let go of brake, engine starts
smoothly and immediately.

-cruise at 120 km/h, three cylinders shut off (little light on dash
"ECO" turns on).

-let off gas during cruise and you could feel the electic motor "drag"
as it generated electricity for the battery.

-apply brakes, and even more energy was diverted to the motor/generator.

(There's a little meter bar that shows when the battery is discharging
or recharging)

What was not cool:

- automatic transmission
- ... and not so well programmed at that
- 3 litre engine
- no fold down rear seats (the battery is there)
- 253 total HP.... what's economical about that?
- does not qualify for the Quebec hybrid rebate (misses the mileage goal)
-stopped the car in "D", engine stops. Shifted to "P" and the engine
started up again. Should have remained off, IMO. I guess it's the way
this is mechanized that allowed the engine to restart.
- price ($39,400 in Canada, $31,000 in the US).
The CAD $ is running 89 - 90 cents these days...
I could probably talk them down a couple K on the car; and up a
couple K on the trade in, but it's still not worth it to me.

I take it that they put in a 6 banger in order to get 3 cylinder cruise
on the highway, and that this might not have worked well with a 4
banger. Why not a 5 banger? Why not a smaller displacement 6 banger? I
simply can't believe that a Honda Accord really needs 200 HP, never minf
253 with the assist.

Any Canadians here who can explain the price differential (US / CAD)
that is way beyond the exchange rate?

Cheers,
Alan FreeLunch.

 

I can't explain the vast difference in the prices. But I can tell you that I
like the 200 hp under the hood of my '01 Accord.

 

IMO the Accord Hybrid is a dumb marketing/engineering move. The
standard V-6 Accord already has more power than any reasonable North
American driver needs. Why add a hybrid boost on top of that?

An ~2.0l four cylinder hybrid Accord would make much more sense for fuel
economy.

John

 

I agree completely and I've posted on the subject (and the "cons"
reflect that.

I don't see hybrid "boost" as a performance item but as reuse of
deceleration. Period.

Part of the problem, I suspect, is how well would the 2 litre engine
behave with two cylinders shut down?

Cheers,
Alan

 

The way Honda is doing it on their production models that is mostly true.
Their concept car, the Dualnote, is a different story:
http://world.honda.com/Tokyo2001/auto/DUALNOTE/powerunit/index.html
According to the September 2002 article in Popular Mechanics, Honda
engineers say the electrics effectively double the off-the-line acceleration
to roughly what is expected from a 600 HP conventional power train.

As the electric technology improves we will see performance increasingly
being a reason for hybridization. But the Accord "hybrid?" Hardly worth the
effort, IMHO.

Mike

 

With a small 4 cylinder motor you don't need cylinder deactivation.
Cylinder deactivation only seems to provide a minimal fuel economy boost
and is mostly be used on V-8s and V-12s (MBZ).

John

 

I posted this elsewhere and it is appopriate here. I like the Accord
Hybrid Navi and had a Civic Hybrid before. If you were raised in the
muscle car era, the Accord Hybrid ROCKS!

I have already said:

CC