2006 Honda Civic VTI auto problems?

[Diesmile]

Hi, first time here, so it is nice to see a honda forum.

Just started working this year, so planned to buy a car for quite a while. Being choosing around mazda 3, corolla and ford focus, but Honda civic finally won my heart.

Anyway, I purchased this 2006 hodna civic vti auto sedan less than 4 weeks ago, but I have already noticing some possible problems.

1: speed display seems got some problem

my concern is when i drive 60 (according to my digital display), everyone else seems to pass me easily.

however when i drive my parent's corolla, when i stay at 60, i prob over taking the rest of the ppl or at least a bit faster than general.

so i am a bit worried that my new honda speed display is not accurate, has anyone else notice something like that?

2: fuel efficiency?

the offical fuel effciency is 7.2L/100km, this is combined value, hence country and city.

now, i have driven about 380km, but the tank is almost empty. (tank was full from dealer)

car is brand new, no loads at all, always single driver (me), constant road condition (work - home, home - work, exact 8km on daily bases)

any ideas? i have a rough guess, for now, its fuel efficiency is over 12L/100km

btw, full tank is 50L. (i took about 3 or 4 readings, when i was about reaching 180kms, the tank was half empty, when i was about 330km, the tank only has 5 blocks left, etc etc)

any ideas will be great, or just suggestion. i hope new engine doesn't behave like this.

before someone suggest idel time, there is no idel time for me, i am on driving almost all the time except red lights (working time, 10am to 6pm, so no peak traffic at all). total 5-6 minutes for me to get to work place over 4k distance.

i am playing mp3 all the time, or on the radio, hardly ever touch A/C, just once because my screen was fogged up)

the interesting thing is on my civic, the light below icons of : "intake air from outside" and "air way" (ie, blowing to ur face or the feet etc) are always on, does that mean anything? i turned the fans off, A/C is off as well.

[EuroDude]

1. All cars have varying speed readings than the actual speed. There are some cars that show 100km/h when going 100km/h (rare), but most are actually going between 94->100km/h. So at 60km/h, the car is probably going at around 58km/h.

2. All new cars have bad fuel efficiency when new. My euro started at 15L+ when new, and now at ~8000km later, it is now at around 9.0L->9.8L which is the cars' rating (9.1L). Basically the engine needs time to run-in properly, the pistons need time to seal completely, etc.. so give it another 5000km and then it should be close to the cars rating at 7.2L.

[BLKek]

8kms a day is nothing, its barely getting to a consistant temperature I reckon. I'd like to see results of a good log drive at varying speeds before getting too worried about it - 8k round trip, get a bike LOL....

[[ricer]]

i guess if its only 8kms total
then ur idling the car alot to warm up and that...
when i use to drive 6kms to work i wasnt getting near as much kms as i do now driving 30kms to work...

[aaronng]

How long are you waiting to warm your car up? Best is to warm up for 30 seconds and then drive off gently. If you drive only 8km a day, your car will consume a lot more petrol per km compared to if you drove 20km a day.

Also, have you refilled your tank yet? The dealer just fills it so the fuel gauge reads full. They don't fill it up til the pump stops on its own. On my car (Euro), the difference between the needle pointing at full and the pump stopping itself is 100km!

[Twincam16]

Regarding your question on the speed of the car. There is a 10%(+/-) ADR rule that states that a new car speedo must display no greater difference at any given speed.

This means that your factory speedo could say 100km/h, where in fact your velocity is 110km/h. One popular/accurate way to measure the speed of a vehicle is by using a GPS system.

Regarding the fuel efficiency, let the car wear in a bit. All new cars will need to be eased into their everyday form, and this may affect your fuel consumption. Also, im pretty sure that the fuel-light works on an average of 60km travel left, calculate fuel consumption from re-fuelling if you arent already doing this.

If this problem persists, please see a honda specialist :p

[Chaz]

My 1985 Ford Fairlane has a digital speedo, and it is dead accurate. I go under those speed checks every so often, I usually sit on 113km/h on my speedo, and it says 113km/h on the overhead.

I'm getting a new car soon, and the civic is on the list. I'm so used to the digital speedo on my car, its a big selling point on the civic for me. But I've read several reports on how inaccurate it is, so that worries me a bit :(

[Diesmile]

Basically the engine needs time to run-in properly, the pistons need time to seal completely, etc.. so give it another 5000km and then it should be close to the cars rating at 7.2L.


will do, i guess i will keep monitoring until i reach 1000km and ready for service.


8kms a day is nothing, its barely getting to a consistant temperature I reckon. I'd like to see results of a good log drive at varying speeds before getting too worried about it - 8k round trip, get a bike LOL....

well, i am not sure your place, but in adelaide, ppl don't give a damn about bikers, i don't want a car running past me at around 55km/h and only 20cm away from me.


How long are you waiting to warm your car up? Best is to warm up for 30 seconds and then drive off gently. If you drive only 8km a day, your car will consume a lot more petrol per km compared to if you drove 20km a day.

Also, have you refilled your tank yet? The dealer just fills it so the fuel gauge reads full. They don't fill it up til the pump stops on its own. On my car (Euro), the difference between the needle pointing at full and the pump stopping itself is 100km!


mmm, idel time? well, i start the engine in the morning, then slowly back off from the garage and slowly back to the main street, gently drive about 50m till i hit the "T" section then start to drive normally on the street. i guess it may take about 1k distance or 2 minutes for my car to reach normal engine temp.

on the second note, i have not refill the car yet, only the dealer did it, so i guess it is possible where the meter reads the car is full, but it is not. however i don't think it will be too much differences.

[Aco3n]

full tank can go for around 500kms for mine.. vti manual.. I've tried to calculate the fuel consumption.. around 1:12 to 13, normal city driving.. coz everyday have to pass the city.. from south east to north melb (around 70kms return.. every working days)

[idunlie]

ehh.. my civic vti 06 having similar problems too. fuel consumption has been very very poor (380km for almost full tank). but i guess ill wait and see if it gets better, im already at 5000 to 6000km on my car.

as for the speedo, it doesnt really bother me. but usually on the roads, dont people drive faster anyway? like speed limit 60, people drive at 63km/hr

[Diesmile]

i don't know about ppl driving faster on the road, at least not in adelaide. like i said, when i driving my parent's corolla, i always keeps at 60km and no more, but i still able to over pass many cars.

ps, but when those ppl with a sporty car and BOV running fast me at about 5 to 10k over limit, i really have to control myself not trying to keep up with them. lol

[VTECACCORD]

gees man, if those are problems for you I'd hate to see what happens when you get a squeak or something.

The things you list are so minor.

btw speed limit of 60 is just a suggestion, it's ok to go over it once in a while. don't be one of those drivers that brakes all the way down a hill only to have to accelerate back up again, thats just a stupid way of driving. Pay attention to whats around you don't focus on speed

[aaronng]

btw speed limit of 60 is just a suggestion, it's ok to go over it once in a while. don't be one of those drivers that brakes all the way down a hill only to have to accelerate back up again, thats just a stupid way of driving. Pay attention to whats around you don't focus on speed
Unless you are in Melb, where the limit is 3km/h above. I'm here for the week and I noticed that drivers here prefer to swerve to the left lane (in a 2 lane per direction road) lane rather than brake if the vehicle in front of them is slowing down to turn right.

[aaronng]

BTW, I'd like to add that if you want to take advantage of the VTi's fuel saving features, then you have to learn to use light throttle. No heavy acceleration once you reach close to the speed limit. Just like cars with EGR, you have to use light throttle in order to engage 12v mode. Otherwise, you'd always engage vtec. LOL. In the VTi, vtec can engage at any rpm depending on throttle and engine load.

[JaCe]

Congrats on the new car- good choice I'd say!


1: speed display seems got some problem

my concern is when i drive 60 (according to my digital display), everyone else seems to pass me easily.

however when i drive my parent's corolla, when i stay at 60, i prob over taking the rest of the ppl or at least a bit faster than general.

so i am a bit worried that my new honda speed display is not accurate, has anyone else notice something like that?

Mine too. I think like alot of cars, it's optimistic to discourage (actually) speeding. No big deal.

Bear in mind, there is always the chance that everyone that's passing you easily- could just be speeding within the 10% bracket which a lot of people follow.


2: fuel efficiency?

the offical fuel effciency is 7.2L/100km, this is combined value, hence country and city.

now, i have driven about 380km, but the tank is almost empty. (tank was full from dealer)

car is brand new, no loads at all, always single driver (me), constant road condition (work - home, home - work, exact 8km on daily bases)

any ideas? i have a rough guess, for now, its fuel efficiency is over 12L/100km

btw, full tank is 50L. (i took about 3 or 4 readings, when i was about reaching 180kms, the tank was half empty, when i was about 330km, the tank only has 5 blocks left, etc etc)

My Civic was like that too when it was new... using around 12-13L/100km; but now that I've passed the 5000 mark, even with quite spirited driving, I can get past the 300km mark before my tank meter is half full. From experience/experimentation, when the fuel low warning light comes on at 2 bars, there's still 7L in the tank (ie. 7/50, or 14%), yet the 2 bars, is considerably smaller than 14% of the meter. In conclusion, it takes a LOT longer to get the fuel meter to run out towards the end, than it does at the start (sorry for this piss poor wording/phrasing).


before someone suggest idel time, there is no idel time for me, i am on driving almost all the time except red lights (working time, 10am to 6pm, so no peak traffic at all). total 5-6 minutes for me to get to work place over 4k distance.

i am playing mp3 all the time, or on the radio, hardly ever touch A/C, just once because my screen was fogged up)

the interesting thing is on my civic, the light below icons of : "intake air from outside" and "air way" (ie, blowing to ur face or the feet etc) are always on, does that mean anything? i turned the fans off, A/C is off as well.

4km each way is probably insufficient to run in your new engine dude. Take it for a nice long drive on the weekend, try driving at varying speeds, etc... like on a motorway/freeway/drive to Wisemen's.

As for your air conditioning comment- I tried to use my friend's VTi's air cond and got somewhat confused... I think it's because I was pressing the buttons in the wrong section? *shrugs* Check the manual.

[JaCe]

BTW, I'd like to add that if you want to take advantage of the VTi's fuel saving features, then you have to learn to use light throttle. No heavy acceleration once you reach close to the speed limit. Just like cars with EGR, you have to use light throttle in order to engage 12v mode. Otherwise, you'd always engage vtec. LOL. In the VTi, vtec can engage at any rpm depending on throttle and engine load.

Sorry I'm a bit of a n00b- can you explain this "12v mode" thing to me? I understand the need to use light throttle, and also to prevent accelerating to hard when close to speed limit, but not sure what this 12v thing you're referring to is. I also wonder how to tell if I'm using Vtec or not- I'm guessing it's that sudden surge?

[EK9_boi]

Sorry I'm a bit of a n00b- can you explain this "12v mode" thing to me? I understand the need to use light throttle, and also to prevent accelerating to hard when close to speed limit, but not sure what this 12v thing you're referring to is. I also wonder how to tell if I'm using Vtec or not- I'm guessing it's that sudden surge?

This video explains everything - I know it's a repost but it helps heaps! :thumbsup:

http://world.honda.com/HDTV/news/2005-4050705a/index.html

cheers

[aaronng]

Sorry I'm a bit of a n00b- can you explain this "12v mode" thing to me? I understand the need to use light throttle, and also to prevent accelerating to hard when close to speed limit, but not sure what this 12v thing you're referring to is. I also wonder how to tell if I'm using Vtec or not- I'm guessing it's that sudden surge?
Hey, you've read my explanation here before: http://www.ozhonda.com/forum/showthread.php?t=45195&page=2

Edit: Fixed mistake
If you use light throttle, the engine runs with intake valve closure delayed into the compression phase. To swirl the intake mixture, one intake valve is opened with higher lift than the other valve.

The surge is from the dual stage intake manifold.

[Jazzle]

aaroong, ur explanation doesn't seem to be applying to the r18a engine.. it sounds more applicable to L series used in the jazz. the jazz has 12v mode to save petrol.

here is a very good explanation from world honda site.
it basically has a fuel efficient cam for low speed and constant speed cruising and a higher cam for high speed and acceleration.

http://world.honda.com/HDTV/news/2005-4050705a/

[aaronng]

aaroong, ur explanation doesn't seem to be applying to the r18a engine.. it sounds more applicable to L series used in the jazz. the jazz has 12v mode to save petrol.

here is a very good explanation from world honda site.
it basically has a fuel efficient cam for low speed and constant speed cruising and a higher cam for high speed and acceleration.

http://world.honda.com/HDTV/news/2005-4050705a/
Whoops, got confused there. Not 12v, but the closure of the intake valve is delayed until into the compression phase. You're right. 12v mode is for the L15.

[Diesmile]

sorry being a noob towards car techs, so is everyone suggesting drive at low rpm all the way until i hit speed limit or drive at high rpm then slow down until i hit speed limit?

thanks. maybe i need do a bit more research on my car's engine.

[JaCe]

How Odd... I thought I replied to this thread this morning. Anyhow, basically I said "what video" because there was no link before (ek9_boi), and I said "ahh thanks" to you aaron.

I think people were saying accelerate as you like- but if you're at the speed you want to travel at, then obviously, don't stomp your foot on the accelerator.

[Bob san]

Hi, first time here, so it is nice to see a honda forum.

Just started working this year, so planned to buy a car for quite a while. Being choosing around mazda 3, corolla and ford focus, but Honda civic finally won my heart.

Anyway, I purchased this 2006 hodna civic vti auto sedan less than 4 weeks ago, but I have already noticing some possible problems.

1: speed display seems got some problem

my concern is when i drive 60 (according to my digital display), everyone else seems to pass me easily.

however when i drive my parent's corolla, when i stay at 60, i prob over taking the rest of the ppl or at least a bit faster than general.

so i am a bit worried that my new honda speed display is not accurate, has anyone else notice something like that?

2: fuel efficiency?

the offical fuel effciency is 7.2L/100km, this is combined value, hence country and city.

now, i have driven about 380km, but the tank is almost empty. (tank was full from dealer)

car is brand new, no loads at all, always single driver (me), constant road condition (work - home, home - work, exact 8km on daily bases)

any ideas? i have a rough guess, for now, its fuel efficiency is over 12L/100km

btw, full tank is 50L. (i took about 3 or 4 readings, when i was about reaching 180kms, the tank was half empty, when i was about 330km, the tank only has 5 blocks left, etc etc)

.

Its normal for your fuel economy to be crap when u first pick up your car. you probably got bad fuel economy because everything inside your engine is still new, and also your dealer probably gave u some cheap 91 ron fuel :p

when i first picked up my car i felt the car too also had worst economy then expected. also the enigne response was sluggish and slow. now 3330 kms later the engine is settling in nicely and i always use optimax since it makes the car much more responsive compared to 91ron fuel.

lol it can't be 12L/100km. that means your fueling up as much as a commodore or a rotary.

[aaronng]

sorry being a noob towards car techs, so is everyone suggesting drive at low rpm all the way until i hit speed limit or drive at high rpm then slow down until i hit speed limit?

thanks. maybe i need do a bit more research on my car's engine.
It's not the RPM, it's the amount of accelerator you use. ;)

[Diesmile]

mm, doesn't acceleration is link to rpm? well, at least that's how i think of it. if i accelerate fast, then rpm will bump higher, if i accelerate slowly, then rpm will be low, am i wrong on this?

[aaronng]

mm, doesn't acceleration is link to rpm? well, at least that's how i think of it. if i accelerate fast, then rpm will bump higher, if i accelerate slowly, then rpm will be low, am i wrong on this?
Accelerator is linked to the amount of throttle opening and the amount of air getting in is linked to the amount of fuel that is sprayed into the manifold. Of course, in the VTi when at light throttle and low loads, it works differently by using more throttle opening than usual in combination to the late intake valve closure. Watch Jazzle's video. :)

In a manual car, you get different RPMs for the same accelerator position in different gears.

[dan125]

If you only drive 8 km,s a day you probably wont get close to fuel consumption sticker because your car is constantly running rich to get car up to operating temperature as quick as possible and still have drivability like it is hot.

[Diesmile]

the fuel consumption which honda had, did they use normal unlead fuel or 98 ron?

[davecash]

Hi guys, i hooked up a gps to the car today and i was generally going 4 or 5 kms under what the speedo indicated to me. Anyone else tried this and had a different variance?

[Diesmile]

i would say i am about at least 3-4k behind others, cos i have to drive 63 to keep a reasonable speed, so ppl can overtake me slowly

[Jazzle]

we have a member here called "buddah51au", he claimed that he achieved 6.7l/100km,, so maybe you can ask him for advices.

[yeehou]

we have a member here called "buddah51au", he claimed that he achieved 6.7l/100km,, so maybe you can ask him for advices.

Yeah got an email from him as well, claiming that he achieved 7.1l/100km

and full tank (normal unleaded) can easily go 600km per tank.

[aaronng]

Yup, I get 10.5L/100km in the city, 7.2L/100km on the highway. So with your R18a, you should be able to better my figures by a HUGE amount.