Quote Originally Posted by aaronng View Post
It's a safety thing in case you need to accelerate in an emergency

This is for better fuel consumption

You can use "M" as long as you don't rev the engine up high if it is cold. After it has warmed up, whether you want to rev it while the engine is still new is up to you. I hit 7000rpm in the 1st week of ownership.

Let it warm up for about 30 seconds to let the oil circulate and then drive off gently using light throttle and don't exceed 3000rpm if you can without lugging the engine. After it has warmed up during driving, you can use more throttle and higher revs. It's not good to let the engine idle away for a long time to warm up because it wastes fuel, warms up slower and also glazes the bores of a new engine.

You can't really slowly shift gears if your car is an auto.

As soon as you see bird shit on your paint, spray water on it from a spray bottle to get ALL the shit off. The Euro's paint is very fragile and thin. If you plan to drive on long trips on the highway or interstate, I recommend you get those protective films for your headlights, bumper and bonnet. The paint is very soft and thin. My car is full of paint chips from my interstate trips.

If you haven't done servicing yourself before and you are not ready for the largish initial cash outlay for a jack, jackstands, tools and the time to learn, then just service your car at the dealer. I don't use Honda oil, I use either Castrol Edge 5w-30, 0w-40 or Motul 8100 5w-40. I recommend you stick to Honda oil or an equivalent mineral oil for the first 10,000km though.

Just look at the coolant overflow bottle when your engine is warm and it should be near the max level. When the engine is cold, it should be about 1-2 cm below max. You don't add water for your coolant, you need the proper Honda coolant. You won't have to add any unless you have a problem with your engine though. Check your oil every 1000km that you drive. You can check it when it is cold or after driving by waiting about 5 minutes for the oil to drain back down. You level should be at the max dot or up to 1cm above max. If it is below max, I recommend you add a little bit of oil. Between the min to max dots, it is about 1 litre of oil, so you don't have to add too much. You can run the car down to the min dot and it should be fine if you are not the kind to rev your engine up to 7300rpm all the time.
Can't explain any better than that

On a side note, it is not advisable to baby your engine, as it will be basically "under developed" in terms of power. Give it a VTEC every now and then, but make sure you only do that when your engine is properly warmed up (i.e., your engine has reached its optimum temp for at least 5 minutes). This will also help prevent damage (or blockage?) of the sollenoid (spelling?).