Long Trip Report

[nicmartim]

Just got back from my first long trip in the 18 EX. Omaha to El Paso and back, approx. 2500 miles over the past week. Car performed flawlessly even loaded w/ me, the wife, the daughter and all our luggage and crap. Averaged really really good fuel mileage in the desert areas (40+ loaded) and could really tell when we got to lower altitudes as the MPG dropped into the upper 36's. Not afraid to take this car anywhere anytime now, really impressed w/ it for what it is. I did have the opportunity to drive my son's 1.5 hatch and, yes, it is much "sportier" than my old-man 2.0 sedan, but I like what I've got.

I have started noticing an "RPM flare" when shifting from Park to Reverse or Drive. It doesn't jerk the car but it's enough that it is noticeable. Seems to happen cold or warm and I'm fairly certain it was there before the trip, but being in the car so much over the past week made it seem more prominent I guess (??). Anyone else notice this? I had the CVT drained and filled by my local Honda dealer about 2 weeks before we left (@ 37k, now @ 40k).

Also, got the high beam flash a LOT while in the desert areas (usually by truckers) while running w/ just my low beams. I have the Katana LED replacement bulbs in and may have to figure out how to adjust them down a bit. I really like their light output, but don't want to be "that guy" on the highway either.

Photo of my sedan with my son's hatch in the background.

Sponsored

 

[BrandonSmith]

I'm a long-distance driver myself. On my 2016 2.0L sedan I have 135,000 miles in just under 5.5 years (40k miles/year since COVID started). I drive 2000 miles round trip at least once per month. This is a great car - no long-term reliability issues to worry about. I do all my own maintenance to the letter. I don't do any maintenance outside of what the maintenance minder tells me needs done.

You're most likely getting flashed by oncoming drivers because when you're loaded down, the rear suspension compresses and the headlights aim slightly higher. With the LED bulbs, it is much more noticeable to oncoming drivers.

I typically run 90mph on cruise out in the wide-open interstate (which makes up 1800 miles of my 2000 mile roundtrips) at sea level. I will average 34mpg at these speeds. When I am taking it a little slower, say 80mph on cruise, I will get 36mpg. Fuel octane does not impact fuel economy (for me). Ethanol-free seems to gain about 1-2mpg.

When the vehicle is cold (like sitting overnight, not temperature cold), there will be a momentary "rev hang" when shifting to reverse, and then it seems to thump into gear. As you said, it's not a bad thing where the car jerks, it's just noticeably going into gear. It becomes more prominent when temperatures drop, too.