My First 3 Days With Civic Touring

[tacthecat]

Hello everyone and thanks for the response!

So now I'm about 250 miles with my Civic and as I'm learning more and more about this baby, there are things that I'm still wondering about though:

1) I've noticed that when I stop and I put my foot in the throttle gradually the RPM would go into about 1700 or so and when my foot is about halfway down, the RPM surges like crazy into the 3000 or so RPM. Is this normal? Sometimes it takes me by surprise especially when I have to brake so soon.

2) Speaking of brakes, I literally 80% of the time have to put my foot down on the brake. It really is that soft. I'm thinking of getting it checked out soon.

3) So my first tank of gas that originally came from the dealer lasted me only about 230 or so miles (range still had 20 miles left). I refilled her up today all the way (didn't top off though) at QT Premium and the range on the cluster only gives me about 320 or so miles. Either the size of the tank is considerably smaller than my 2015 Civic Coupe or I haven't broken it in yet. I was expecting around 450 or so miles. (According to the Drive Info, I'm getting around 32-35MPG combined)

Everything else is great!

Not sure about 1), for 2) Doesn't sound normal unless you've been braking hard before the brake pads are broken in. Take it to the dealer to check them out.
3) First tank is usually your worst mpg or miles to empty. Estimate to empty (ETE) is based on calculated mpg average for the just consumed tank. The 320 ETE won't go up as you drive but you'll likely get to the high 300s before you hit lo-fuel, and still have 1.5 - to 2.5 gallons left in the tank.

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[Jon Snow]

Definitely sounds like there is something wrong with your brakes. The brakes on my Touring are excellent and require little foot pressure to grip strongly.

As for the turbo lag or lack of acceleration, yeah, it doesn't do much at low speeds. But if you really need it, drive in Sport mode and when you want it to jump, really put your foot onto the floor with the accelerator. That helps wake it up faster that easing into it, I've found. Of course both of these things will cost you in gas milage, but there's always a tradeoff.

 

[Troy Jollimore]

You'll double *facepalm* when the standard turbos come out later this year. And yes, drive with more authoritative inputs to get the performance. I'm a smooth and steady driver myself, so it's hard to transition, but I'm seldom on a hurry these days. My brakes bite too hard as well... Very touchy.

When I test-drove both the Civic and Accord, a panic stop from 70mph made the cars feel like they 'corkscrewed' to the left slightly. No other make/model I drove felt the same. Anyone else notice this?

 

[dannys1]

Hello everyone and thanks for the response!

So now I'm about 250 miles with my Civic and as I'm learning more and more about this baby, there are things that I'm still wondering about though:

1) I've noticed that when I stop and I put my foot in the throttle gradually the RPM would go into about 1700 or so and when my foot is about halfway down, the RPM surges like crazy into the 3000 or so RPM. Is this normal? Sometimes it takes me by surprise especially when I have to brake so soon.

2) Speaking of brakes, I literally 80% of the time have to put my foot down on the brake. It really is that soft. I'm thinking of getting it checked out soon.

3) So my first tank of gas that originally came from the dealer lasted me only about 230 or so miles (range still had 20 miles left). I refilled her up today all the way (didn't top off though) at QT Premium and the range on the cluster only gives me about 320 or so miles. Either the size of the tank is considerably smaller than my 2015 Civic Coupe or I haven't broken it in yet. I was expecting around 450 or so miles. (According to the Drive Info, I'm getting around 32-35MPG combined)

Everything else is great!

i have an appointment with my dealer in quebec canada to fix the surging issue , theres a service bulletin for this , but i dont know if its your problem. my car was surging +- 300,400 rpm when cruising on highway. Need a software update for the cvt.

 

[Molatte]

Hello,

So I'm here to provide an update on my Civic. Now I have 548 or so miles on it and I've just filled up my tank for the second time. Here are some things that I've noticed.

1) Acceleration does seem better. I now have a better grip on the car's acceleration. It turns out that I have to rapidly hit the throttle instead of the smooth gradual method that I've always used. When I say rapid, I mean sudden. Not putting my foot all the way on the brakes, lol.

2) I have no idea about the surge but my surge is at low RPMs. Basically, from idle I would lightly tap on the throttle and when it gets to about 1500 or so RPM the turbo lag kind of disappears and I'm able to progressively accelerate all the way to 5500 RPM which would bring me to about..60-65mph ish? By the way, this is in D, not Sport. I've found the Sport mode to be totally laughable once I got the hang of this acceleration.

3) I have pitiful MPG. In city I get about 25-28mpg and in highways I only get a MAX of 35mpg
4) When the car is cold and I start it up, I can hear some kind of 'loose' noise from the engine. This is very difficult to prove because its happened on and off. But its there.
5) So I tried to compare my brakes with another Civic Touring (trim doesn't matter here lol). Guess what? It was VERY light and sensitive. I press on it gently guess what? It stops! But no. The shit salesman got on my car and test drove the car around the parking lot and he basically just slammed my brakes. He went from 30mph to 0 by slamming on the breaks to the point the tires just..dragged? I told him that the brakes were soft, not non-functional. Idiot.

6) I refilled my second tank and it still shows a range MAX of 328miles.

That's about it.

 

[tacthecat]

You'll double *facepalm* when the standard turbos come out later this year. And yes, drive with more authoritative inputs to get the performance. I'm a smooth and steady driver myself, so it's hard to transition, but I'm seldom on a hurry these days. My brakes bite too hard as well... Very touchy.

When I test-drove both the Civic and Accord, a panic stop from 70mph made the cars feel like they 'corkscrewed' to the left slightly. No other make/model I drove felt the same. Anyone else notice this?

Hopefully the cars you panic stopped were broken in demos - you'll kill the pads and diminish braking efficiency if you don't break them in first. The corkscrewing was likely the ABS kicking in before you skidded off the road. Our '12 Si brakes hit hard until we became use to them - and they work great.

 

[NorthernEX-T]

Hello,

So I'm here to provide an update on my Civic. Now I have 548 or so miles on it and I've just filled up my tank for the second time. Here are some things that I've noticed.

1) Acceleration does seem better. I now have a better grip on the car's acceleration. It turns out that I have to rapidly hit the throttle instead of the smooth gradual method that I've always used. When I say rapid, I mean sudden. Not putting my foot all the way on the brakes, lol.

2) I have no idea about the surge but my surge is at low RPMs. Basically, from idle I would lightly tap on the throttle and when it gets to about 1500 or so RPM the turbo lag kind of disappears and I'm able to progressively accelerate all the way to 5500 RPM which would bring me to about..60-65mph ish? By the way, this is in D, not Sport. I've found the Sport mode to be totally laughable once I got the hang of this acceleration.

3) I have pitiful MPG. In city I get about 25-28mpg and in highways I only get a MAX of 35mpg
4) When the car is cold and I start it up, I can hear some kind of 'loose' noise from the engine. This is very difficult to prove because its happened on and off. But its there.
5) So I tried to compare my brakes with another Civic Touring (trim doesn't matter here lol). Guess what? It was VERY light and sensitive. I press on it gently guess what? It stops! But no. The shit salesman got on my car and test drove the car around the parking lot and he basically just slammed my brakes. He went from 30mph to 0 by slamming on the breaks to the point the tires just..dragged? I told him that the brakes were soft, not non-functional. Idiot.

6) I refilled my second tank and it still shows a range MAX of 328miles.

That's about it.

1. Yeah the new CVT takes some getting used too, you'll get better at judging it, which will help your MPGs too.
2. Thats the way she works.
3. Be patient, your MPGs will improve, the car is still breaking in. And try and be easier on the throttle off the hop, you should be able to keep the rpm under 2000 and easily keep up with city traffic.
4. You might have the start-up issue; check out this thread and see if your car is making this grinding noise, gets interesting around page 20.. http://www.civicx.com/threads/strange-sound-at-startup.1304/
5. If your steering wheel shakes now when you brake, demand they replace your front rotors, he is an idiot for doing that..
6. It's based off your last mpg out of your tank, which was your first. The car improves a lot every tank until the 4-5th tank or so!

Hope that helps!

 

[Molatte]

Some more updates,

1) I notice that occasionally, while brake hold button is on and I put the car in reverse, the car seems to be stuck for a few seconds and just release. Very weird.
2) This might be the tires, but when I am accelerating with boost AND making a semi left turn, there seems to be a loss of grip.

My question is, since my Touring is at 650 or so miles and that's about breaking in period, what do I do? Do I just go to a dealer and request for an oil change? I very much like to complain about some of these gripes that I'm having. But I still love the car. <3

 

[Troy Jollimore]

Brake hold on an 'automatic' is a strange feature, and since it's electric there will be a slight pause before it disengages.

Same thing doesn't happen on right turns? But no, I wouldn't expect too much from the OEM tires.

You can make them change it whenever you want, but everything says to just wait until the car tells you it's time.

 

[Molatte]

Well today I took my Touring for a nice night cruising around the city and she seemed to be able to get 43.3 MPG on the highway. So I guess she's broken in now that she's at around 720 miles or so.

Oh yeah, I cracked my windshield from a pebble on the highway. FML. Going to try to go to my dealer tomorrow and see if they can do anything about it.

 

[MichaelC]

Oh yeah, I cracked my windshield from a pebble on the highway. FML. Going to try to go to my dealer tomorrow and see if they can do anything about it.

That sucks... happened to me too.

 

[Ben&Jen]

This is Honda's answer to "Conservative Sport", if I have coined an expression, to the credit. Honda is always been conservative to the point of loosing sales. This is a nice middle point in the need to fill a niche. I have the same car in Cosmic, and when I need to get into traffic or maneuver away from an issue, it is just enough to get the job done... I have a love-hate with my car, but only with petty issues that could have been prevented on the line. But I love the other factors, the sweet middle of a daily driver and a pseudo sports car.

 

[tacthecat]

Some more updates,

1) I notice that occasionally, while brake hold button is on and I put the car in reverse, the car seems to be stuck for a few seconds and just release. Very weird.
2) This might be the tires, but when I am accelerating with boost AND making a semi left turn, there seems to be a loss of grip.

My question is, since my Touring is at 650 or so miles and that's about breaking in period, what do I do? Do I just go to a dealer and request for an oil change? I very much like to complain about some of these gripes that I'm having. But I still love the car. <3

Brake hold works in forward or reverse, need to give it a little gas to get going.

 

[Civics4Ever]

Hope you didn't do any full throttle starts or get on it much before the first 600 miles. Since your at 750, did you try S mode on the trans? Car really goes then.

 

[Molatte]

Brake hold works in forward or reverse, need to give it a little gas to get going.

From what I know, brake-hold button will activate either in forward or reverse but it ONLY holds in anything that's not P or R. Every time I put the car in reverse, the hold sign doesn't show up and the car just moves around as you would normally. But there was a few odd moments where the car would be in reverse and it HOLDS but without the hold sign showing up. It'd just hold for a few seconds and you could feel something releasing ( I didn't press the gas to have it moved). Again, this is in reverse.

Hope you didn't do any full throttle starts or get on it much before the first 600 miles. Since your at 750, did you try S mode on the trans? Car really goes then.

I never got the itch to floor the throttle because I know I'd be disappointed with the results, lol. I've tried S mode before breaking it in and I wasn't pleased. So I never used it again. I figure that flooring the throttle halfway rapidly gets the car to downshift and from there the turbo would boost.

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