2004 HCH Owner

[misterme]

Hello AF Members:

I'm Steve, a new member.
I've had my CVT HCH since Jan 18 2004 (Funny I remember to date) and my first couple of tanks calculated to low 40's MPG, I've now driven it over 32,000 miles.
I averaged about 60MPG last summer and I'm managing ~57MPG this winter.
Trips to the store, etc with the wife & 3 kids along I usually do 49-56 on the dash.

This is my first Civic and really love it, haven't had any problems.

Anyway it is nice to be a member here and look forward.

[GScivic7]

It took me a while to figure out wtf a HCH was lol. I got one question, does the electric motor make any noise at all in that car?

[misterme]

Thanks GScivic7,
The electric motor makes no noise.
When you accellerate you can see the Assist gauge come up and feel the motor pull but is pretty much silent. If I hold it to the floor & get high RPM's it has a kind of whine to it, sort of like a jet winding up.
I'm not sure if that's the IMA, CVT or something else.

(IMA: Honda's Integrated Motor Assist (hybrid), CVT: Constant Velosity Transmission)

If I'm going above about 40MPH and activate the brake regen it has a quiet whine to it while generating that sounds similar to a transmission in a downshift.

You know, the engine even shuts off when the car is stopped.
As soon as you release the brake pedal it starts back up, seamless as if it had never stopped. Even then it makes no noise at all.
The IMA motor is directly coupled to the crankshaft and it is also the starter motor. It spins the engine to start at over 1,000RPM.
You don't get the cranking sound because there isn't any ring & pinion gears, no one-way bearings or solonoids etc as found in a regular starter.

There is, however a conventional starter that isn't normally used in case the IMA fails, or if it needs a jump start etc.

I also don't have an alternator or Power Steering pump.

[GScivic7]

that's cool. I had figured that there would some sort of whine when it came on. But it's silent, must be nice to have a car that you can barely hear.