I bought a new 2006 Civic EX automatic. I love it but there is a problem: When I come to a rolling stop at a stop sign and then accelerate (not gunning it) the car seems to hesitate for a fraction of a second, then drops heavily into 1st gear. I took it to the dealership and they basically said, "don't come to a rolling stop". (Thanks for the advice, dad) They suggested that the computer that determines the shift points hasn't "learned" my driving style yet and assumes that, when the car decelerates to 2-3 mph, it is coming to a complete stop and goes into neutral. The hard shifting never happens if I come to a complete stop, only when I roll.

Is anyone else having the same problem? Does anyone have experience getting it fixed?

Thanks!

 

Well, I don't have the automatic, I bought the manual, but, the dealer does have a point with the control unit (read computer) learning your driving style. It may be something that will get better with time. Then again, you may simply be putting the system (with the rolling stops) at a point where it's having a problem deciding which gear is the best one to be in. "Should I be in 1st or 2nd at this point?" My guess it that you're going "just" fast enough for it to tend toward 2nd gear but when you accelerate away, you're pushing the throttle hard enough to force the downshift. Remember that Honda is selling this car primarily as an economy car and they're probably programming the transmission to be biased toward the higher gears for the sake of better fuel consumption. Try going a "little" easier on the gas when departing that rolling stop and see what happens. I'll bet it does a lot better.

Also, the only time an automatic will go to neutral is when you put it there with the gear shift. If it's in "D"rive, it'll be in one gear or another depending on how you're driving the car. I test drove both the MT and AT models before making a decision. I was very impressed with the AT. It was very smooth and seemed to shift at appropriate times but I thought the MT was more fun so that's what I went with. I never experienced anything like what you're describing but I didn't do any rolling stops either!

Good luck,
Steve R.

 

I have an 06 EX w/navi, and only thing I don't like is that it seems to down shift to 4th to easy, bringing my MPG from 32 in the city to 25. , Is there any way to adjust the shift point.

 

Drive-by-wire throttle response.

the computer determines your acceleration.

 

I'm afraid not. Honda sets those parameters when they build and design the car. The dealer has no way to adjust it.

As I said above, I drove both the manual and automatic versions before making a decision on which one to buy. One of the main things I noticed is that the automatic was running about 600 to 700 rpms slower in top gear at 70 mph. The manual is running about 3000 rpm while the automatic was running about 2300 to 2400 rpm's. That's the reason the automatic is EPA'd at 40 mpg on the highway while the manual is EPA'd at only 38 mpg. The positive aspect of the higher gearing is better fuel economy on a road trip. The downside is, when you need to accelerate, it's probably going to drop a gear to do it. I imagine that you're car seems to drop a gear when you go up hills or overpasses too? Most of the time, that's the lock-up torque converter letting go. It's not an actual downshift from 5th gear to 4th gear. Either way, it's an increase in rpms that going to cost you some fuel economy too.

Bottom line is, and I know you're not going to want to hear this, you need to learn to be lighter on the gas peddle if you want to get that 32 mpg again!

Good luck & Drive Safe,
Steve R.

PS: Drbyers - the driver still determins how fast the car accelerates by how hard they push down on the gas peddle. It's just that the computer determines what to do with the actual throttle butterfly on the engine to do it! From what I've read, it really works well for a lot of cars out there but so far, I'm not that impressed with the feel of the system on my Civic, but I'm getting used to it!

 

I've read (i think on this forum) that Honda is flashing the 06 PCMs to correct a driveability problem with the drive by wire.

 

Yeah, I've seen that too but as I recall, it was just a speculation and not confirmed as a fact, yet! I hope it is. Sometimes the DBW on my manual transmissioned car seems a bit dead. By that I mean, it doesn't have much feel and sometimes I have trouble modulating the throttle, especially when starting froma dead stop. I either wind up lugging the engine or reving it to 3000 rpms! [sm=headbang.gif] Beyond that, I don't have much to complain about drivability.

Drive Safe,
Steve R.