"Glide Mode" Not Working

[ChiPri]

As of yesterday, I can no longer get the car to go into glide mode. I have an '06 and am quite familiar with the light touch on the gas pedal needed to get the car to go into "neutral." I took two 1 hour trips, and could only get arrows going in one direction or another no matter what I did. Is this I known bug? If it keeps up, I guess I'll just have to take the car to a dealer.

Thanks for any advice you have to offer...

[efusco]

Originally posted by ChiPri@Mar 25 2006, 09:59 PM
As of yesterday, I can no longer get the car to go into glide mode.  I have an '06 and am quite familiar with the light touch on the gas pedal needed to get the car to go into "neutral."  I took two 1 hour trips, and could only get arrows going in one direction or another no matter what I did.  Is this I known bug?  If it keeps up, I guess I'll just have to take the car to a dealer.

Thanks for any advice you have to offer...

[snapback]230287[/snapback]

Temp, speed of travel, conditions you tried to get into 'glide', your experience level with getting into glide, efforts you made to optimize conditions for getting into glide that failed. Was the AC on, the defrost, accidently in B-mode.

Fill in the blanks and maybe we can help.

[efusco]

Let me add a little...

1)Glide is very difficult the faster you're going. In fact, at over 40-41mph it's very difficult and often not possible at all. By the time you get to 60mph it's very rare and takes a very subtle experienced foot to achieve.

B/w 25-35mph it is difficult to get into as the ICE likes to continue to turn in all but the most specific conditions.

That leaves the speeds of 35-40mph. If the ICE is warm, AC not at MAX, no defrost, battery SOC is good and you feather the pedal the car will almost always go into an ICE-off glide. If you repeatedly tried to get into glide at those speeds and failed then there could be some small problem with your car. My bet is that it's fine and you were trying to get into a glide under undesirable conditions and the car was doing the right thing and preventing you from doing the wrong thing.

[ChiPri]

Thanks for your responses, Evan!

I was going various speeds. Heat was off and periodically low. No AC. Not in B mode. Temp outside was in the mid 30s. Although I've only had the car for three months, I've become very comfortable getting it into glide under these same conditions.

I'll see if it's working ok tomorrow... maybe it was just some freak thing. If it's still not working, I think I'll have to assume that something's wrong and take it in.

Thanks!

[usbseawolf2000]

Even on the highway, the same foot action is useful. I just look at the energy screen that shows 5 min interval chart... I am happy to see 100 mpg there and it is pretty efficient. I don't even flip to the other screen and check for the arrow.

Dennis

[Frank Hudon]

check and make sure that the Climate control isn't set to Auto and the outlets are not on windshield. Auto is the killer for sure.

[Bill Lumbergh]

What will you tell the technicians if you do bring it in? Is there a specific remedy for a car that continually charges or discharges, but won't operate in dead-band areas? My guess is that their tech data doesn't even cover such performance issues. What has your mileage been like lately?

I've worked for a dealer (Honda), and if an Insight owner had a similar complaint, we'd be hard pressed to find anything wrong with the car. This goes over double if there is no DTC stored.

I've noticed at temps similar to your's my car behaves far differently than it did on the few days we've had in the 40s recently. It's like anything that makes the icy road light come on also modifies how the car acts engine-wise.

I used to be extremely in tune with the cars I owned....now I just get in and go. I coast a lot to increase mileage, but on days where the car won't let me, I just forget about it and drive. Life's too short to worry about stuff like this.

[Wildkow]

The 06 AC has it's own electric motor so is AC on and Climate control in Auto mode still a killer?

Wildkow

[efusco]

Originally posted by Wildkow@Mar 26 2006, 01:16 AM
The 06 AC has it's own electric motor so is AC on and Climate control in Auto mode still a killer?

Wildkow

[snapback]230339[/snapback]

Yes, the electicity still comes from gas. It's output is regulated a bit better than it would be with a belt driven compressor, but it still is a big power drag on a relatively low power vehicle.

[DaveinOlyWA]

your temps are pretty cold. not saying that "stealth" is not possible. it is very possible, but the temps will push that possibility down a bit.

a positive grade, even a very slight one will also push the odds up.

a head wind can make a huge difference. a 15 mph headwind, well your car doesnt know you are doing 35 mph. to her, if feels like 50. not impossible under those circumstances, but definitely nudges the odds up.

i can pretty much garantee you (very difficult to really do sight unseen) that there is nothing wrong with your car.

wait till temps hits 50 and see what happens. i think you might find after 10 minutes on the road, you will not be able to keep it OUT of stealth even if you wanted to.

why would you want to?? thats easy to answer if you can answer the question of why anyone would want to climb Mt. Everest. the fact that one knows how to manipulate a parameter in their life means for the most part that they will want to and frequently will not have a good reason as to why.

but "good" reasons are subjective. if its ok with you, that is all that matters. also might want to consider an EV switch if its that important to you. on the latest mod for CANVIEW, we now have positive proof that forced EV mode will give you more power than being in regular stealth mode.

*edit*

read that last paragraph and realized i need to explain that last line.
we now have a throttle graphing function. on that graph is a "setpoint" for EV to ICE operation. stay below the setpoint (set at about 40% for stealth or glide mode) and you will stay in stealth as long as SOC supports it (still has to be about 45% or greater) exceed the set point and the ICE kicks in no matter what the SOC is.

BUT

if you have an EV switch, and force EV mode, the set point moves to about the 75% range. allowing stronger acceleration without going to ICE. i have, as others here, have always noticed forced EV worked like this, but now we can quantify and track the difference.

also... i hesistate mentioning this since the CANVIEW does not yet support the 06... so not meant as a tease, just FYI. but the EV switch is available.