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Car Forum / Honda Cars / July 2005civic acceleration question
I have a '96 civic EX auto with 130K miles on it. While pressing on the gas pedal from a standstill, the car accelerates fine. However, while cruising around 60mph, I slow down to 30mph by braking and then quickly press on the gas. I noticed that the car seems to respond very slowly. Meaning that no matter how hard I press on the gas, it takes its own sweet time. Is the car behaving normally? Or could there be some problem (other than the driver)? Thanks for the help. > I have a '96 civic EX auto with 130K miles on it. While pressing on > the gas pedal from a standstill, the car accelerates fine. However, [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Thanks for the help. ------------------- You are saying your automatic tranny isn't downshifting to compensate for the lower speed? If it's a manual tranny, gear down. Read the manual about the allowable rev / speeds for each gear. You can rev the heck out of it. 'Curly' Assuming it's not a transmission defect (and it doesn't sound like one), your right food need to be heavy enough on the accelerator, to induce a downshift. The downshift should be noticeable since it'll probably skip down two gears (which is not a wise move if you've got jittery passengers). Otherwise, you'll just have to put up with the lackluster power at the low rpms (..what do you expect from a 1.6L engine that loaded down with an auto tranny?). The standard transmission does a much better job at simulating a big displacement engine (...displacement equates to more torque which means more power for passing without having to downshift) because of the ability to manually select the appropriate gears (and usually there is more gears to work with). The 'Tiptronic' is clutchless solution that allows for manual shifting, but there's only a few good ones out there (VW's DSG transmission promises to be above average). Contrary to general consensus, I still feel a manual transmission on a small car is a better setup then a 'clutchless shift', but only on the streets (appose to the racetrack where is necessary to rapidly brake and downshift at the same time) Pars > I have a '96 civic EX auto with 130K miles on it. While pressing on > the gas pedal from a standstill, the car accelerates fine. However, [quoted text clipped - 6 lines] > > Thanks for the help. > Assuming it's not a transmission defect (and it doesn't sound like one), > your right food need to be heavy enough on the accelerator, to induce a [quoted text clipped - 3 lines] > rpms (..what do you expect from a 1.6L engine that loaded down with an auto > tranny?). dude, you're pretty down on the auto aren't you? thing is, with the honda transmission at any rate, there's really not much "loss" once the lockup clutch is engaged. the torque converter is lighter than some standard flywheels, so there's no "loss" there. the gears are not "lossy" planetary gears like most automatics - they're basically the same as a standard transmission, only with a clutch pack replacing the synchro. the only place where there is "loss" is in the oil pump, but even then, with electronic [solenoid] control, there's not a huge problem there either. this shows in the fuel consumption figures, especially for the newer automatics with better electronic control of their shift patterns. there /is/ for most people, a difference in performance, but again, that's more a function of shift pattern than suffering the effect of "loss". with the older versions, you can adjust the throttle cable to give a much more sporty shift and to ensure it red lines before shifting [you /must/ floor the pedal]. with the post 99's, it'll red line without flooring, depending on what it learns of your shifting preferences. > The standard transmission does a much better job at simulating a big > displacement engine (...displacement equates to more torque which means more [quoted text clipped - 19 lines] >> >>Thanks for the help. > > Assuming it's not a transmission defect (and it doesn't sound like one), > > your right food need to be heavy enough on the accelerator, to induce a [quoted text clipped - 15 lines] > especially for the newer automatics with better electronic control of > their shift patterns. I respect the fact that the newer auto transmissions are more efficient (and smarter) than the older ones. But, they take away a degree of control that can only be had from a manual system. I currently have two 96-00 Civics (same model) but one is an Automatic and the other is Standard. I feel crippled when I'm driving the Automatic. On those rare occasions, when I force myself into the Automatic, it's because I plan on getting wasted (or similarly crippled...), in which case my wife (who doesn't drive Standard) would be the designated driver. Also, I've noticed that my Standard equipped car returns better mileage then the posted rates, while the Automatic is hard pressed to simulate the mileage rating posted by the manufactures. Pars > there /is/ for most people, a difference in performance, but again, > that's more a function of shift pattern than suffering the effect of [quoted text clipped - 26 lines] > >> > >>Thanks for the help. > Assuming it's not a transmission defect (and it doesn't sound like > one), your right food need to be heavy enough on the accelerator, to > induce a downshift. One thing I've seen is bunched-up floor mats, or mats that are too thick. If the floor mats have bunched up thick enough, they can prevent the pedal from being pushed down far enough to induce a downshift. This is also a safety issue, as the gas pedal can become hooked under the bunches and stick on.  SignatureTeGGeR® The Unofficial Honda/Acura FAQ www.tegger.com/hondafaq/ On 7/6/05 12:37 PM, in article 1120671421.763968.173150@g14g2000cwa.googlegroups.com, "Ritesh" <rap1973@hotmail.com> wrote: > I have a '96 civic EX auto with 130K miles on it. While pressing on > the gas pedal from a standstill, the car accelerates fine. However, [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Thanks for the help. The transmission is not downshifting enough. Most automatics have a range where they just don't respond the way you want, either they give too much, or not enough. The automatic they used in '96 is optimized to stay in the higher gear too long (for mileage). Try moving the selector to D3 when you do this and you will get more response out of it. > I have a '96 civic EX auto with 130K miles on it. While pressing on > the gas pedal from a standstill, the car accelerates fine. However, [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > > Thanks for the help. My 2005 Accord Hybrid does the same thing. Takes it one to two seconds to downshift from 5th to 3rd. The speedometer actually drops sometimes when I stomp on the gas. I don't think Honda makes very good automatics. |
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