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Whats the real explanation for the ECON button?

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24K views 22 replies 15 participants last post by  scottyrocks  
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#1 · (Edited)
Just took delivery of a 2014 EX Sedan. I am hearing to many scenarios. So do I keep it on all the time? I drive 80% hwy and 20% city to and from work everyday.
 
#4 · (Edited)
I leave mine off,it seems to change the Drive by wire throttle plate position and shift points on the automatic.YRMV I can get the same MPG on or off.


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#6 ·
Leave it off. Unless you're into snail-like acceleration.

And welcome to 9th gen.
 
#7 ·
No offense to anyone but to me the Econ button is a dumb dumb button for persons unable to control their fine "motor"skills.


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#8 ·
I've never used it until this past week, and I did actually notice my MPG go up a couple, but it really limited my acceleration

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#9 ·
The ECON button helps improve your MPG. Honda's CVT transmissions have two pully's that expand and contract linked by a metal chain. The expansion and contraction of the pully's constantly change the gear ratio to keep you within an optimum rpm range based on your driving. When the ECON mode is on it lowers the Air Conditioning(less draw on the engine) and it changes gear ratios to be less aggressive for an improvement in MPG. I work for a Honda Dealership in Florida and specialize in new car sales.
 
#10 · (Edited)
The Econ button is stupid, There could have been something much better put where the econ button is, Like a boost button. they put a boost button in the crz, why not the civic.

To answer the question, I really have no idea, I ran it once through a full tank of gas, I only noticed a loss in power, no gains in gas mileage.
 
#22 ·
It's nothing too fancy and most of what it does could be done manually with greater effect, but it's a good tool for people getting started with hypermiling. First, it changes the damping on your throttle map. Where pushing the pedal down halfway in normal mode would open the throttle play 50%, in econ mode it's more like 25-30%. Second, it adjust shift points in an auto or gear ratios in a CVT to keep RPMs down (only a little bit, though). Third, it dicks around with the way your A/C works, so it's not polar cold, but still pretty cool. Fourth, it changes the way your car responds to elevation changes with cruise control on (it will float about plus or minus 3 mph from the set point in ECON mode depending on whether you're going downhill or uphill).

It's not a game changer by any stretch of the imagination and the handful of cars I've driven with it (Civic, CRZ, ILX Hybrid, TLX, CRZ, CRV) have only seen marginal gains in mpg (like 0.3-0.5, which is difficult to attribute just to ECON being on, statistically speaking). Mostly, it's just annoying and makes it hard to go through stop signs at busy intersections... I much prefer to keep the throttle map where it should be and manually control my A/C and set my own speed variance for hills depending on how high they are instead of just basing the decision on engine load.
 
#13 ·
If you're looking for theory, then the discussion can go on endlessly.

If you're looking for results, however, the best way to make a decision is to do the drill yourself. Drive a couple of tanks with it on, and a couple with it off. It didn't take me long to know that ECON on makes my car move like a snail. And I wasn't saving much, if any at all, fuel. Not for me.
 
#15 · (Edited)
It could say sport button on it when turned off.I just contacted graphic xpressions and ordered 5 red 5 blue.


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#17 ·
We've been driving Black Betty with ECON on because we do mostly city driving, so the reduced performance of the ECON maps isn't noticeable. It does seem to help with mpg in the city. I turn it off when we do highway trips. I also find that ECON & cruise control don't work well together. It causes the speed regulation to be more erratic so there is more throttle jockeying and highway mileage is actually reduced a bit. Black Betty has the old 5AT, and I'm sure the programming is much different with the CVT. Remember YMMV, so try it and see what it does, or doesn't, do for you.
 
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#20 ·
My ECON button works exactly as designed to increase mileage. If you look up the four changes it makes to the car it has to work unless you over-ride the programming by having a need to always take off fast. You bought an economy car. Let it work. Mine does.
 
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#23 ·
I drove mine when I got it with econ both on and off, and since then it's always been off. The car is an absolute dog with it on.
 
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