Shot across the bow signaling the diesel invasion of America is about to begin.

Hi Jeff:

___About your earlier question(s). I have no idea about the binders in an E-Stop and you know me, that is the last thing I would be trying out The other questions. The review agreement I signed for this vehicle states I cannot allow others to drive it including family. If I had a week off, I would be glad to drive her down to your locale so you and Randall could have a peek but I unfortunately do not About those tires … My 95K mile Michelins look better then these with 4K + on them now!

___Al, owning CleanMPG, being a member of the APA for the past two years and writing up most of the articles, Autoshow press events, reviews and some news, (Eric led me down the proper path for all of this) here allows some rather unique access including the ability to test new vehicles for a week at a time with those I have setup so far. The Prius’ came from Cheryl because I could not wait for the 08’s from Toyota. I wanted to test a Prius-I for quite some time but knew of nobody that owned one other then Cheryl and Doug (DAS). Doug lives a little bit too far away but the future Toyota’s will come from Toyota themselves. The European iCDTi came through a Turbo-diesel ride and drive presentation sponsored by the APA and Honeywell Technologies in Detroit a few months ago. Driving out to Detroit every few months sucks but there are some of the best new automobile technology presentations available there. The car handling company is the one I was in direct contact with and God bless Ryan for allowing me the opportunity to drive the premier turbo-diesel in the world for a week is all I have to say!

___For the LA Autoshow Press event, Rich and I are planning on driving Route 66 from just south of Chicago to LA. We are working on taking a European sourced BMW 330D out for that week long excursion. The larger and even more performance oriented diesel review would be a great read with two hypermilers behind the wheel driving the mother road for maximum FE but there are no guarantees. We might be driving a TCH, an FEH or maybe just the Accord?

___ILAveo, they are in the black recesses. Here is a pic of the handles up close and the original from which it came.

Rear door handle.


Honda Civic iCDTi – in the drive side profile.​

___Good Luck

___Wayne

 

Hi 2TonJellyBean:

___This is more like an iCDTi blog then a review. The Accord has more leg room front and rear but it’s the drivers ergonomics that are better in this Civic then the Accord. There is enough room for maybe a 6’-5” individual with the seat all the way back and that should be plenty. It is narrower then the Accord by a way as well.

I have a lot to add for the full-blown review

___Mr. Bill, oh boy rowing the gears without fear of an accidental shift into R shift makes this thing a lot more fun now Thank you very much!

___I think the following needs little in the way of explanation and especially given the conditions

10 km of this was running at idle in 6th gear yielding ~ 2.7. I started a P&G routine afterwards and the numbers went through the roof! This included one 65 mph – 1 mile long blast as there are two places where I have to run the 65 mph limited Interstate to cross (2) rivers. 5 -15 mph headwind but fortunately, it had not started raining yet. I cannot wait to try this again tomorrow afternoon with no experimenting for the first 25% of the drive


Not the best pic but it shows the (6) ECO lights all lit, the iFCD at 2L/100 km, the radio info display, temp setting at Lo with fan maxxed in a hellacious downpour at 53 mph.


3:30 minutes with 25 miles of horrid stop and crawl. 12 – 21 degrees C with 5 – 15 mph headwind and a heavy downpour over ~ 55 km of this drive. Held onto 2.4 until O’Hare but the rain finally took its toll ​

___Good Luck

___Wayne

 

Wow! This is the car I've been most excited about in years! Wayne, those numbers are amazing! Besides, it looks great!

 

Hi All:

___A few more pics.

___She is spec’ed for 13.2 gallons but held 13.935. I guess there is no vapor recovery HW since diesel does not evaporate like gasoline?

2.8L/100 km after 1,890.3 km - 1,174.6 miles at 84.0 mpg per the FCD with 84.3 mpg calculated top off to top off.


After her fill at the B20 Biodiesel pump.


Annoying Low Fuel graphic inside the FCD and alongside the Empty at (0) Fuel gauge. Darn thing was popping up every time I cycled the FCD’s and info screens.


Yet another warning about low fuel. She went 175 miles beyond the low fuel light and 185 km beyond 0 DTE per the OEM FCD.



These will show up as News pics sometime ​

___A little warning about running a Diesel to fuel starve. Be prepared to pull a fuel line coupling to bleed the air build up and/or prime the low pressure fuel tank pump. Guess what I spent a portion of my afternoon doing



___Good Luck

___Wayne

 

Wayne - I'm very jealous. Hopefully I'll be able to sample this engine for myself in a couple years. How are the sound levels out of that engine? I was in Europe for a couple weeks a month ago and kept my eyes and ears open but never saw an i-CTDi while I was walking around. BMW's and even the cheap French diesels were far quieter than any VW TDI I've encountered though so I imagine the Honda will be similar? A video with you talking while the engine is on would be great if you have the time and resources.

Has anybody mentioned any concerns to you about the turbo FAS'ing at higher speeds? Diesels have lower exhaust gas temperatures than gas engines but people in the know with TDI's still seem to recommend a minute or two of city speed driving after coming off highways before shutting the engine town, in order to let the turbo cool.

I don't know why this is but modern diesel ECU's seem to be programmed to try to keep the engine from stalling when RPM's drop. My car does the same thing, it can be run through the gears to 5th without touching the accelerator. I wish gas cars could be programmed do the same.

Regarding the weak HVAC system, try hitting the recirculate button if there is one. In my car, that seems to turn on a second fan and gives a good boost in airflow. That might be how things work in European cars for some reason. I don't think it would do much for your defrosting / defogging though.

 

I am pretty sure diesel fuel pumps are designed to use the natural lubricity that diesel fuel has so it's probably not good for the pump to run without fuel. The engine will likely stall soon afterwards though so damage would be limited by my guess -- but others may have more insight into this than me.

Diesel fuel seems to come in an array of interesting colors. I've seen blue, green, and yellowish like gasoline. I have no idea why it's like that.

 

Hi Sefton:

___The iCDTi is very quiet from the outside although I only let it run for less then 2 minutes when priming the low pressure fuel pump yesterday. You can easily have a standard conversation with it idling in the background. Not as quiet as a gas only vehicle given you cannot hear some of those idling even when they are running, but quiet enough not to have to raise you voice when talking to someone standing right next to the iCDTi. From inside, the only time you hear the 2.2L is during an accel from very low RPM’s when she clatter’s a touch. At speed, you don’t hear her at all.

___FAS’ing from any speed with a TDI may be a no-no given it is in at least the 04 Jetta TDI manual to let it idle for a 30 or so seconds. I was speaking to a technology lead of Honeywell about the latest Euro diesel turbo’s and how the average driver treats them. Do they shut them down when they arrive home or do they let the turbo spool down while idling for a few seconds first? He said everyone he knows including him and his wife just shut them down and Honeywell was not having warranty issues with the 7.5 million they have on the road overseas.

___Strange about the ability to bring the diesels all the way up through the gears while idling, isn’t it? I can bring her up through 6th and never touch the accelerator although that is not the most efficient way to bring her up to temp or for MAX FE in my limited experience.

___The Fan while in recirc does indeed add a whole lot more CFM but its recirc and that is the last thing I would be using other then if I were running A/C Thank you for the tip!

___Sean, I only run the first tanks dry to come up with a total tank cap, how many gallons are left at the low fuel light or low fuel warning initiation, ~how far you can drive at a given FE before you run dry nad to calibrate the OEM FCD’s or a SG-II. I just missed a hill top and lost the prime with one more start trying to get over the crest less then 2 blocks from the station. The 1.999 gallon of B20 in the fuel container did not allow the prime so I pushed her into the stations lot and topped her off. It still wasn’t enough A local mechanic had a crescent wrench and we pulled a fuel coupling into the common rail. Once that thing was solid, connected her back up and she was good as new. I would never run without fuel on the pack in a hybrid or try and accelerate once she hits starve in a diesel or non-hybrid gasser today. There is just no point but I missed that short hill and got stupid

___The first diesel fill was in Birmingham, MI. from a Sunoco. It was straight Diesel #2 with a medium blue color. The B20 I filled her up with yesterday had a slight green and blue tint to it.

___ILAveo, yup. The red dyed non-road taxed diesel stuff (low sulfur heating oil) is what some of the F-250 and larger PowerStroke types are taking their chances with given what I know about it today

___A nice commute home tonight … 21 – 26 degrees C with a 5 – 10 mph tail wind yielded the following.

Not quite to the Insight level at MAX FE but she is getting closer. 138.3 mpg after 23 miles from the training center to the Interstate.


112.0 mpg for the drive home this evening.


This last tank is still holding at 94.x mpg’s after 294 miles.​

___Good Luck

___Wayne