Another dumb question about drive modes

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I used Sport mode for the first time today based on advice from an earlier post. All I have to say is WOW - the car was so much more fun to drive and I did not see any difference in battery draw nor did the ICE kick in under fairly aggressive acceleration. Further, I was pleasantly surprised to see that my favorite regen setting remained engaged the entire time. I plan to use Sport mode every day from here on out.
 
Eddgie said:
I agree that some percentage of people do this when driving a Clarity, but many now driving Clarity cars have moved up from other Hybrids.

The Clarity is my third "hybrid". My first was a first generation Honda Insight, my second was a Gen 3 Prius, and now the Clarity.

My gut tell me that many people that came into Clarity with a hybrid ownership were already familiar with regen and good driving practice, which in the Insight and Toyota was to avoid as much braking as possible. Fuel economy is mostly an exercise in conservation of momentum, and the more you learn to anticipate stops or traffic and coast as much as possible, the more range you get. I don't think I have ever driven the Clarity that I did not easily beat the EPA electric only range. I am watching two stop-lights ahead and i take my foot off of the gas the instant I see a yellow light ahead.
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I had to respond just to say ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^!
 
Am I in the minority in liking how the regen does not stay locked in during Econ mode? I find 4 chevrons to be excessive most of the time. If I'm needing to slow down that much, I just use the pedal. I use the paddles for more gradual changes in speed, which I had assumed to be their intended function, based on how they operate in Econ mode. I have gotten MUCH better at anticipating changes in speed and not blazing off the line from a dead stop, and find the paddles to be the perfect tool for adjusting speed without using the brakes.

Do the people who want the regen locked use the paddles more as a brake alternative vs. minor speed control?
 
ozy said:
Hi Everyone,
I'm a new owner of a Clarity and have done a lot of reading about the various drive modes. I don't want to rehash old stuff but I understand the basics ie: Eco mode for around the town, HV on freeways, HV charge when on freeway and low on battery.
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Just want to point out that there’s no need to use HV charge mode unless you anticipate a steep, prolonged incline later in your drive.
 
RogerB said:
Am I in the minority in liking how the regen does not stay locked in during Econ mode? I find 4 chevrons to be excessive most of the time. If I'm needing to slow down that much, I just use the pedal. I use the paddles for more gradual changes in speed, which I had assumed to be their intended function, based on how they operate in Econ mode. I have gotten MUCH better at anticipating changes in speed and not blazing off the line from a dead stop, and find the paddles to be the perfect tool for adjusting speed without using the brakes.

Do the people who want the regen locked use the paddles more as a brake alternative vs. minor speed control?
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You're probably in the minority but I prefer it that way too. We don't get single pedal driving at all (that's when the car actually comes to a full stop in regen mode), so I prefer to have the paddle regen disengage on its own.
 
For spirited trips in the twisties, I’m preferring SPORT mode and 4-chevron regen. It seems to emulate downshifting, which I’m used to doing in our 5-speed Element. Most curves can be slowed down for just by lifting off the gas and feathering the regen that way.

Still deciding on how to handle city driving. The above mode works OK, but so does ECON combined with the paddles to control deceleration.

As an aside, a friend with a new Ridgeline suggested using LKAS on curvy roads. I tried it, and you can stay in full control of steering while the LKAS seems to boost the power steering at the right times when it can “see” the lane markings and you’re above 45 mph (I think).
 
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RogerB said:
Am I in the minority in liking how the regen does not stay locked in during Econ mode?
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Most of the time I want the regen selection to cancel itself the way it does in ECON Mode. However, I'd like an optional way to get the regen selection to stay on in ECON Mode, the way it does in SPORT Mode.

However, my greater desire is for an optional way to get HV Mode to remain engaged after I turn off our Clarity. It's stress-inducing to suddenly notice you've been gobbling up EV miles on a long trip because you forgot to re-engage HV Mode after stopping for a bathroom break.
 
insightman said:
However, my greater desire is for an optional way to get HV Mode to remain engaged after I turn off our Clarity. It's stress-inducing to suddenly notice you've been gobbling up EV miles on a long trip because you forgot to re-engage HV Mode after stopping for a bathroom break.
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Pilots, and more recently surgeons, utilize checklist to make sure nothing is missed.

Might be silly, but how about something like this, laminated and placed somewhere on the console:

32673317468_4de785947b.jpg


Modified “as desired” of course!
 
ClarityChris said:
Judging from all of these discussions, I can only conclude that they engineers have over-complicated the design.
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Many of us wish for more complication (as noted in the post before yours), to enable us to customize the Clarity for our particular desires. However the engineers did create a Clarity that anyone can drive without worrying about complications. A few posters on this forum rarely ever plug in their Claritys--they just get in and drive.
 
RogerB said:
Am I in the minority in liking how the regen does not stay locked in during Econ mode? I find 4 chevrons to be excessive most of the time. If I'm needing to slow down that much, I just use the pedal. I use the paddles for more gradual changes in speed, which I had assumed to be their intended function, based on how they operate in Econ mode. I have gotten MUCH better at anticipating changes in speed and not blazing off the line from a dead stop, and find the paddles to be the perfect tool for adjusting speed without using the brakes.

Do the people who want the regen locked use the paddles more as a brake alternative vs. minor speed control?
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Yes.

If there was another way to alter the amount of regen normally done other than the paddles, then the paddles working the way they are now would be fine. So, if there was a way to set the amount of regen by a button or menu, that would be great, allowing the driver to add or subtract regen at will by using the paddles would make a lot more sense.
 
insightman said:
If there is no car behind me when I see a light turn red ahead of me, I lift off the accelerator immediately, hoping the default regen will slow me enough so that I never have to touch the brakes before the light turns green. For stop signs, I try to gauge how close I can get before pulling the left paddle 3 times will bring the car nearly to a stop just before the sign.
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Why do you check for cars behind you?
It's a red light, what are they going to do?
If we all have to stop, we can roll up to the light like gentlemen and without skid marks.
 
Atkinson said:
Why do you check for cars behind you?
It's a red light, what are they going to do?
If we all have to stop, we can roll up to the light like gentlemen and without skid marks.
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Years of hypermiling in my Insight have taught me that people don't appreciate my assistance in saving their gas and/or brake linings. More than once, a car has pulled to within inches of my rear bumper in an effort to get me to speed up as I approach the stopped car in front of me. When this happened, I used to slow down even more to "teach them a lesson," but now I grudgingly speed up a little to make them happy.
 
rodeknyt said:
The car won't accept full regen on a full battery. If you try maxing out with the paddles on a full battery, the engine will start for some mysterious method Honda came up with the bleed excess regen to protect the battery from overcharging.

If you are driving down a steep hill at high speed, even without a full battery, the car often will not accept full regen, stopping at three chevrons...again to protect the battery from excessive input.
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This turned out to be absolutely correct. Today I crawled out of my house with a fully charged battery and a nice warm day. I put the car in sports mode and activated 4 chevrons on the regen braking. Right away I noticed that the chevrons kept blinking and switching back down to 2 and 3. This was not so much of a problem until the ICE sudenly turned on and stayed on. So I've learned that I can't use regen braking when the car is fully charged. That's a bit of a shame because I really enjoy using it when I drive around town (which I tend to do with a full battery)
 
I wouldn't say it's a shame. It's simple science.

Just discharge the battery a bit (blast the climate system, do a couple jackrabbit starts, etc.) and you can merrily go around regen braking to your heart's content.
 
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