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Sedans Honda Accord 2008 Honda Accord VCM
1801 messages, Last post on Aug 19, 2008 at 4:31 AM
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Replying to: roy21 (Jul 14, 2008 5:11 am) American Honda Motor Co., Inc. Honda Automobile Customer Service 1919 Torrance Boulevard Mail Stop: 500 - 2N - 7D Torrance, CA 90501-2746 Re: 2008 Honda Accord EXL V6/VCM 1HGCP36878A021*** Dear American Honda: I have owned over a dozen Honda and Acura cars since our first 1981 Accord 4 door sedan, and out over 400,000 miles on them. In addition our son bought and drives a 2007 Accord V6 because of our experiences and his own with the 1990 Legend V6 we had bought for him. In all the years of ownership I have NEVER had the occasion to complain about the cars – they have consistently been GREAT, reliable, economical performers that have safely transported our family almost 400,000 miles without injury, breakdown, serious mechanical failure despite one accident in which the ’88 Legend was totaled and my wife and kids unhurt. I have previously written letters to Acura extolling the virtues of its cars. It saddens me that after all these years of devotion and loyalty, I would buy the ’08 Accord EXL V6, promised that the VCM was “completely seamless and unnoticeable” only to find that it is absolutely NOT – it constantly “surges” at highway speeds, even on cruise, to the extent that it makes my wife ill. Coupled with the “grade logic” transmission, at 65 on cruise control when going downhill, the car downshifted with such ferocity that my wife and I in the front, and my son and his wife in the rear seat, were thrown violently into our shoulder harnesses while the “grade logic” coupled with the cruise control, attempted to maintain a ‘steady” speed. This drive train is unlike any other Honda I have ever driven – and will be my last unless something is done to address this problem. It is the most herky, jerky uncivilized drive train I have ever experienced in a car - and I have owned many other brands, engine types, transmissions, etc. I know I am not alone in my assessment. There is a whole forum about the Accord VCM at golfrski, "2008 Honda Accord VCM" #1, 1 Nov 2007 7:42 pm Let me quote Honda’s website on the operation of the VCM: “The transition between the three operating modes is completely seamless and goes unnoticed by the Accord’s passengers.” Really?? Aside from the many posts on car space, allow me to quote some road tests: January25, 2008 Wall Street Journal reviewer: "... the Accord was fitted with a 268-horsepower, 3.5-liter V6 with what Honda calls Variable Cylinder Management. This technology is designed to boost fuel economy by allowing the six-cylinder engine to run on just three or four cylinders when full power isn't needed. It works almost seamlessly, but in this case, "almost" isn't good enough. During highway driving with the cruise control on I could feel a slight vibration when the engine switched from three- to four- to six-cylinder mode, which it does often, a downright maddening behavior. That the Accord managed only 22 miles per gallon during my testing ... only made this all the more annoJanuary25, 2008 Wall Street Journal reviewer: AutoWeek 8/21/07 “When driving the multi-cylinder deactivation V6, we did detect a hybrid-like torque on/torque off feel when cruising at 60 or 70 mph when under slight throttle(at about 2000 to 2500 RPM). Because the green “ECO” indicator was illuminated, showing that the engine was running in fuel saving economy mode, we were no doubt picking up the engine cycling between four and three cylinder modes.” USA Today 8/24/07 “If you step up too the V6 model, you’ll get blazing engine performance but rougher down shifting than in the 4 cylinder cars. Also a sensitive driver can feel the V6 go through its multi cylinder transitions.” Motor Trend October 2007 This article was all speculation. When the car was actually comparison tested against the Camry, Malibu and Sentra it came in third place. http://www.epinions.com/content_403535007364 Noise cancellation technology eliminates the odd noises produced by a V6 running on three or four cylinders. The transitions cannot be heard or felt--to know which mode the engine is in, it's generally necessary to rely on the "ECO" light. That said, early in my test drive of the V6 I did notice a low frequency thrumming when cruising around 60 miles per hour. And the sunroof was closed. At first I wondered if this might be a by-product of the noise cancellation. But the noise eventually faded away, so I now suspect the tires. If the noise was endemic to the design, many people would find it too irritating to live with. http://www.web2carz.com/6596/2008/Honda/Accord/reviews/driving-performance Like GM and Chrysler systems designed to save gas on big V8s, VCM changes the number of engine cylinders working at any given time and load to save fuel. The previous example switched off three cylinders (half the V6) when they weren't needed, but this new one changes between six, four, and three cylinders for more fuel-stretching choices. The system is completely automatic and unknown to the driver except for two things: The Eco light illuminates on the dash when the system is on, and there's a slight hunting sensation as it switches back-and-forth between four and three cylinders at certain speeds, but you'll need to be paying attention to notice that. CONCLUSION I have LOVED all our Hondas. But, this is one HONDA I will hate until the day I get rid of it, and unless Honda does something for me and all the others who feel we were duped by false advertising, will make it my crusade to see that this fraud is outed and Honda pays for it. Copies of this letter are going to the FTC and the New York State Attorney General’s office. A complaint has been filed with the NHTSA. I will post on every message board I can find - I feel it only fair to let others not only know my past loyalty to Honda, but also know what it got me - a surging, bucking, grade logic downshifting, car with "maddening behavior". I will |
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Replying to: roy21 (Jul 14, 2008 5:11 am) April 2, 2008 Federal Trade Commission Consumer Response Center Division of Advertising Practices 600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20580 Re: 2008 Honda Accord EXL V6/VCM 1HGCP36878A021*** Dear Sirs: I am writing about the above vehicle purchased 12/28/2007 from Lia Honda, Albany, NY., and AMERICAN HONDA’S FALSE ADVERTISING CLAIMS. This car is equipped with Honda’s Variable Cylinder Management V6 engine. American Honda advertises this engine and technology in its website as follows (emphasis added in pertinent parts) http://automobiles.honda.com/accord-sedan/features.aspx?Feature=vcme “The Accord Sedan’s V-6 features the latest generation of Variable Cylinder Management™ (VCM®) technology. This system can activate and deactivate the engine’s cylinders as needed to meet the demands of both acceleration and fuel savings. When maximum torque is required, all six cylinders are firing. During steady cruising speeds , VCM shuts down one bank of cylinders. In this mode, the audio system’s Active Noise Cancellation™ (ANC) function generates out-of-phase sound waves to cancel out any undesirable noise that may be due to the harmonics of 3-cylinder operation. As cruising speed increases the engine moves to a 4-cylinder mode for extra cruising power. To help keep engine vibration from reaching the cabin in every mode, active engine mounts automatically adjust their firmness to help absorb energy. The transition between the three operating modes is completely seamless and goes unnoticed by the Accord’s passengers.” This advertising is an absolute bald faced lie supported by numerous professional road test opinions: Wall Street Journal 1/25/08 "... the Accord was fitted with a 268-horsepower, 3.5-liter V6 with what Honda calls Variable Cylinder Management. This technology is designed to boost fuel economy by allowing the six-cylinder engine to run on just three or four cylinders when full power isn't needed. It works almost seamlessly, but in this case, "almost" isn't good enough. During highway driving with the cruise control on I could feel a slight vibration when the engine switched from three- to four- to six-cylinder mode, which it does often, a downright maddening behavior. That the Accord managed only 22 miles per gallon during my testing ... only made this all the more annoying AutoWeek 8/21/07 “When driving the multi-cylinder deactivation V6, we did detect a hybrid-like torque on/torque off feel when cruising at 60 or 70 mph when under slight throttle(at about 2000 to 2500 RPM). Because the green “ECO” indicator was illuminated, showing that the engine was running in fuel saving economy mode, we were no doubt picking up the engine cycling between four and three cylinder modes.” USA Today 8/24/07 “If you step up too the V6 model, you’ll get blazing engine performance but rougher down shifting than in the 4 cylinder cars. Also a sensitive driver can feel the V6 go through its multi cylinder transitions.” Motor Trend October 2007 This article was all speculation. When the car was actually comparison tested against the Camry, Malibu and Sentra it came in third place. http://www.epinions.com/content_403535007364 Noise cancellation technology eliminates the odd noises produced by a V6 running on three or four cylinders. The transitions cannot be heard or felt--to know which mode the engine is in, it's generally necessary to rely on the "ECO" light. That said, early in my test drive of the V6 I did notice a low frequency thrumming when cruising around 60 miles per hour. And the sunroof was closed. At first I wondered if this might be a by-product of the noise cancellation. But the noise eventually faded away, so I now suspect the tires. If the noise was endemic to the design, many people would find it too irritating to live with. http://www.web2carz.com/6596/2008/Honda/Accord/reviews/driving-performance Like GM and Chrysler systems designed to save gas on big V8s, VCM changes the number of engine cylinders working at any given time and load to save fuel. The previous example switched off three cylinders (half the V6) when they weren't needed, but this new one changes between six, four, and three cylinders for more fuel-stretching choices. The system is completely automatic and unknown to the driver except for two things: The Eco light illuminates on the dash when the system is on, and there's a slight hunting sensation as it switches back-and-forth between four and three cylinders at certain speeds, but you'll need to be paying attention to notice that. I have no axe to grind with Honda. I have owned numerous Honda and Acrua products since 1981. I have LOVED all our Hondas. But, this drive train is unlike any other Honda I have ever driven, and I will hate it until the day I get rid of it, and will crusade against Honda unless it does something for me and all the others who were duped by false advertising. I bought the’08 Accord EXL V6 being promised that the VCM was “completely seamless and unnoticeable” only to find that it is absolutely NOT –it is a surging, bucking, grade logic downshifting, car with "maddening behavior" that constantly “surges” at highway speeds, even on cruise, to the extent that it makes my wife ill. Coupled with the “grade logic” transmission, at 65 on cruise control when going downhill, the car downshifted with such ferocity that my wife and I in the front, and my son and his wife in the rear seat, were thrown violently into our shoulder harnesses while the “grade logic” coupled with the cruise control, attempted to maintain a ‘steady” speed. I know I am not alone in my assessment. There is a whole forum about the Accord VCM at golfrski, "2008 Honda Accord VCM" #1, 1 Nov 2007 7:42 pm PLEASE – HELP us come up with a fix for this from Honda!!! They deny any problem exists; dealers say the cars are operating within “normal operating limits”. A replacement chip, an on /off switch, SOMETHING!!! It may require some sort of class action against Honda. A copy of my letter to Honda is enclosed. |
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Replying to: roy21 (Jul 14, 2008 5:11 am) I wish you luck with your car - mine "cured" itself - the vibration and "surging" went away and I am happy to say I like the car now. Doesn't change what it WAS at first.
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Replying to: ljgbjg (Jul 14, 2008 12:06 pm) Roy 21
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Replying to: roy21 (Jul 14, 2008 12:22 pm)
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Replying to: ljgbjg (Jul 14, 2008 12:52 pm) Roy 21
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Replying to: ljgbjg (Jul 14, 2008 12:06 pm)
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Replying to: roy21 (Jul 15, 2008 8:12 am) |
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Replying to: golfrski (Jul 15, 2008 8:47 am) Nothing worse than a car in the shop all the time or a miserable vehicle to simply drive. I can empathize - mine was horrible until it just cured itself. I have no idea what was wrong but whatever it was it is gone. My son drove it this weekend and could not believe the difference, having driven it before - I hope you can reach some sort of satisfactory resolution, or if I were you I would never buy Honda again. It just isn't right to treat a loyal faithful customer that way.
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Replying to: ljgbjg (Jul 15, 2008 2:14 pm) 
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