Thank you iShift and goodbye

A week ago I got an offer it would have been silly not to take.

Our lovely Honda Dealership called us out of the blue to see whether we'd be interested in a special offer they'd put together to sell off the final GE08 Jazz cars they had left in stock.

They were up front with the reason to make the offer - the new 2015 Honda Jazz GE09 is coming out soon.

On one hand our iShift is all paid for, had taken us over a faultless 135000 miles, we'd just got the valves adjusted at a cost of £150 and I wanted to get an idea of how far a well looked after Jazz would go. On the other hand we could have a delivery mileage CVT Jazz for £12260 including £2000 trade-in for our iShift. That's a saving of  £2390 off the list price. Throw in 3 years of 0% APR contract lease finance with a monthly outlay the same as what we saving into our Next Jazz/car rainy day savings account all meant that changing was the right thing to do.

It was still an emotional day when we exchanged cars. Beyond servicing, one set of front brake disks and a few sets of tyres, our iShift had a rear spring changed and that's it. Reflecting back on that change I'm happy to say  I think the spring change was due to a combination of lack of washing of the suspension components after winter road salting.

How well did Shifty drive after all those miles?

That's a tricky question to answer. I found as the mileage increased the more "problems" I heard. It's with great respect to my Dealer that they listened to my reported problems and checked the car over finding nothing at fault  on almost all occasions. The spring rattle and the CV joint clicking being the only real problems. The CV joint wasn't changed. Rather it was just repacked with molybdenum grease and that happened tens of thousands of miles back.

I did notice a change in cruising quietness after about 110K miles. The car tended to transfer more road noise through to the body. At a guess (and believe me I'm no expert) I guess the rubber mounts at the tops of the suspension struts were wearing out. Also the gear shifts made by iShift could occasionally make a clunking sound. Usually this occurred when deceleration was quicker than usual down to me not anticipating the road ahead. Typically I'd brake harder (iShift downshifting for engine braking usually meant I'd only really need to apply the brakes as the car nearly had stopped ) and the downshift to the lower gear would "clack". I'd not hear that in 99% of driving so I didn't bother reporting it to the garage.

I'm one if those bad people that warm up their engine before driving. I'd do this to make driving easier when the car engine is cold. Honda's use of fast idle on a cold engine (initially as much as1500'rpm) means that you tend to fight against the engine when negotiating parked cars etc.

It's okay when you've got a manually operated clutch to slip but when it's computer controlled it can be tricky. Wait until the engine cold warning lamp goes out and idle speed is down at a normal 700rpm and it's all fine and driving is easy.

Also I noticed after about 120000 miles that if I did drive away from cold the first gear upshift was a tiny bit crashy. It think the synchromesh was a bit sluggish in operation when the transmission oil was cold. I think it would be the same on the manually operated transmissions - they're basically the same gearbox albeit the iShift has one extra gear - 6th.

By waiting until the cold engine lamp extinguished, 53 deg C, driving was fine and first upshift change crash only happened on coolish days, less than 5 degs C. And on those days if I waiting until then engine was hotter, say 80 deg C, the crashiness didn't happen.

In summary then iShift was a really reliable transmission. Partnered with our unhurried driving styles and semi-rural commute regularly gave us 58 miles per imperial gallon in UK winter and 62 MPiG in summer. One summertime long holiday drive a few thousand miles ago  gave 68+ MPiG. For a 1.4 normally aspirated petrol engine, I find that impressive. It's a fuel consumption figure I don't expect to ever see in our new CVT.

Thank you Shifty. You were fantastic.

MOT 2014

Shifty has now travelled 105,000 miles and also about to start its fifth year on the road. Being older than three years also means it's time for the UK government's annual safety check. This will be the second test Shifty's had. The first one went through without any faults or recommended repairs and its test time again.

Since the last blog post the noise heard before returned, or something similar to it. The Honda Dealer was wonderful rustling up a courtesy car at very short notice even though I turned up on spec and they hadn't got any of the service department's courtesy cars available. In fact they let me use the courtesy car for three days whilst they tried to replicate the noise and cadence braking effect I'd experienced that morning.

Unfortunately they were unable to hear the noise and even after the eight hours of investigation work done and use of a sales demonstrator car, their view was for me to pay nothing until the fault could be located and rectified.

During the time the car was in, they went over the suspension and brakes and found no fault or play or anything that could be the cause. The only noise they could identify was the relatively noisy clunk that the iShift mechanism made on engaging first gear when downshifting under any braking other than light braking.

To rule this noise out, They dismantled, lubricated and reassembled the gear changing actuator mechanism. I can say that this extra maintenance has made the shifting noise slightly less but I think the mechanism can't help making the noise under certain circumstances.

So, for now, I'm waiting until the noise I heard re-occurs before restarting the investigations.

One positive outcome of this affair was the chance to spend three days with a 2013 model year Honda Jazz 1.4 VTEC CVT.  I was interested in how this worked compared with my recollection of the two 1.4 iDSI CVT7 Jazz that came before we owned Shifty.

The big technical difference between the old and new CVT's is the use of the torque converter in place of the start up clutch that older CVT model used. The engine is also different,  the older CVT model used the twin spark iDSI engine and the newer CVT the same variable valve timed engine design used in Shifty.

The iDSI design had a slight torque peak at low engine revs that the VTEC does not and I was interested whether the torque multiplication factor when using the torque converter helped make up for the missing torque from the VTEC at low engine speeds. It did seem to.

That said, I felt that it was easier to drive the older CVT version, with its start up clutch, when in stop-start traffic. On occasion I felt that the initial take up from rest was less smooth than I remember with the old CVT. Also with the older CVT, when stopping, I'd select Neutral when at rest and slip in to Drive when the traffic began to move. This became second nature and found it gave smoother driving. It's worth remarking that the selector mechanism showed no excessive wear in either CVT Jazz we owned with the latter travelling well in excess of 115,000 miles.

With the new CVT I found it difficult to achieve the same driving off smoothness despite trying hard to open the throttle gently. Although it's possible that my driving style has adapted to Shifty so perhaps I could adapt to the new CVTs behaviour. I did hate the way that both old and new CVTs would fight against the handbrake when left in Drive and stopped in traffic.

Shifty is actually very well behaved in stop-start traffic. Applying the handbrake engages the clutch so that the engine never fights against the handbrake. So you can leave a gear selected and sit with the handbrake applied for any length of time without wearing the clutch surface, and without straining the engine. However, if the foot brake is used without the handbrake then the clutch is partially disengaged so it is at the "biting" point ready for driving off providing automatic gearbox drivers the feeling of forward creep they have become accustomed to. However it is not advised to hold an iShift car on the foot brake other than momentarily as the clutch could overheat - a warning lamp on the dashboard indicates this.

Away from stop-start traffic the new CVT had the same effortless cruising of the old but with much better gear ratio control on inclines and downward slopes. The new CVT revs less on slopes and seems more eager and willing to drive. Fuel efficiency seem similar to iShift at an average of 58 miles per imperial gallon of petrol.

On balance I'd rather have the new CVT over the iShift but the difference is not as great as I'd have thought. The older CVT was possibly better at low speed manoeuvres  but on the open road the new CVT is better.

Oh, and Shifty passed its MOT test with no faults or advisories. Well done. Happy Birthday Shifty.

100,000 trouble free miles

The title says it all. Up until that magic number of miles Shifty has never needed  a day-interfering, unexpected trip to the dealer.

Apart from the suspension coil spring that recently broke due to corrosion and a re-gas of the air conditioning system earlier this year nothing other than routine and preventative maintenance has been required.

Shifty's just recently had an "AB" service - inspection + oil change. It had two new tyres too - two Dunlop SP FastResponse. They replace a Dunlop SP01 and SP30 Shifty had on the rear. They were down to 3mm of tread remaining which is the recommended depth for changing. Legally it can be almost half that but the loss of grip and poor water shedding makes me nervous. 

With the winter season coming, having more tread depth equals better grip.

I'm also glad to get rid of the two different models of tyres on the back. I prefer same models all around, if possible, or at least the same model across the same "axle". The SP30 also had a higher rolling resistance than the SP01 so it's nice to move to a solution with the same low resistance all  around.

Ideally I'd have gone for Yokohama BlueEarth AE01which have been on the front for the last 25K miles but they weren't in stock from local suppliers with fresh supplies expected in a months time. Needing something sooner, I went for the Dunlop SP FastResponses. These have better rain performance than the Yokohamas and the same rolling resistance and are 1 dB quieter at 68dB.

Shifty now has the Yokohamas on the back and the new FastResponses on the front. The Yokohama had lost 4mm of their tread since getting them so still have another 1mm left to get through before replacement is due. Now they are on the back, free wheeling wheels they should wear less than being on the driven wheels, so we should get more than the 6000 miles out of them than if they had remained on the front.

Good stuff over .. now the not so good. 

My  untroubled time with Shifty had to end some time.  And it my luck changed when driving to work. At about twenty miles into my twenty-five mile commute, whilst gently braking (I usually brake gently as a rule) I heard noises. A chirping sound above about 20mph that turned to a loud-ish clicking from 5mph down.

Apart from these odd noises there was no difference in the performance of the steering. brakes or engine power. I stopped and did a visual inspection and could find nothing obvious. After checking over, I selected some residential side streets to determine the extent of the issue. It seemed only occur whilst braking.

Given that my partner was taking Shifty to her work the next day, a 120 mile round trip and that she'd be working late, I decided that the fault needed immediate analysis.

I took the day off work and drove Shifty extra cautiously to my regular dealer which, thankfully, accepted Shifty even without an appointment.

I retired to a local cafe awaiting the news of their analysis whilst surfing for what a clicking or clunking sound whilst braking could be.

What it turned out to be was quite unexpected and a testimony to the experience and quality of the mechanics at my Honda dealer. They traced the noise to the driver's side, outer,  constant velocity (CV) joint. There wasn't any play due to wear in the joint, the protective rubber boot was undamaged and securely attached but nevertheless enough of the molybdenum grease had come out of the joint into the boot to cause the joint to have insufficient lubrication. The effect of this was the chirping and clicking noise.

Oddly noises from CV joints usually occur when accelerating and usually with the steering turned to the left or right. I didn't have any noises except during the final stage of braking.

I wonder whether hearing this is down to a side affect of iShift clutch operation? Perhaps the clutch continues to be engaged closer to the point of stopping than a manually operated clutch would be, i.e. the wheels are still driven almost to stopping hence the noise?

Regarding lasting damage, whether the relatively short length of time that this problem was unnoticed affects the lifetime of the joint only time will tell. Hopefully it was caught soon enough.

With fresh grease added the noise ceased immediately and has not returned in the 250 miles driven so far.

Ending on a more positive note, over the last 10K miles the average fuel economy has been over sixty miles per imperial gallon.

That's been over the summer and into autumn... well done Shifty.

Not an illuminating post this one

Well I guess bulbs don't last forever and that's a fact of life so I shouldn't be surprised at the dash lighting for the hazard switch burning out after three and a bit years. Still a bit of a bummer though.

Previous Jazz cars I've  had and the Volkswagens before them have never had a failed  switch bulb but perhaps it's because since the United Kingdom's adoption of EU daytime driving lamps I've started using dipped headlights during daylight hours. That, in turn, means I've at least doubled the length of time the dash lighting is on.

Looks like it's a garage thing to change it - no obvious way to extract the button from the dash. I do miss its red glow at night so I'll need to find out the cost of replacement to determine whether it's beyond economic repair or not.

I might leave it for a while to see if other dash lamps fail and therefore see if the economies of scale kick in and make it easier to justify wholesale replacements.

Update:

A chat with my friendly dealer revealed that the Honda estimated repair time for replacing the bulb in the hazard switch is 0.5, I.e. half an hour. Involves partially dismantling the fascia containing the radio, etc.

The bulb is approximately £4 and estimated labour is £30. So it'd cost about £40 to illuminate Shifty's hazard button.

Decided to wait until other more annoying bulbs fail before getting it done.

Spring doesn't normally follow summer. It does for Shifty

A fortnight after the broken spring diagnosis passes without event for Shifty. Ashamed to say I didn't notice any ride difference despite Shifty known lameness.

All change though. Shifty now has a shiny new spring to bounce happily over the next tens of thousands of miles. I'll try and look after Shifty's other three springs a bit better than I have been though.

The dilemma is that I'm nervous of directing jets of water up into the wheel arches in case I do more damage than good. My worry is perhaps I might introduce grit onto the exposed shaft of the shock absorber's damper which then grinds away at its chrome coating and piston seals causing early failure.

That said and considering I've not washed under "there", the shock absorbers are still all working fine despite approaching 100K miles. Surprising when I consider the 300 yards of farm track it used to have to drive on for my daily workday commute. That was up to the eighty thousand miles mark. Now the worst it has to cope with is ten road humps per workday.

The other work that Shifty had today was to replace the air filter. Shifty was telling us it needed a service code 8 carried out in the next few thousand miles. I decided that since the next routine AB code service isn't wanted by Shifty for another five and a half thousand miles, getting the filter replaced slightly earlier wouldn't be unwise.

So Shifty now also has a brand new filter. I think 95+ K miles was pretty good for an air filter. The two iDSI engined Jazz before Shifty had them changed much more frequently.

In terms of increased fuel consumption as a result of clogging, I haven't noticed any. Perhaps that's old school, pre fuel injection thinking though. Consumption averaged over the last 5K miles and spring/summer temperatures, Shifty is indicating 61 miles per imperial gallon on the trip computer. This ties up with actual fuel used at the pump according to filling from nearly empty to full and noting the mileage covered between fill ups.

In summary, the iVTEC over the iDSI seems to need less frequent servicing and uses a little less fuel. I do miss the CVT though but I know I'd have gone through more brake servicing and brake parts during its life and a little more unleaded petrol.

Jangling Jazz

At 95K miles you can accept the odd noise here and there. I've been super lucky and got to nearly 100K without any squeaks, clunks, rattles or other unwelcome noises.

However this week I heard a little bell like tinkling sound over certain types of bumps, so Shifty went to the Honda doctors to see what was up.

Poor little Shifty has a broken suspension coil spring, the bottom end where it sits in a locating cup had corroded to the degree where it broke, shortening its length by a centimeter or two. The bit that had broken off then was dancing around the cup when it was jiggled just the right amount by a bumpy road.

The broken bit was about 3cm long and you could see that it had clean snap across it and the end was corroded quite badly. Now that it has been lifted out of the cup there won't be any more tinkling noises.

I could have left it at that but I don't like the idea that Shifty would have a battle scar for the rest of its time with us so it's going in for surgery at the Honda hospital in a couple of weeks. It'll be getting a nice new spring so after that it will be properly able to cope with life's road humps and bumps.

The Honda people said it was rare for them to replace a spring on a Jazz. I felt instantly guilty - certainly I'm not doing my bit washing under the wheel arches and clearing out winter's salty gunk. I stopped doing it with the last Jazz because I thought I might be causing the rear brakes to keep seizing up.

The older generation Jazz, 1999 - 2009, models with rear disc brakes did have a problem with that and our second 1.4 CVT-7 probably had five or six dismantle, clean, lubricate and reassemble sessions in its 150K miles with us.

So, in reflection, I probably wasn't causing the sticking problem since I wasn't cleaning the brake calipers directly and any debris falling from cleaning the wheel arch and the general water splashing down wouldn't be worse than driving on a wet road and through a few puddles.

Thinking it over, we've had three Honda Jazz and covered over 300K miles in them, so one suspension spring over that time isn't too bad!

Cars are really made very well, I guess it's down to us as their caretakers to look after them properly. I really just jump in and expect the car to just work. OK, we do spend a few hundred pounds a year maintaining and keeping the Jazz in tip top shape, and we drive it sympathetically over the 25K plus miles it does every year  but, still in reflection, they are astoundingly resilient compared to cars even twenty years ago.

Four thousand miles and counting

Four thousand i-Shifted miles

It's just turned April 2010 and our i-Shift Jazz 1.4 iVTEC ES has passed its 4000 miles mark. Time for an update.

Oil and Maintenance

The variable service indicator tells me that the service is due in 8000 miles meaning that the Shifty thinks it's following the standard service schedule for European Jazz cars - services every 12500 miles. I am not sure whether I'm going to ask for an "extra" oil change in 2000 miles time. In the last of our previous, old shape, Jazz CVT cars we changed the oil every 6000 miles (out of choice) and I'm certain that that helped the engine get to 110 000 miles without issues. However from an environmental standpoint it isn't friendly. On the upside used motor oil is collected in the UK and cleaned in a recyling process but changing it just because it starting to look less sunflower oil and more golden syrup like might mean I'm throwing away oil that had more life to give.

OK. I've decided whilst I type that this time I'm going to wait until the suggested service mileage and have it changed then. Will be using the fully synthetic "fuel saving" 0W30 Castrol oils recommended by Honda at the change time. Only the best for Shifty.

So far my twice weekly under-bonnet checks have revealed that just like our two previous i-DSi engined Jazz cars, the i-VTEC engined 1.4 litre engine doesn't use any oil. I never needed to top up engine oil on either of the previous cars in their combined 200 000 mile lifetime. I'm going to assume that Shifty will be the same.

One thing less to check in the i-Shift over the CVT Jazz is the transmission oil level. There is no dipstick/filler to check that level. This has the obvious advantage that there is no chance of dirt or contamination entering the transmission. I do keep my engine bays very clean so the chance of dirt falling in was very unlikely. However, for less cleaning obsessed car owners, I can imagine the low position of the top of the CVT transmission dipstick/filler tube and its wide opening might mean dirt could fall in causing problems or just a reduced working lifetime for the transmission.

So I don't have to worry about CVT oil levels now but I do have to check the clutch hydraulic fluid level. Clutch? Yes. The i-Shift is an automated manual transmission car. The single dry plate clutch is operated by a hydraulic pump controlled by the i-Shift system. In addition, two small electric motors do the job of selecting gears. This complicated sounding arangement is simpler than it sounds and is implemented in way that I, as an ex-practical DIY mechanic, can see is straightforward to work on and easy to maintain. I assume (based on previous Honda experience of intelligent fluid-electro-mechanic assemblies such as the CVT transmission) that i-Shift will work perfectly for many tens of thousands of miles.

Driving

I do have a majority share when it comes to driving Shifty with three thousand of the four thousand miles being with me driving. So how's it been?

• Enjoyable - despite horrible wintry weather - snow, ice, floods - Shifty makes my daily commute bearable and my quality time very happy indeed. Honda helped by providing heated door mirror glass, the wonderful vehicle stability assist (VSA) system, powerful demisting fan and a well designed demisting vent arrangement. Sounds like a common list but the way these things are implemented makes all the difference.
• Economical - 62 (imperial) MPG, 51 (US) MPG, 22km/liter, 4.55 litre/100km for a 1.4 petrol engine. This is based on a daily 100 mile roundtrip commute with average speed 35 MPH/ 56 KPH, driving suburban and rural.
• Quiet - although not quite as quiet as a 1.4 iDSi CVT Jazz at 60 MPH using Yokohama C-Drive tyres (185/55R15) on the flat. Note: the sixth gear on the i-Shift (6-speed) 1.4 i-VTEC means that automatic Jazz has a lower engine speed at 60MPH than the five speed manual transmission Jazz and is thus quieter. Also note that the manual i-VTEC Jazz is slightly quieter the i-DSi older model Jazz.
• Reliable - OK it's only a few months old and only at the 4000 mark but it's worth mentioning that nothing has needed replaced or adjusted under warranty - Shifty has yet to see the workshop at our local garage.

OK. You want to know about the i-Shift don't you? It's probably why you came to read this blog. Well, you'll know if you've been following this blog from the start that my expectation is that you will not like the i-Shift one little bit! Here's why:

• You're an old model Jazz CVT driver wondering about the new Jazz and i-Shift. Well if you go for a test drive - essential - then you will not immediately like the i-Shift. It will change gear apparently randomly and will be noiser and jerky. In fact you may be very pleased to get back to the dealer in one piece without being rammed from behind. You'll not really have noticed that you will have used less fuel than you would have in the CVT. In fact you are probably slightly scared.
• You're a classic torque convertor based automatic transmission driver. What's the i-Shift like? Well you'll find that its gear changes aren't smooth, seem to cause abrupt changes in engine speed, suddenly removing your foot from the throttle causes the car to slow down, dramatically if i-Shift was in a low gear. You will also be pleased to return to the dealer, happy to return to using the footbrake to slow down and the more predictable behaviour of your car. You will have had the feeling that you are going to be rammed from behind at any moment. You'll not really have noticed that you will have used less fuel than you would have in your auto car.
• You're a manual transmission car driver. You're used to switching the gears manually back and forth, slipping the clutch on hills and moving off in second on the flat, but you've decided that the since you do a long commute some of which is in town and the rest on the motorway that having a higher ratio, additional gear, to the manual Jazz and having a car to switch gears for you in town, sounds great. On your test drive you'll be shocked. The car changes gear seemingly randomly, takes so long to change, revs like crazy, but then changes to a ridiculously high gear when you least expect it. You'll have had the feeling that you are going to be rammed from behind at any moment, feel who cares how much fuel you saved, and that you'd rather change gear yourself.

However, if:

• You're an automated manual transmission driver who's never driven i-Shift. You appreciate that the change points are slightly different. You'll notice that there is an element of driver learning that is done by the transmission - are you doing town, country, sporty, economical. You'll appreciate that you can gain access to i-VTEC quick acceleration and lower gears instantly and predicably by using quicker than normal throttle movements. You'll notice the hill awareness, changing down to lower gears to provide engine braking, holding on to lower gears longer when climbing. You'll quickly realise that holding on to the current gear for continued normal acceleration, upward gear change points and immediate engine braking can be requested by progressive and subtle throttle foot moments, or by removing your foot from the throttle. You'll quickly learn the subtle difference of the i-Shift over your current automated manual car and hopefully (for Honda) put your order in for a nice new i-Shift.

I was a serial Jazz CVT owner with nearly 200 000 CVT miles, so I had a long learning curve to go through but now, well, I'm not sure whether I'd go back to CVT. Learning the i-Shift way (if you want to) will give you better fuel economy from the CVT (for me so far its approximately 5-8 MPG better) but a more assertive driving experience. This fits the roads and traffic densities that I have to deal with on my commute. On holiday, I think I will long for the select D and forget about the transmission type of driving but on my holidays I am not generally in busy commuter traffic and keeping up with traffic flows.

If I could have a CVT for holidays and the i-Shift for work then I would be in a perfect world.

Please do try out an i-Shift. I know you might be shocked at its behaviour but bear in mind what I've said so far in this blog, give it a sporting chance and it might well grow on you.

Showing the world a clean set of wheels

Cleaning tales

This week's Saturday was the first day I could seriously contemplate cleaning Shifty's feet, face, bum, top and sides. This was the first time I have washed the car since it arrived a few weeks ago. I was faced with gently removing two and a bit thousand miles a road salt and farm track "muck" that turned Shifty's broody storm silver clothes to an industrial grime grey.

A few hours and ten 5 litre buckets of water later, I stood back to admire the return of the sparkly car I drove off of our local Honda Dealer's forecourt last month. Shine was courtesy of some gentle sponge and chamois work by yours truely and a big helping from AutoGlym car valeting technology.

The usual AutoGlym team were there in force:

• Bodywork shampoo and conditioner.
• AquaWax spray carnauba wax
• Micro-fibre polishing cloths.
• Fast-glass window cleaner.

Cleaning a car properly gets you quite close to all the design detailing and I found the new model Jazz is very different in all sorts of places I hadn't noticed before.

• shorter bonnet
• extended central part of front bumper
• smaller windscreen rake angle but absolutely huge windscreen
• larger door mirror surface but with a smaller enclosure
• very long, straight driver's side windscreen wiper, very short angled passenger one
• larger tailgate and lower opening
• stubby, central rear roof radio aerial instead of thin longer one at front centre of roof
• bold character and bone lines along the sides of the car

One thing that I hadn't really appreciated until it came to cleaning the car is the 15" alloy wheel design is one that not only looks great but also allows you to get your hand through and in behind the spokes. This means you can clean the usually unreachable inner wheel surface or the the part of the brake disk that the wheel attaches to. Finally! A car that I could easily reach in and wash off the accumulated salt residue, dirt and brake dust. The end result were wheels that looks like they were fresh out of the showroom.

With the exterior done, the interior had the usual treatment with a handheld rechargeable Dyson DC-16 (Animal) vacuum cleaner. Dyson provides a useful set of car valeting accessories. For instance, the soft dusting brush accessory is the only thing I let near the clear plastic lenses in the instrument panel. Also, to prevent getting dirt onto the seat faces, I have a duplicate set of nozzle attachments one I only use for carpets and the other for the seating upholstery and door trims. Battery recharge time is several hours so I bought an extra battery - the two used one after the other lets me get the interior of the car done (and no more).

Aside: Dyson have now replaced the DC-16 by the DC-30/DC-31 which have longer battery life.

How's this week been?

If you've been reading from the start then you'll know that I didn't like the i-Shift at all. I started out complaining that it wasn't like the two CVT Honda Jazz cars I had had before. Now that the two thousand mile marker has past, what are my thoughts?

In the UK we have a rather famous food product. It's a spread called Marmite. It has a successful marketing approach which accepts that you either love it, or you hate it. It embraces both.

i-Shift is to gearboxes what Marmite is to toast. Here's why I love i-Shift:

• fast gear changes - what? no. That's not what the press says though... it's true. You can't get into an i-Shift and know how best to drive it. Just like the CVT, i-Shift takes a degree of skill to drive with it. I am still learning but I can see the promise of happy times ahead.
• economical - I have never reset trip 'B' on Shifty and it shows that I have achieved 58.8MPG (imperial) over 2400 miles. Pretty good for winter driving, often in sub-zero celsius, with a 1.4litre petrol engined, automatic car.
• a cooperation between i-VTEC value control and i-Shift means that low revs in high gears really do deliver good torque delivery and have the benefit of quiet running and better fuel efficiency.
• the yaw/pitch sensor and information about throttle pedal position help make driving on undulating twisty roads an absolute delight.

More importantly you ask, ah but do I like Marmite. Answer: No. I hate it!

What happens when you're sleepy - I am so embarrassed?

What was good about this week?

I am getting better at the moving off in 1st gear mallarky. First and second gears are lower ratios on the I-Shift than the non-automated manual Jazz. This means that the engine tends to rev up quicker and it requires a bit of skill to trigger the change to second before the engine sounds noiser than other manual cars do when driving in the same traffic.

The trick is to get used to the engine note associated with the ideal change-to-second point (around about 1,800 rpm) and then ease-off the throttle to hint that an upward change should occur. I find this takes a little practice but the rewards are a quieter drive with all gears being selected in sequence rather than second being skipped in favour of third as often happens if I'm in urgent (pushy) morning commuter traffic.

A mistake I make often is to do my gear change hint a bit too early and instead of getting a gear change the car remains in first gear and I get a little engine braking. This is not appreciated by following traffic. In rush-hour traffic I now drive differently, tending to rev up to 2,000rpm and accepting I make a little bit more noise. This has the side affect that the car spends less time in second gear but I'd prefer not to irritate other drivers - mornings are tough for everyone after all!

My return journey allows me to experiment at getting the 1st to 2nd change as early and at the lowest revs  possible - and I'm getting better. In town, outside the rush-hour times, where there are less frantic traffic demands, I'm able to change very close to my ideal 1,800 and the results are quieter and relaxed motoring.

What wasn't good this week?

Monday mornings are not considered nice by most people but for me it's made worse when it's 06 45, the car is covered with ice to scrape and you've not slept well. This was the case on 22nd February 2010. I unlocked the car with the remote - pleased I didn't have to deal with all those problems of de-icing locks that used to be part of winter motoring. I then carefully opened the door just in case it was iced shut, slipped the key in to the ignition switch and without getting in, pressed on the brake and twisted the key to start the car so the car could warm-up whilst I busied myself with clearing the frozen windows.

However the car did not start. The starter motor didn't turn. Everything else looked right - all the dashboard lamps looked like it should start. Confused I took the key out and put it in and tried again, and again. Then, assuming that the car couldn't read the immobiliser code from the key, I got the other ignition key and repeated the same procedure but got the same result. No starting.

After several attempts were made with both keys. I decided that whatever read the code from the key built in to the car had gone wrong - the car was only a few weeks old and I decided it was a possibility; perhaps something hadn't been connected properly and brand new things do sometimes fail.

I decided to work from home and call the garage when it opened in a few hours time. Just before calling the garage, I thought I'd try to start the car again. I went down to the car which, by then, was defrosted. I got in and followed my usual procedure: push the brake pedal and twist ignition key to start. It started immediately. Surprised I switched off the engine and tried with the other key. It started immediately with that too.

I was still worried. I decided that the car must have an intermittant fault. One of the worse types! I called the garage who made arrangements to obtain a temporary replacement car and arranged with me to bring the car in the late afternoon. It's nice to have a Dealer that is so accommodating!

This wait until the afternoon must have left my subconcious time to think about things because, six hours later, on my walk to the car I had a sudden realisation. Was the car still in gear when I had been starting it?

Unlike conventional automatics or the CVT, you do not need to select Neutral or Park before the starting. The I-Shift does not have a Park selector position. Instead, it can be started whenever the car is stopped and the footbrake applied, even when a gear is selected. The I-Shift system operates the clutch during starting to reduce load on the starter motor and also to prevent the car from moving whilst the starter is operating if the car is in gear.

So actually there was nothing wrong at all! To understand what happened to fool me read on. I live on a slight gradient and had become used to my previous Jazz CVT transmission's Park mechanism. Park had to be selected before the ignition key could be removed from the ignition switch. So when after upgraded from the old model Jazz to the new model - from CVT to I-Shift - it felt wrong leaving the car in neutral with the just the parking brake holding the car.

Fortunately this is all covered in I-Shift; you can pick either first or reverse gear prior to switching the engine off. Then, should the handbrake fail, the car would be prevented from moving. However, since I share the car with A, I use a neat I-Shift trick. After the ignition is switched off, I move the selector out of the in-gear position to the neutral position. This means that the next time the brake pedal is pushed and the ignition switched on the gearbox and clutch are activated and neutral is selected. Neat huh?

Well it is until you forget to move the selector to the neutral position the last time you used the car. If you do so then that the next time you happen to be starting the car with the car door open, reaching a foot in to press the footbrake, twisting the key to start the car then you'll find that the car refuses to start.

Why? Well, it makes sense really because if the car had started then, when I took my foot off the foot brake, the car would have driven off leaving me running after it holding my ice-scraper!

So, the smart people at Honda have thought about sleepy headed folk like me. And my Honda dealer was very sympathetic and the representative I dealt with didn't even surpress a grin. So professional - although I didn't wait around just in case I heard the laughter! Don't worry, if I had heard any I would have understood - I'd have deserved it!

What am I loving?

• The I-Shift system - I'm driving around in automatic mode now, don't feel the need to use the manual mode at all!
• Quick cabin warm-up from cold - it's been -5 C most mornings this week which is cold for us.
• The thinner A-pillars and the bigger fixed windows. They really do make a difference at tricky junctions. Now cars can't lurk behind the A-pillar to surprise you when you turn to make that second look before pulling out! A definite improvement over the old model Jazz.

Squeal! Oops. Reflect ... grin with wild abandon.

I rediscovered the effects of torque and acceleration this week - an over-enthusiastic right-turn out of a side road onto a busy major road. Result: a chattery squeal from the tyres followed by a very dramatic acceleration... no surprise you say. Ah, but as an ex-CVT driver I can tell you that such noises are not heard irrespective the urgency of your throttle demands.

CVT as implemented in the old model Jazz, offers OK acceleration and a very smooth driving experience. In the seven years I drove the CVT way when the road conditions were right - empty and dry - I did, very occasionally, let the iDSI engine go into the rev-range above 3,000 rpm

What happens? The short answer is: not much. The iDSi and CVT-7 combination seems to have a couple of acceleration bands where if you control the accelerator to keep the the engine speed in them you could get a noticably better driveability than outside them. The two bands were 1,800 rpm +-100 and 2,700 rpm +- 100. Above 3,000 rpm was just an increase in noise rather acceleration despite all those Temple of VTEC wide-open-throttle discussions.

Of course you don't buy a Jazz for sportiness - you'd probably buy a Civic instead. The two CVT Jazz I have owned are more of a flexible family A to B car. Typically returning (for me) 55 - 65 MPG over a daily rural and motorway 80 mile roundtrip commute.

Model year 2007 Civic 1.4 i-DSI six-speed manual

I did spend a day with a manual Civic 1.4 iDSi and got a very respectible 56 MPG.

The coutesy Civic I had was the 1.4 iDSI engine model with 6-speed manual gearbox. I am wondering now whether this is the same gearbox which is automated in the Jazz. From memory I think the 6th gear had an engine speed of 3,000 rpm at 60MPH. Shifty is at 2,500 rpm in the same gear and speed. Suggesting different ratios in final drive and/or 6th gear. Old CVT Jazz was at a much more laid back and quieter 2,100 rpm when on the flat. Don't you just love the dials? Inspired possibly from the life support displays of USS Enterprise's sick-bay from the Star Trek orginal series.

The Civic is a lovely car inside or out. I know there are some complaints about rearward visibility but I found that I could see well. I have also driven the 1.8 i-VTEC EX model with built in satellite navigation. That model has a five-speed manual. Both were very nice to drive the EX having more power and lots more gadgets.

The wrap around dashboard of the Civic has left and right tweeters bringing beautiful clear treble to the driver. A treat that old or new Jazz drivers don't get. Instead the Jazz has door located speakers in all four doors except the base models which have two.

About Shifty

Acceleration is definitely better in the Shifty than in my two previous Jazz CVTs extending further into the rev range allowing the same gear to kept to for longer. Peak torque in the 1.4 i-VTEC Jazz is 4,800 rpm. A lot higher up than the 2,800 of the i-DSI.

Letting the i-SHIFT system pick the gears and driving gently I rarely see revs above 3,000 rpm on my commute and driving that way returned close to 60MPG this week (0.3 MPG in fact).

Now that Shifty has had its running-in period, I decided a spur-of -the-moment to let the engine rev into the 4,000 - 5,000 rpm region and find out what happened. Well unlike the CVT there is really a very strong pull from the i-VTEC engine.

Interestingly, the i-SHIFT system seemed to totally understand my sudden change in driving style - holding on to lower gears longer and not jumping up more than one gear at a time when the throttle pressure was released.

I think I could even go as far to say the performance was sporty! OK. I must warn you - it's been a long time since I have had a positive reaction from an engine when reved - so perhaps my reaction is a bit over-the-top. Nevertheless it was rather fun!

Of course doing all this reving stuff is wasteful and causes increased wear and tear! So since the same speeds can be achieved in higher gears with lower fuel use and lower noise then that's where Shifty will spend most of its next 75,000 miles. After that we'll be back to CVT again in the hybrid Jazz.

How has Shifty behaved this week?

I haven't used manual mode at all this week. The bit I learned last week about reducing engine speeds on automated upward changes makes a huge difference. I don't feel the need to interfere at all.

I have found something that is a bit annoying but I can understand why it happens... It only a small issue and doesn't affect much of my daily commute but it happens every day.

So what is it?  Well, I've noticed two approaches car manufacturers use to deal with cold starting on petrol engines: some manufacturers seem to prefer to keep the idle speed the same irrespective of how cold the engine is and others use an increased idle speed that slowly reduces as the engine warms. I'm not sure what the reasoning is - perhaps one is more fuel efficient? Anyway, on all the Hondas I've driven, the fast idle approach is the way they deal with cold starting. And this is the problem.

This fast idle affects the way Shifty drives when cold. In an attempt to keep the revs in the fast idle region, Shifty only changes out of first gear when the engine speed after the change will be at or above the current fast idle speed. In practice this is quite a high road speed and is rather noisy.

Now, consider that I have been learning how to not over-rev on changing from first to second. Well I've learnt to hear a certain engine note and know if I reduce the pressure on the throttle at that point by an appropriate amount I can make Shifty change. The trouble is when Shifty is cold I have to remember not to release the throttle when the familiar engine note is heard. If I do then I get a dramatic deceleration due engine braking because I've removed throttle pressure but Shifty cannot change to the lower engine speed at that moment so no change is made.

On a different note, downward changes on gradual inclines is another area of study. Shifty doesn't seem to mind using extra throttle alone to climb gradual inclines in most situations . However my question is am I using more fuel than I would have if I'd changed down?

I've been watching the instant MPG indicator and it drops down to 20MPG on such inclines. I still feel like I am using a lot of thottle than I feel I should be - perhaps it's a bad habit from the CVT. Note though, Shifty doesn't lose speed. It's just a mindset thing I am sure. More on this later.

What am I trying to get better at?

• First to second changes. Getting pretty good at this but still feel that I am causing traffic flow issues annoying drivers following behind. I also must try to remember the different behaviour when cold and allow a higher engine speed before hinting to Shifty an upward change would be good.
• I still have problem with gradual inclines. Shouldn't Shifty be changing down? I must try to work out whether it was best to climb in a lower gear or not? Wondering whether I should be using less throttle and not more? Could the way that I'm driving be stopping Shifty from shifting down?
• Still reminding myself that Shifty is a lot more of a manual car than a classic automatic one and is definitely not a CVT.

What am I enjoying?

• Stronger acceleration.
• Cornering stability is much better.
• Better fuel economy.
• The underfloor storage area and loose item storage net is useful and stops things rolling around the boot.
• More directional face air vents that can be used to warm cold hands - I suffer from a Renaulds type circulation problem so cold hands are not good.
• Distance to empty indicator saying 520 miles to empty when I fill up and knowing you can believe it too.

Our first one thousand i-SHIFT-ed miles

The lows and the highs?

There was a moment this week that I found myself thinking about the Honda Everything We Do, We Do It For You advert that suggests that all Honda's technological experiences get put back into new products they make. I figured then that i-SHIFT was something that probably wouldn't being be reused in any new products - it has so much bad press and terrible user experiences. Simply Google for i-SHIFT and you'll see end user reviews mostly attacking the transmission.

However on-balance I don't think that it would be fair to say i-SHIFT is a complete disaster. One thing I am very sure Honda have done wrong is not to suggest in the owner's manual how it is best to drive with the i-SHIFT transmission. Some drivers will be used to a torque convertor, hydraulic automatic, or a CVT with a pulsed start clutch, or a manual transmissions. Letting them get on with it without guidence is a recipe for disaster.

The i-SHIFT system:

The i-SHIFT system automates the shifting and clutch control of a manual transmission. The i-SHIFT system will take control of the throttle, clutch and gear-shifting mechanism during a gear-change. A manual override is provided.

Upward shifts

In automatic mode, the i-SHIFT controller shifts to a higher gear when the current engine load and current road speed could be maintained more efficiently in a higher gear. In manual mode, the driver must indicate when an upward gear change is appropriate by operating the right (+) steering wheel paddle or pushing the gearshift forward.

Note: In either automatic or manual mode a higher gear is also selected when the maximum safe engine speed for a gear is reached.

You must decrease the throttle pressure during upward gear changes.

During an upward gear change the I-SHIFT controller must reduce the engine speed to match the gear being selected. To do this the I-SHIFT controller has to take control of the throttle to prevent the engine from over-reving when the clutch is not engaged.

When the gearbox is moved into a higher gear the i-SHIFT controller is ready to return throttle control to the driver and manage clutch engagement. If the driver's throttle pressure is too high for the new gear the mismatch is overcome by i-SHIFT by temporarily reducing the additional throttle pressure. The driver will experience a lengthy upward change and the car may lose speed.

Reducing the throttle pressure during a change increases the smoothness and speed of upward changes.

Increasing the throttle pressure during a gear change will cause a lengthened upward gear change. This may result in the road speed reducing and the new gear choice an inappropriate one. In this situation there can be a further delay as i-SHIFT downshifts to a lower gear.

Upward shifts from 1st gear will not occur until the road speed is above 5MPH.

Downward shifts

In automatic mode, the i-SHIFT controller will shift to a lower gear when the current road speed is decreasing and current engine load is increasing. If the throttle is steadily opened and the road speed not increased proportionally then a lower gear is selected (if allowable).  In manual mode, the driver must decide when the downward change is appropriate by operating the left (-) steering wheel paddle or pulling the gearshift backward.

Note: a lower gear is automatically selected when the minimum road-speed for a gear is reached.

How has Shifty behaved this week?

It' s been OK. Now that I have learnt the bit about reducing engine speeds on changes I  am getting on a lot better with the car. For instance I have reduced the number of times I switch to manual. I'm down to 3 occasions from 15 on my eighty-mile round-trip commute.

What am I trying to get better at?

• Starting off in 1st and getting a quick change to 2nd before the engine noise gets above normal. Getting better at this but still need to improve this.
• Feel like I am using too much throttle in too a higher gear on gradual inclines. Feel like the car (and me) would be happier in a lower gear.
• I am really trying not interferring with i-SHIFT but instead Shifty teach me.
• Reminding myself that Shifty is a lot more of a manual car than a classic automatic one.

 What am I enjoying?

• The new shape
• Supportive seats
• Telescopic and angle adjustable steering wheel.
• Information display: especially like the miles to empty display.
• The slightly higher fuel economy
• Better acceleration
• Electric windows that still work for ten minutes after switching the ignition off (cancels if a door opens)
• Intermittant rear wipe
• Automatic rear wiping if reverse engaged and front wipers in intermittant or continuous mode
• Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA) - really handy if you're trying to move off and have one front wheel on something slippy. It's like having a friend always on hand to give you shove if you're stuck.

Do we regret buying an i-SHIFT then?

Actually. I think I am starting to see that i-SHIFT isn't that awful and that Honda were aiming to give the public an automatic car with lower emissions. They've achieved that. OK. As a driver I have had to unlearn some of my CVT driving techniques - especially the drifting around without really thinking about hills, junctions, roundabouts - and have had to become a bit more involved in the driving process.

I think come the warmer temperatures I am going to see even higher MPG figures. I am hoping to get above the CVT summer time 65MPG figures. I'd love to get 70MPG on my weekly commute?

End of first week with Shifty - is the romance still there?

Oh dear, oh dear. I have had to have words with Shifty about its bad habits but I think it is playing deaf at the moment.

So what's up? Well, like all relationships communication is the key to successful partnerships and the big problem with Shifty is that it's tricky to communicate my driving wishes. OK, sure if I make extreme actions it reacts dramatically but day-to-today it's hard to live with Shifty's indifference and, at times, plain stubborness.

You see dear reader, Shifty seems to be stuck in its ways. It seems to me that there are two zones of operation that Shifty can choose: zone one - clean, green, eco-friendly, and zone two - frantic, we're in a race and who cares about the environment. However, the reality is that living in this World it has to be a compromise between the two.

Shifty in Zone One

This is where Shifty lives. It yearns forever to be in zone one and just as soon as it can it will go back to it.

I can report that in zone one the car is very efficient, reasonably quiet and quite able to make progress. I have seen values of about 56 miles per imperial gallon on a regular basis. However I have found in semi-urban and out-of-town driving that this zone is completely incompatible with other road users. In fact to drive this way would cause most, even reasonably tolerant drivers, a degree of annoyance.

Note, however, at times when the road is clear of traffic, the i-SHIFT is nice to drive. It gives an almost CVT like low-rev response. OK. Let's rephrase that to: as best can be expected with so few gears to choose from.

If you test drive an i-SHIFT and usually drive a CVT based car then it is not wise to use quiet, gently hilly, relatively slow speed roads as this will mislead you into thinking that the behaviour is quite close to your CVT. Choose major roads in rush hour, particularly entering and leaving the town limits.

Constant speed crusing above 40MPH approximately matches the CVT in terms of engine RPM and engine derived noise. The slight transmission whine of CVT is absent although I never really found it intrusive with our previous two Jazz 1.4 i-DSI SE CVT7 cars. Dual-carriageway and motorway cruising is better in the i-SHIFT than the CVT however with regard to overtaking. The i-SHIFT seems more able to pass traffic perhaps due to the more powerful engine and higher torque and power rev ranges.

Note also the i-SHIFT transmission has the same final drive ratio as the manual Jazz and shares the same 3, 4 and 5th gear ratios. The i-SHIFT also has an additional 6th gear which is absent from the manual Jazz giving the i-SHIFT a much lower reving, quieter high-speed cruise performance and even better fuel efficiency.

Shifty in Zone Two

In this zone, I would say Shifty performs just like any Euro 5 emission compliant, 1.4, litre, 16 valve petrol engined car would when driven in a "sporty" way. The major characteristic is an obvious feeling of torque from 3000 RPM to 4500 RPM with good acceleration that is slightly below average for this class of car.

Continuous zone two driving however would be seen by most other road users as aggressive. Also the higher acceleration and deceleration forces that must be adopted to keep the i-SHIFT transmission from jumping back to zone one would be pretty unbearable to passengers for anything other than the shortest of trips. Additionally I would assume there would be a large drop in fuel efficiency and higher wear on the engine and running gear.

The previous 1.4 litre CVT Jazz could not really match the performance required in this zone. If an attempt was made to drive sportily, performance would be close to a 1.0 litre, 16-valve multi-point fuel injected engined car. The i-DSI 8-valve twin-spark plug per cylinder engine had less torque delivery than the iVTEC engine, peaking about 2800RPM. My own driving experience of the CVT showed that gradual throttle control was best to maximise acceleration performance. Enthuastic throttle use caused the CVT to let the engine rev to high RPMs and as a result did not deliver the best torque. I think this behaviour was one that caused many test drivers to be put off the CVT. Shame really, since the CVT had very smooth acceleration if driven to maintain low engine revs rather than a racing engine.

How can it be in these "Zones"?

First of all this zone idea is my own thinking based on 400 miles of i-SHIFT driving so far. There isn't a Zone button to push! In fact the decision by Shifty to be in Zone 1 or 2 comes down to how assertively I move the throttle.

The use of kickdown (suddenly pressing the throttle down) will cause i-SHIFT to change down one or more gears. More immediate acceleration is then achievable. This is because i-SHIFT seems to choose a gear low enough to change the engine speed to the start of the engine's best torque range. This lower gear is then maintained for longer than would be the case for zone 1. The thinking, I guess, is to ensure that i-SHIFT doesn't interfere in any overtaking that the driver might be doing by keeping the lower gear choice for a while even if the driver backs off their acceleration.

This is what I think of as Zone 2. It can be short-lived - if the throttle actions after the kickdown are not suggestive of continuing demands for higher speeds, or the engine is not now providing a level of engine braking, then i-SHIFT will change up to the highest possible gear. This could be 1, 2 or 3 gears above the current i-SHIFT kickdown one. It can also be longer lived if throttle use continues to be aggressive and the lower gear choice is providing maximum acceleration or engine braking.

The downside of this Zone 2 behaviour is you can get inadvertantly stuck in it. To understand this, you need to think about engine braking. Engine braking is caused by choosing a lower gear and then not giving an increased throttle position to match the higher engine revs of that lower gear. I.e you are not cruising in this lower gear but instead are decelerating. I think this fools i-SHIFT into thinking you are still in the maneouver that was initiated by the kickdown so it does not change up. To overcome this you need to learn to apply enough throttle to be neither decelerating nor accelerating in the gear. Once i-SHIFT detects that, it will change to the lowest gear that could achieve this cruising more efficiently and thus return back to zone 1 behaviour.

My advice is to avoid kickdown and switch to manual operation during the overtaking maneouver and return to automatic operation once it is complete. Alternatively you can aim to become sensitive to the needs of i-SHIFT and apply enough throttle to avoid the decleration that prevents i-SHIFT from returning to higher gear operation.

Introducing the Shared Zone

So if zone one and two are inappropriate for most drivers, what's an i-SHIFT owner to do? Well the answer is you need to be the "intelligent" part of the i-SHIFT name! Instead of letting the transmission make predictable mistakes you need to step in and make the appropriate changes for it.

Suggestions:

For my regular commute I have identified fifteen areas on my journey that I need to step in and make the appropriate gear changes. For the remainder of the 80 mile round-trip the i-SHIFT makes reasonable judgments. I recommend if you're an i-SHIFT owner that you do the same. I also have built up some rules of thumb for situations that I know that I will have to take over.

These are:

• Gradual speed decrease from a speed above 35MPH prior to entering an urban limit where a 30MPH limit is in force. There is a tendency for i-SHIFT to stay in a high gear and it's then easy to inadvertantly exceed the limit. 
• Without me interfering, Shifty will be in 5th gear at 30MPH. (The i-VTEC engine is designed to be able to cope with this very low rpm without damage and I can report there is no labouring of the engine that would cause damage - I believe the variable valve timing of the engine assists here.)
  
  To reduce accidental increase in speed I switch to manual mode, change to 4th gear and switch back to automatic control. Unless the road speed goes above 33-35 MPH the i-SHIFT won't switch back to 5th gear.
• An alternative approach is to stay in automatic mode. Decrease to 25MPH - Shifty changes to 4th. Increase speed to 30MPH. No upward change will occur until above 33-35MPH.
• 
  Starting off from rest on a decent in automatic keeps transmission in 1st gear unless the road flattens out. You could argue that Shifty is correct to do this. After all the maximum engine braking on steep descent would be by using 1st gear. However, most drivers, mainly to reduce drawing attention to themselves by making excessive noise and to reduce wear and tear due to the high reving engine (easily 3000 RPM in 1st on descent) would choose 2nd and use regular dabs on the footbrake to control speed. This approach can also be achieved using the i-SHIFT "deep snow", 2nd gear start behaviour.
• With the car at rest, ready to move off with the gear selector showing A1, tap the up-shift + floor shift or the + steering wheel paddle. 2 will show in the display (i.e. manual 2). Move off. The transmission will now remain in 2nd gear until the first time the road speed goes above 10MPH. After this has occured then, if  speed drops below 10MPH again, i-SHIFT will change into 1st gear again. After the descent use the gear-shift to switch back to automatic.
• Leaving a 30MPH limt. There is a tendency for i-SHIFT to change into 5th at 32 - 35MPH and then to 6th at 37-39MPH. This really reduces acceleration effectiveness and tends to inconvenience following traffic. I believe for most people this is a major dislike of the car. Two approaches to overcome this:
• If you stay in i-SHIFT auto mode, then you must make a smooth but assertive increasing throttle movement. Not as fast as would generate a kickdown but enough and to hint to i-SHIFT that a higher gear at this moment would not be appropriate If your acceleration request is too gentle a change from 4th to 5th will occur at 32-35MPH and 5th to 6th at 37-39MPH. If your request is too enthusiastic i-SHIFT will change down to 3rd.
  The key to i-SHIFT living is to balance cruising, against progessive acceleration, against enthusiastic acceleration.  This is a driving skill and over time you learn to match throttle movement with increasing engine speed to ensure neither upward or downward inappropriate changes are made.
• If you prefer to use manual mode to prevent the upshift, then at the moment of reaching the end of the limit, switch to manual, accelerate in 4th (from 30MPH) and when you reach crusing speed, say 45/50 MPH switch to auto again. Do this and you will not feel like you're holding up following traffic.
• Exiting roundabouts often seems confuse i-SHIFT. It seems to change to a higher gear at a very inappropriate time. This can be disconcerting because acceleration will be poorer. Use the same workaround as for exiting 30MPH speed limits: either use manual mode prior to exiting the roundabout so you can fully control the gear selection, or progressively accelerate in such a way that i-SHIFT does not change up too early. I tend to use manual mode at roundabouts because the exits tend to be too sharp to make sufficient acceleration to stay in a lower gear.
• Tendency to stay in 1st gear too long when accelerating from rest at traffic lights, junctions, etc. This really is something that CVT users will be sensitive to since they are used to hearing reving engines! In fact the i-SHIFT cannot make an upward change to 2nd below 10MPH so the reving engine noise is just something you have to get used to. It is no different to that experienced by manual transmission drivers. Avoid using the snow-start technique - starting off from rest in 2nd in manual mode then switching to auto later. When using 2nd gear starting i-SHIFT has to slip the clutch which will cause premature wearing.

I can't be bothered with this sharing responsibility malarky.

If you don't want to help the i-SHIFT controller, then you just stay in manual mode for all operations. The downside of this is that you miss out on some of the savings in efficiency brought by allowing i-SHIFT to work most of the time. It's true, sometimes i-SHIFT can be annoying and makes some silly mistakes but it also never gets tired watching what's going on with engine speed and gear selection; usually it won't hold on to lower gears too long - this is where fuel and emissions savings can be had. Also you do get a whole extra gear 6th gear in the i-SHIFT that the manual car does not have.

My Recommendations

If you've got an i-SHIFT then I recommend you share the gear changing responsibilities and not expect i-SHIFT to see the road ahead, or guess what you plan to do. Instead, if what is going to happen is likely to be unexpected by i-SHIFT then you need to switch to manual mode and make the changes to help it out. If you're new to i-SHIFT then make a real effort to try to learn how to use the throttle alone to prevent i-SHIFT from changing gear at the wrong moment for you. It should become second nature with practice.

And drive responsibly! If you know you're going to be in a situation where you absolutely need to be in control of gear changing - i.e. if an incorrect automatic change is likely to cause you an issue at that moment - then change to manual mode and do gear changes yourself until the moment passes.

And, with everything said, yes I still do love the our new Jazz i-SHIFT. It's not at all like the wonderfully driveable, clever CVT that's true. It can never be. In fact I now fully appreciate why having as many "gears" a CVT has makes sure that it has none of the problems mentioned about the i-SHIFT.

Let's hope Honda is brave and ignores the motoring journalists' opinion about CVT over-reving behaviour and brings the Honda Jazz hybrid with a CVT transmission option to the UK. If they do, it won't be long before we'll be driving one. Until then, I'll have to learn to share gear changing responsibility.

The new car..

We introduced ourselves to each other over a drive deep into the Scottish Borders. Peebles to IShifty's new home via Mountbenger, Selkirk and Lauder. Eighty miles of twisty mostly single track roads.


View Dunkv's first 2010 Jazz I-shift trip in a larger map

So, what was it like then? CVT to I-SHIFT? The short answer is slightly scary. The CVT required so little throttle and rewarded you with a gentle and consistant acceleration or deceleration through engine braking. IShifty doesn't have an infinite number of gears between the lowest and the highest - only six. So there are going to be some very noticable differences for CVT drivers. Ex-manual, automated manual and non-CVT drivers will not really appreciate this difference.

Here is how I would typically accelerate to 60MPH on the level in my previous CVT in light traffic from rest. Select Drive, gently accelerate engine speed from idle to 2200 rpm over a period of 20 seconds. Initally the engine speed would move to 1200 and remain there until the maximum road speed in the highest ratio was achieved (approx 35MPH) then I would (intuitively) increase the engine speed gaining a matching increase in road speed until 2200 rpm was reached and 60 mph achieved. This is possible by the gearbox changing the pulley sizes to give increasingly higher ratios by going through many steps (although probably not than 30 - a guess - or more but certainly not perceptable as "gears").

In the I-SHIFT there is an immediate lack of gears. Only six. Therefore there is a need to return to the less refined sawtooth engine speed relative to a linearly increasing roadspeed model. So like non-CVT automatics, automated manuals (like I-SHIFT) or manuals, you have to accelerate the engine in repeated bursts to gain speed. So the 0 to 60MPH goes 1st gear idle to 2000RPM, 2nd gear 1000RPM to 2000RPM and so forth.

This isn't all straightforward because the I-VTEC can do clever things with the engine intake valve opening times to increase torque allowing more higher gears to be selected earlier than would have been the case in the previous i-DSI engine used in the CVT Jazz I had. Although the i-DSI did have a clever mechanism of firing its twin spark plugs per cylinder either at the same moment or staggered to gain torque too.

So in short you have to give the I-SHIFT a lot more throttle and assert more revs in regular bursts to gain speed even. This is really only an issue for Jazz CVT and other CVT experienced drivers.

Today's conclusion: I-SHIFT does seem a giant step backwards from CVT but I believe issues with:

• gearbox service life (it needed high quality lubricants, careful servicing staff)
• apparent emission targets
• almost universal motoring journal dislike.

All these points seemed to have stopped the CVT in the Jazz being the auto option for Europe. Thankfully the Japanese market continues to use them and hopefully we'll see the Hybrid Jazz with a CVT option in the UK if the forthcoming (Summer 2010) CRZ transmission options are anything to go by. If so then I recommend it!

So, I am going through the process of relearning the sawtooth approach to gaining speed. I miss the silky smooth, low reving CVT but don't get me wrong, there is lots right about the 2010 Jazz and note the I-SHIFT isn't totally awful. It's just that ex-CVT folks will have to remember life before their CVT days :)

My own experience of CVT life expectency: My last Jazz CVT had travelled 115 000 and although there was a slight sluggishness with the engagement of the start-clutch when moving off from 110 000. It drove perfectly. Of course I never stressed it, regularly had the CVT oil changed with the Honda CVT-F oil - the only transmission oil that should ever go into your Jazz CVT transmission.

It all starts here...

On Sunday, 24th January, A and I committed to purchase a brand new Honda Jazz 1.4 i-VTEC SE i-SHIFT in Storm Silver metalic paint. We didn't need any of the manufacturer accessories but did go for floor mats and mudflaps added as dealer accessories. Lucky for us our dealer in Peebles, Scotland, UK had the car in their compound so could deliver the car immediately.

This is the third car we've bought from this dealer. All servicing of our cars have been with Honda dealers all but three services with the one in Peebles.

Choosing the i-SHIFT automated manual transmission is a really big thing for us. We were both used to the brilliant constantly variable ratio transmission (CVT) that was fitted to our two previous Honda Jazz cars, a 2003 model and a 2005 model. We cover approximately 25 000 miles each year quickly adding many miles to our cars. Both previous Honda's survived this distance very well. Our last car left us with an odometer reading of 115 000 miles. In it's life it had an alternator fault at 70 000 miles and that's all. Nothing failed. We decided to change cars rather than investing in preventative replacement of major components.

Our dealer sold our old car off their forecourt even considering its high mileage - a tribute to the hard-wearing interior which showed no noticeable wear over the mileage. Outside the paint was perfect in all areas that hadn't suffered from life's knocks. A life of impressive stone chips, touched-up with a colour pencil, a scratch to the corner of the rear bumper thanks to a clumsy neighbour, fixed at the dealer's bodyshop, a crease in the passenger door added at another dealership although they wouldn't accept blame, a whole replacement front bumper as a result of that same dealer spilling refrigerant on it and damaging the paint (they had no choice but to accept liability), and  finally a series of horrid dents across the whole roof as a result of high-spirited kids sitting, walking or dancing (who knows) on the car overnight, repaired to almost unnoticeable by A's Dad (a manager of a car bodyshop).

The exterior was looked after by Autoglym products - bodywork shampoo conditioner, Aqua-Wax and vinyl and rubber protector. Engine bay was kept clean using Muc-Off and protected by the Autoglym vinyl and rubber protector. Interior fabrics and carpet were kept clean and plumped up using a Dyson DC-16.

Engine oil used from 90 000 miles with 6 000 mile change frequency was  Castrol Edge 0w30 (Fuel saver). Fuel used during the whole life of the car was Shell Optimax then Shell V-Power. From 25 000 miles tyres changed to Yokohama C.Drive with massive reduction in tyre noise from the Potenza stock tyres. Headlamps were changed from stock to Philips EcoVision (10% brighter using less power) and side/position lamps switched to Osram Cool Blue 501/W5W which contrary to the name produce a very bright closer to daylight light.

CVT fluid used was always checked to be Honda's CVT-F and not Honda's ATF-Z1 which used to be used but was found by Honda not to be up to the job. After 50 000 CVT oil change, a 25 000 mile change interval was made instead of the 37 500 mile change frequency suggested by Honda mainly due to comments made by other Jazz CVT owners on various forums.

Valve adjustments were made at 25 000 mile intervals. In every case the the mechanic loosened the valves. Thinking about preventative maintenance the auxillary drive belt was replaced at 60 000 miles. Fuel filter at 60 000 miles.

At 85 000 a noise attributed by the Dealer as piston slap started. I was reassured by the dealer that although noisy it was nothing to be concerned abour. It was present during the rest of the life of the car and never became an issue to us. As explained in my post on Honest John this noise only occured for the first few minutes of engine running and only at times when the air temperature at start-up was less than 4 degrees Celcius. Even with temperaures lower than -15 degrees Celcius the noise was present for no more than few minutes. One arguable discovery was the slap noise was less pronounced and quicker to disappear after starting after the switch to the 0w30 oil. Wasn't looking for this to occur just a lucky accident.

One main area of unexpected and regular required maintenance (every 12 000 miles) related to the back disc brakes. To prevent the handbrake from being ineffectual, the removal of the disc pads, cleaning of caliper slides, lubrication and reassembly was an absolute necessity. We think of this as one of the car's quirks living with the £30 labour charge each time to perform this. Our first Jazz had drum brakes on the rear and didn't suffer from this issue.

At 100 000 miles one of the rear metal brake pipes was corroding and needed replaced. The other was advised for replacement at 112 000 miles.

Enough about the old, let's bring in the new - we'll see how the new i-shift with its i-VTEC engine and its i-SHIFT gearbox gets on. In fact that's what this blog is all about - the differences between CVT living and i-SHIFTing.

On Sunday 31st January we take ownership and the journey really begins...

A typical road for our holiday journeys