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Play de-misty for me

Your recent cover story about the Honda Jazz makes interesting reading, but I should like to add a few points. I bought a new 1.4i DSI SE CVT-7 at the end of 2008, which was one of the last cars imported from China, before the new model with I-Shift. In addition to its marvellous accommodation, the one thing that has impressed me is the very sweet engine/transmission. What a shame Honda had to change it. Although my car is used half the time for 3-mile-out and 3-mile-back journeys, it has averaged 39mpg over 6,000 miles. I find it hard to believe that Ann Kaye gets 50 mpg over her mainly 25 mile commute, I suspect this is just an instantaneous figure and not a long term average. The only fault of the car (as mentioned in honest john's website but not in the cover story) in my opinion, is the tyre roar, which above 40mph makes listening to classic FM impossible. Another small niggle is that the windscreen mists up after a cold winters start (the aircon is on all year round), it is easy enough to control by fumbling with the air control.

Asked on 3 April 2010 by J.M., Westerham

Answered by Honest John
The way to demist with a/c is to switch to recirculate, switch the a/c on, turn the heater to warm and turn the fan on. That then sends the air inside the car through the heater matrix, which dries it. Logical, when you think about it. The reason for your comparatively poor economy is that during your 3 mile there and three mile back journeys from cold starts the engine is always 'on choke'. A 25 mile commute will be 3 - 5 miles on choke and the rest at normal running temperature at which the engine will be most efficient. The first years production of the new Jazz for the UK came from Japan. Swindon only started building them in October 2009. The Honda Insight still has the CVT-7 transmission.
Dear Honest John,

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