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1.8 Civic 2012 - Hard to get full throttle - Bigsphinx

Is there a fault with my car? I find I have to almost push my foot through the floor to get full throttle and it makes the car very tiring to drive. If I do 30 miles on mixed dual carriageways with loads of roaundabouts my foot actually hurts after pressing the pedal so hard. At half throttle it feels as though there is an extra set of springs that I have to press through to get the throttle open.

I've ask two Honda garages if they can adjust the throttle cable or where full throttle occurs but they will not help, just offered to look at it for £40. Is there something wrong with the electronics that can be fixed or a part replaced? The car is still under guarantee.

Thanks

1.8 Civic 2012 - Hard to get full throttle - Railroad.

Puting aside for a minute that the car is under warranty, as you say, it does sound like there's something obviously wrong. Do you have a friend or a neighbour with sufficient technical knowledge who could look at it, even if you can't yourself? Failing that I'd go back to the dealer, and if it is covered by warranty they should fix it.

Having said that you may think you have a warranty when you actually haven't. New car warranties are often not transferable, meaning that when the original owner sells the car the warranty ends there and then. If you bought the car second hand you would have an initial warranty period covered by the sale of goods act, or you may have purchased a warranty with the car, in which case it should be covered as long as it hasn't expired.

1.8 Civic 2012 - Hard to get full throttle - RobJP

Does this car have 'driving modes', or something similar ? A lot of current cars have the throttle response dulled to aid fuel economy in the official tests, if the car has a 'power' or 'sports' mode then see if it gives a bit more oomph using that.

1.8 Civic 2012 - Hard to get full throttle - Bigsphinx

Thank you for replying. I never use the Eco button. It's like someone has just tied a large caravan to the back of the car and it made b*****-all difference to fuel economy when I did try it for a while.

1.8 Civic 2012 - Hard to get full throttle - Bigsphinx

Thanks for the reply. It is still under guarantee until Feb 2016 and the next full service has already been paid for. So you can assumed I'm trying to find everything wrong. But don't take me wrong, this is a problem that has made me investigate chopping the car in after only 6 months and ruins the pleasure of driving it.

I am hoping someone more knowledgeable than I will be able to say "It's the throttle cordwangle butterfly ecu" or something.

1.8 Civic 2012 - Hard to get full throttle - Bolt

Have you checked out the Honda Civic forums, often a good one to try is civinfo for 1, but I think there has been problems with the accelerator pedal sender as its electronic. or pedal position sender

some have suffered flat spots and holding back till you press past that flat point then sudden acceleration so if they check it out that might be the problem

1.8 Civic 2012 - Hard to get full throttle - Bigsphinx

Thank you for your reply. I've been a member of that forum for many years but (so far) haven't found anything relevant.

1.8 Civic 2012 - Hard to get full throttle - skidpan

Is there a fault with my car? I find I have to almost push my foot through the floor to get full throttle and it makes the car very tiring to drive

Its a fact that every car made requires you to press the pedal all the way down to get full throttle so no fault there. On some cars there is a device that adds extra resistance to the pedal near the bottom to discourage you, they say its to help economy, does the Honda have one fitted. Our Kia did and the Nissan does.

But how often do you actually need full throttle. I am a press on driver but rarely need to push the pedal all the way down, only ever do it during overtakes when you need to get past ASAP. In normal driving excellent progress can be made using way less than full throttle.

1.8 Civic 2012 - Hard to get full throttle - Bolt

VSA or vehicle stability assist maybe why,

try turning it off, but be carefull it allows full accelerater response,switched on everything is controlled by the Computer to prevent wheelspin skid & overrevving ie rev limiter, I did try it off once but torque steer made me put it on again

Some say it doesnt work but I think it does, but if its faulty a light (vsa) comes up

Unless the accelerater pedal sender is faulty

1.8 Civic 2012 - Hard to get full throttle - old-school-tech

I think you need to get someone else to drive it for you, A friend or someone, just to make sure there is actually a problem and it's not just a characteristic of your car.

I would have said on an older model that the first thing to check would be the way the throttle cable is routed, A twisted cable, or one that is routed with sharp bends in it will become very stiff to depress, but I am sure your car is "drive by wire" which means it doesn't have a throttle cable, instead it has an electronic pedal with a control module attached to it that measures where the pedal is.

Make sure before you go any further that your carpet or mat isn't preventing the pedal from hitting the floor, or that there isn't anything else in the way (an old stiletto or flip flop LoL)

(might sound silly, but if i had a pound for every womans car that i've driven that had a pair of shoes on the drivers floor i'd be...slightly better off)

1.8 Civic 2012 - Hard to get full throttle - Bigsphinx

I am sure your car is "drive by wire" which means it doesn't have a throttle cable, instead it has an electronic pedal with a control module attached to it that measures where the pedal is.

Make sure before you go any further that your carpet or mat isn't preventing the pedal from hitting the floor, or that there isn't anything else in the way (an old stiletto or flip flop LoL)

(might sound silly, but if i had a pound for every womans car that i've driven that had a pair of shoes on the drivers floor i'd be...slightly better off)

Thanks for the reply. Yes it is drive by wire. I've also found the VTec isn't like the ones of old with DOC instead it is SOC with an extra set of valves that open. So most of the time it's a 12 valve engine but give it stick and 4 more valves open. A bit of a misleading claim on Honda's part I think.

1.8 Civic 2012 - Hard to get full throttle - Bigsphinx

VSA or vehicle stability assist maybe why,

try turning it off, but be carefull it allows full accelerater response,switched on everything is controlled by the Computer to prevent wheelspin skid & overrevving ie rev limiter, I did try it off once but torque steer made me put it on again

Some say it doesnt work but I think it does, but if its faulty a light (vsa) comes up

Unless the accelerater pedal sender is faulty

Thanks I'll try turning it off.

1.8 Civic 2012 - Hard to get full throttle - Bigsphinx

But how often do you actually need full throttle. I am a press on driver but rarely need to push the pedal all the way down, only ever do it during overtakes when you need to get past ASAP. In normal driving excellent progress can be made using way less than full throttle.

The 1.8 Civic has very high gearing for the sake of economy. With no turbo charger and only twiddly valves to get it moving, there is little torque. This means to make rapid progress one has to drive with the revs at 4000 to 5000 and leaving the car in lower gears until the cruising speed is attained.

Of course, the flip side to this is that 4000 is only just over half way up the rev range and that second half is where the fun is to be found. Most diesels struggle to get above 4000 revs.

To make normal high speed progress one has to pust the pedal to the floor or change down a gear or two. The latter becomes tiring especially on the Brighton to Southampton road which has about a million roundabouts interspersed with 70mph stretches. We've tried to count them all but ther are so many we lose count. Or fall asleep!

I've learned to do swift 6th to 4th gear at 60mph to keep up with the traffic but wish Honda would offer a better petrol engine across their range.

1.8 Civic 2012 - Hard to get full throttle - Bolt

Most diesels struggle to get above 4000 revs.

Not so sure about that

2.2 civic diesel is in my opinion better than 1.8 petrol,apart from slight turbo lag, its faster on acceleration and pulls quick at low revs which is usefull and wont struggle to get to 4.500revs, limiter comes in 4750 I think, never does less than 45mpg which these days is low compared to 1.6 diesel now on any car

1.8 wasnt turbo`d because Honda were doing well with VTEC, but now competition has forced them to go over to turbo and seems to work well ie new Type R and will be interesting to see what the 1.5 turbo petrol will be like?

1.8 Civic 2012 - Hard to get full throttle - Bigsphinx

Most diesels struggle to get above 4000 revs.

Not so sure about that

2.2 civic diesel is in my opinion better than 1.8 petrol,apart from slight turbo lag, its faster on acceleration and pulls quick at low revs which is usefull and wont struggle to get to 4.500revs, limiter comes in 4750 I think, never does less than 45mpg which these days is low compared to 1.6 diesel now on any car

1.8 wasnt turbo`d because Honda were doing well with VTEC, but now competition has forced them to go over to turbo and seems to work well ie new Type R and will be interesting to see what the 1.5 turbo petrol will be like?

My last car was the 2.2 diesel which redlined at 4500. I loved the engine but the new 2.2 diesel (no longer available) is not the same. I test drove it and was very disappointed with the performance, Honda have removed any fun from it plus the heavy lump in front makes the handling a huge difference from the 8th generation 2.2. It also has essence of tractor in it which the 1.8 removes, being near silent around town. The 2.2 was over £4000 higher cost than the same spec 1.8 I bought.

My milage has shrunk, is mainly around town in short two or three mile trips. This makes the Honda diesel a bad buy because of the need to clear the DPF. The fuel cost difference is negligible for me with the real cost difference less than a couple of quid every three weeks even now diesel is lower price.

I reluctantly bought the petrol car, thinking it would only be for a year or so and I could put up with it. After all the next major service is paid for, it's still under Honda's guarantee so I shouldn't have to worry. I had to have a car my 90 year old ma could fit in easily and the Civic does that perfectly. However, within 6 months I have grown to dislike it because of the long gearing, lack of torque, need to scream the engine, blah, blah, blah.

1.8 Civic 2012 - Hard to get full throttle - Bolt

Thank you for your reply. I've been a member of that forum for many years but (so far) haven't found anything relevant.

http://www.civinfo.com/forum/type-r/7348-type-r-flat-spot.html

Its on a type R the problem but system is the same, though problems differ they can be caused by the same thing just a thought anyway

1.8 Civic 2012 - Hard to get full throttle - Bigsphinx

Thank you for your reply. I've been a member of that forum for many years but (so far) haven't found anything relevant.

http://www.civinfo.com/forum/type-r/7348-type-r-flat-spot.html

Its on a type R the problem but system is the same, though problems differ they can be caused by the same thing just a thought anyway

Thanks. That sounds awfully familiar as well as the Honda reply in the post you sent me to.