Does anyone take notice of that gearchange lamp?

[guest934]

I do for the first 3 gears but to ask you to change to fifth at 35 mph up a hill is a bit silly.


I am suprised at the engines flexibility though (I guess that has something to do with the i VTEC system) where it does have a good surge of torque between 2500-3000 rpm. My only gripe about the gearbox (good unit - smooth changes) is that top gear is not really tall enough for motorway cruising (but maybe my complaint is due to the fact I been driving diesels for a decade)

[Garyman]

It depends on the mood I'm in but I do tend to change gears when it lights up.

Considering my previous car was the high rev-ing Civic Type R (EP3), I do tend to rev the engine a bit from time to time

[ThomP]

I use it almost the opposite way:)
In the low gears I pay more attention to the needs for acceleration and comfort, but once I reach "cruising speed" I use the indicator. I assume Honda know what they are doing so when it tells me to go to fifth at 45 km/h I believe the engine is built to handle it - of course I shift down for acceleration or going up a hill (and the indicator will also show that). Without the indicator I would NEVER go that slow in fifth!

[Garyman]

So do much people pay attention to the shift light?

Does it really help with economy?

As per above, it sometimes feel like the car is struggling when say, you change up to 5th when doing 25-30mph. I just change up to 5th as I hate seeing the light lit up and annoys me sometimes 

[eljuero]

Usually I don't boder with the shift light. Only if I want to drive in eco mode.
But monitoring the car computer you can easily see that driving in higher gear is more economic, even up a hill.
Does anyone else skip gear? If I don't need to accelerate much I change from second to fourth or third to fifth gear

[RichardA]

My Civic had something very similar - green lights lit on one side of the speedo when driving economically, amber on the other side when not.

I never really took much notice myself.

[Garyman]

Does anyone else skip gear? If I don't need to accelerate much I change from second to fourth or third to fifth gear

Yeah, I sometimes do this too Saso 

[dogbiscuit]

No I don’t take any notice of the gear change lamps. I assume they are programmed for maximising fuel economy rather than enjoyable driving. Unlike the i-dsi I find you have to rev the i-vtec engine to get it to come alive.

Regarding the comment about the top gear not being really tall enough for motorway cruising, I’m finding the new Jazz a lot more relaxing for motorway driving. I think it’s possibly the most significant improvement over the old model though I did like the low rev torque of the i-dsi.

Does anyone know if the automatic gear changes on an i-shift would happen at the same point as the lamps would suggest a gear change on the manual?

[guest516]

Hi Sorry  can't say if manual & i-shift change at the same speed & revs but the i-shift does change from 3rd to 5th  or 4th to 6th if it decides road conditions & style of driving call for it. Also it does not always change gear at the same revs/road speed
Annoying feature is on an undulating road it can rapidly change 3rd to 5th back to 4th then 6th back to 3rd
Good then that if you know the road take control & select 4th that's the advantage of  the i-shift over the CVT
Enjoy driving your Jazz
Oui-oui age 75

[guest516]

What was I thinking of ?
I-shift has 6 gears - manual box 5 gears
different ratios so no comparison
Oui-oui

[guest1370]

I think this is one of the best features, especially when first driven, to ascertain the sound of the engine revs, which ultimately leads to maximum fuel economy.

[guest1521]

1.2 v-tec manual box... I do... according to what I can see and/or anticipate of road conditions ahead while keeping with the traffic flow - at least.

[jm0128]

its a gimmick linked to rev counter 

[guest3312]

ive never used a tach or up-shift lamp. ive ALWAYS gone by the sound of the engine. For better or worse, its how I do it. I think it gets you more in touch with the engine or some philosophical crap like that
my fit/jazz is auto w/ paddle shifters and ive never once looked at the tachometer. In all previous cars its been the same way(but manual shift)

[guest3250]

As a driver of a few more years than I care to mention and having driven all sorts over the years
I tend to go by a combination of the situatiion at the time and the rev counter.
I have always used a rev counter (and my ears) extensively.
Diesels have the torque peak much lower than petrols and the Jazz Torque is way high up the rev band (a pity!)
The Variable timing kind of half compensates. However, despite it being smooth and flexable, there is
not a lot of grunt below 2500 RPM - sure it will pull, without grumbling, in 5th from below 1000RPM
but not with any reall power - fine for tickling it along and letting it gradually speed up.
But if the road has just miraculously opened up and you have been in heavy slow going traffic - for goodness sake make sure you change down or else you will have a whole load of other cars up your derrier.
In my experience it doesn't hurt, in the great scheme of things, to change down and use the higher revs to get going - so long as you get it changed up and cruising you will still get good MPG
(Edit: - sorry- grean change up/down lamp?? Nah totally ignor it as I do on my wife's Smart car too.)