FROM: Ian Bee SUBJECT: Honda HRV DATE: Sun, 28 Apr 2002 19:54:46 +0930 ORGANIZATION: ihug (Adelaide) NEWSGROUPS: aus.cars.offroad Can anyone tell me without any bias, if my Honda HRV ( not the CRV ) is capable of crossing the Painted Desert, 2 people & camping gear. This vehicle was purchased 3 years ago new, and has had no modifications except for ever so slightly wider tyres ( 20 mm. ) and a proper spare tyre to replace that awful space saving device ( that should be illegal!!!!). I will be staying on roads & tracks at all times, I am not that adventureous, I simply need to know if this vehicle is capable of the trip, pending reasonable weather conditions. All comments will be greatly appreciated. Ian BEE Adelaide FROM: dash8driver SUBJECT: Re: Honda HRV - across muddy tracks and 3 deserts DATE: Mon, 29 Apr 2002 17:08:45 +1000 NEWSGROUPS: aus.cars.offroad Ian Bee wrote: > Can anyone tell me without any bias, if my Honda HRV ( not the CRV ) is > capable of crossing the Painted Desert, 2 people & camping gear. > > This vehicle was purchased 3 years ago new, and has had no modifications > except for ever so slightly wider tyres ( 20 mm. ) and a proper spare > tyre to replace that awful space saving device ( that should be > illegal!!!!). > > I will be staying on roads & tracks at all times, I am not that > adventureous, I simply need to know if this vehicle is capable of the > trip, pending reasonable weather conditions. > > All comments will be greatly appreciated. > > Ian BEE > Adelaide Ian, Last year I took my wifes 5 door HRV , and my CRV in a convoy of 2 GU Nissan Patrols and a Pajero and Challenger across australia from sydney to wittenoom/newman in WA off road all the way up to Uluru via the desert tracks then back to sydney via darwin ,cairns, fraser island and brisbane then coffs harbour and stopped for a last bash along stockton beach in newcastle before getting back to sydney.....so you wont have any problems if you plan to stay on sealed roads. As with most honda CRV/HRV drivers , I was scoffed at so many times before the trip that I made it a mission to get my 2 honda's across if i had to push them all the way - and guess what ? both cars breezed up big red and all the other sand dunes they came across and practically shut the anti-honda comments down for the rest of the trip. the honda real-time system is not ideal , but works well enough for its intended purpose as a form of "traction control not 4WD" , the only time it worried me was when we struck rain along a slippery stretch of the strezlecki track and another time while sightseeing in the pilbara ranges , in the deep mud the system overheated and shut down intermittently because of the constant front wheel spin to keep the hydraulics pressurised and the rear wheels driving , and on loose shingle/shale/pebbles the slipping front AND rear wheels confused the hydraulic pumps and valves (i think) , and some times we would throw up a rooster tail from random wheels but stand still. the only mods the HRV/CRV had were chunky BFG mudterrain tyres and standard honda roof racks and tow bars. no mechanical failures other than 2 punctures on the CRV (both front tyres were a throw away item at the end of the trip because of the constant spin/slip they had to endure to maintain 4WD for long periods at a time) the HRV suffered from a bout of wheeziness and ran out of puff on a couple of quite steep climbs with the aircon going and lowered tyre pressures etc etc but got through in low gear and a bit of momentum. so have faith in the the little HRV , its a better car than most people give it credit for (especially the 4X4 mags that think only in steel bullbars a 8inch lift kit and double diff locks) , and it handles a real breeze around town once you get the hang of the CVT auto transmission. I sold the 5 door HRV and the 99 model CRV both with 80K+ on the clock and not a single failure or breakage/breakdown to speak of In February I bought the new CRV and fitted it with Bridgestone D693 all terrain tyres for the wife and am corrently rebuilding (as a saturday afternoon project) another 5 door 2000 model HRV that had some interior fire damage and some vandalised panels.....interior is A1 now with a leather fitout and the panel work as new , just fiddling with the rear diff now to see if I can get it to play more of an active role instead of being pulled around , just need some workshop manuals or technical oinfo on the system before i start making any drastic modifications...........like a jackson supercharger ??? . cheers dash8. FROM: dash8driver SUBJECT: Re: Honda HRV - across muddy tracks and 3 deserts DATE: Wed, 01 May 2002 16:21:21 +1000 NEWSGROUPS: aus.cars.offroad wow , didnt expect so many personal replies !! Ive cut'n'pasted this reply to the original topic starter (Ian Bee) because basically everyone thats emailed me has asked almost the same thing , honda ought to have a phone-in question hotline I reckon. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Subject: Honda - HRV Date: Wed, 01 May 2002 16:08:57 +1000 From: dash8driver To: apptec@ihug.com.au <<>> <<>> There is no "sensor" as such , rather a simple (cheap) pump that is driven by the rotation of the front drive shaft/axles. also in the rear diff assembly is another such pump. both pumps share the the same hydraulic fluid in a kind of "loop circuit" that terminates inside the rear diffential containing a small clutch assembly. if either pump speeds up the axle that drives that pump is obviously turning faster (wheelspin) and therefor the quicker turning pump has a slightly higher hydraulic pressure , this moves the clutchpack to "engage/disengage" . the amount of torque being transmitted to the rear wheels is proportional to the pressure given to the clutchpack to stay engaged , and Ive noticed a fair amount if slip , which can only mean that the rear wheels will always get less torque than the front until the clutch pack is rammed home firmly and the front wheels continue to spin at least 5% faster than the rears (Im guessing here from what I saw on a dynotest at autotune) so when both pumps are turning at the same speed (the front axle and rear axles are rotating together - ie -dry sealed road) then the rear diff clutch pack is open and the engine drives the gearbox-front wheels- rear wheel drive shaft up to the clutchpack and the back wheels just get pulled along. bottom line is the system only "nudges" the rear wheels along in little intermittant bursts as and when the front wheels slip....not good. the fluids and clutch assembly are prone to heat up as in every hydraulic system or any slipping clutch. a simple $15 thermal overload-fluid expansion valve protects the rear diff from cooking itself or blowing a seal and , bingo , you are back in front wheel drive only and very bogged. (until it cools) the whole setup is very simple and cheap to duplicate and this must be the only reason honda went this way , instead of the engine driving a viscous coupling and both front/rear wheels constantly driven from it....like... rav4/forrester/wrx/liberty/santa fe/m class/and all the others. the honda system is basically HALF of the ford escape/mazda tribute/x-trail 4WD system , these cars work like the honda all the time (front drive until the front wheels spin) the difference is that ford/mazda/nissan spent a few more yen to fit a simple electrical solenoid like that found in every starter motor to keep the clutchpac engaged and the rear wheels driven , by pressing a button on the dash. <<>> I dont think there would be any wheelspin at that speed. you'd be screaming along in frontdrive only.....and scareing the locals witless. I once saw a hooning teenager roll a new $100,000+ landcruiser at 80kmh+ in sand at boat harbour and that convinced me to keep to about 40-50 kmph in sand and clay. outback roads are okay though , just remember that when its wet , clay is 100 times more slimey than wet tarseal....and cornering at speed is , well , best left to possum bourne and his mates , not the little honda. <<>> nah.... <<>> Im no expert Ian , just someone who got curious and dismantled half my car to satisfy myself. would still like to get my hands on the manuals and specs for the HRV/CRV rear diff , one day ! cheers Reg. (ps) I am cross posting this reply under my original post on the NG board because Ive had 28 personal replies to that one post.