Honda Econ Button: What is it & When should you use it?

Did you noticed the green button in your Honda on your dashboard, but you do not know what will happen if you enable it?

We get these questions very often from both Honda and other car brand owners.

That’s why I decided to write about the function of this mysterious button and when you should use it.

We will begin with some necessary information about the Econ button and further down in the article, and you will find in-depth details on what functions of your car that this button changes and how you can use it most efficiently.

What is the Honda Econ Button?

In these days, all the big car manufacturers are chasing for having the best car, regarding efficient fuel-consumption and environment. Every day they are coming up with new functions and ways to reduce fuel consumption. This is the reason why Honda decided to fit this button into their cars.

You can often find the Econ button in Honda Civic, Accord, CR-V & Odyssey, but also in other Honda models. It’s a relatively new function, and you will not find it in older Honda models. 

As you may suspect, the Honda Econ button does affect and lowers the fuel consumption, which in the long turn are better for the environment. But how does it affect the fuel-consumption and when should I use it and when shouldn’t you use it? Let’s find out!

Which functions does the Honda Econ button affect when enabled?

When you are enabling the Honda Econ button, a lot of things in your cars electrical system is affected even if you can’t see it. Your car has several different control units for each function of your car and these can control almost all parts in your car. 

Here are some of the functions that the Honda Econ button affects:

1. Fuel Injection

The engine control unit is always controlling how much fuel it should inject into the engine. However, to be able to function in all different climates and different driving styles, there is always a small marginal to make the car even efficient. When you want your car to be as fuel-efficient as possible, you will most likely need the best performance of your vehicle.

This is the marginal that the engine control unit can reduce and inject lesser fuel into the engine which gives better fuel-consumption.

2. Air conditioner

Even if you are not thinking about it, the air condition is using a lot of energy when you are driving your car. The AC compressor, fan and other parts in the air conditioner needs the energy to function. To be able to produce enough energy for these functions, the engine has to work harder to provide it with the help of the alternator and the serpentine belt to the AC compressor. This results in a higher fuel-consumption to produce this energy.

By lowering the effect of the Air condition system, you can save a lot of energy and therefore reducing fuel consumption. This is a function that the Econ Button affects.

3. Throttle Response

When you are driving, it could be easy to use a bit of too much gas when you are not using it. Nowadays, you are not having a throttle cable between your pedal and the throttle body. These things are controlled by the engine control units which are reading the value from your pedal and sending it to your throttle body.

Because of this, the engine control unit can make the throttle body less sensitive and reducing the opening of the throttle body. This saves a lot of fuel only to use the acceleration pedal when you have to. 

4. Transmission Gear Shifting

If you have an automatic transmission, the Econ button does also affect the gear shiftings for you. The transmission control units are feeling all parameters like the speed and engine RPM to know when it’s time to shift gear.

By shifting gears earlier than usual, it will be able the keep a low RPM of your engine and therefore save fuel. This does, of course, affects the performance of the engine, as you do often need higher RPM’s to get high power of your engine. 

5. Cruise Control

If you have the cruise control function in your car. You do probably know that it does all the work for you, including gear shiftings if you have an automatic transmission. Also here, when you are driving with the cruise control, the ECON button will make sure not to shift down as early as usual to save fuel. 

When you shouldn’t use the Honda Econ Button

Even if the Econ function is fantastic, there are some situations that you shouldn’t use this button. If you are using the button in these conditions and circumstances, it can give you the opposite result and increase the fuel consumption.

On hot days: Because the Econ button is affecting the climate control, you might not want to use it on hot days as it will reduce the air conditioning and in this case, it can do the opposite and leave you with higher fuel consumption and high temperature in the cabin.

Highway Entries: As we discussed, the ECON button will reduce the performance of your car. To safely entering the highway you want to reach the speed as soon as possible. In these situations, you want the extra performance that the Econ button is removing.

Overtaking: The same principle here. To make a safe overtaking, you want to make sure to have as much performance as possible in your car. Enabling the Econ button in these situations can be dangerous for you.

Steep hills: When you are going up steep slopes, you want the transmission to be able to downshift in the right moments, and you want the highest performance. If you have the Econ button enabled here, it can result in higher fuel consumption, and it can be dangerous.

Conclusion

With a conclusion, the Honda Econ button is a great function if you know when to use it. If you are not aware of the function of the switch, it can cause an opposite result which will lead to higher fuel consumption and may put you into dangerous situations.

If you have any other questions regarding the Honda Econ Button, leave a comment down below, and I will answer your questions as fast as possible.

Magnus Sellén

Hello I'm Magnus, the owner and the writer of this website. I have been working with cars since I was 16 and I'm specialized with in-depth Automotive diagnostics. Also been driving drifting for the last 6 years. I'm here to give you answers to all your automotive questions and I hope that you enjoy our content.