Battery issues and software updates
 

My '03 Civic hybrid has a bad battery (code P1449) and I talked to the local Honda dealer about the situation. The car has 85,xxx miles, just past the 80,000 mile IMA system warranty. The service manager said that they might be able to convince Honda to replace the battery under warranty anyway. But (of course there's a but) he also mentioned a software update that Honda has come up with for the IMA system. I remember reading about someone else's experience with battery failure on another forum and they mentioned having Honda update their car's software only to find that the car was never the same, it's fuel effeciency declined and the IMA system was reluctant to provide assist. Does anyone here have any experience with this or know more about it? If Honda is willing to give me a new battery that would obviously be the best option, but I don't want them to monkey around with the software to the detriment of the car's FE or drivability.

The complaining about reduced drivability is unfounded. The same amount of assist is available as before; you just have to bury the gas pedal deeper to get it.

Did the people who reported lower mpg adjust their driving style at all? Less assist sounds like a good thing for a hypermiler.

It was a while back that I read this and I don't remember what forum it was on. I don't believe it was a hypermiling oriented forum though. I was just wondering if anyone had a software update installed by Honda and had experienced this. I'll do some searching later and see if I can find the post I'm referring to.