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Honda Civic Hybrid

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Comments

  • jcollins93012jcollins93012 Member Posts: 3
    I just bought one with a manual transmission. 134 miles on it so far, indicated mileage equals 54 mpg. That was about 20% city, 80% freeway.

    If you accelerate around the city a lot, the state of charge goes down. Use less boost in town by driving more gently. For 5-speed, make sure that you do not depress the clutch until nearly stopped. The battery regeneration does not work with the clutch in.

    The state of charge is important because when you hit the highway, the battery recharges during steady cruising. During the first many miles of cruising, while the battery is getting recharged, my instantaneous mpg indicator was steady around 30 or 40 mpg (I forget which). Once the battery was fully charged, my instantaneous mpg indicator went way up, reaching a lifetime average of 54 mpg by the time I finished my 134 miles.
  • carshopper44carshopper44 Member Posts: 1
    I see on their web site white, silverish blue, and gold. Is there a dark blue on the way? If so, when?! Can't stand those first three colors...
  • jpappas123jpappas123 Member Posts: 21
    Im considering purchasing a hybrid. I live in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania its a fairly hilly terrain also we get cold winters...not frigid. But cold.


    Does anyone have any experiences in hilly parts of the country that are also chilly? I see alot of reports on performance in cold weather but not much about hilly regions.


    Anyone with any experiences please let me know.


    thanks


    Jason

  • joew7joew7 Member Posts: 6
    Driving around Chicago's suburbs since the weather got cold -- had to use the defroster only once. I believe the point about whether or not IMA is recharging the the battery is valid. With all my stop and go driving I'm always recharging while cruising. The battery charge hardly ever maxes out. If I'm about to go 3 or 4 miles non-stop it will go from half charge to maximum -- I rarely have the opportunity to go so far without having to stop.
  • rileyyhrileyyh Member Posts: 49
    Well, I've had my CVT Hybrid for about 6-7 months, and I have about 11,300 miles on my car. So far, the total mileage average is 39.7mpg. In the summer, I had averaged 42mpg, and that seemed weird to me when I heard some other people getting like 48mpg. Nowadays, I get around 38-41mpg.


    As for technique of driving, I drive more aggressively. I'm usually in the 3,200rpm range, going about 80mph. I usually get 38mpg when I drive like this. I can get 40-41mpg if I drive within speed limit or 5mph above it. It still seems far from some other people.


    While my car hasn't had any problems, since my last scheduled maintenance, the steering wheel is a bit off. To drive straight, my steering wheel has to be slightly to the right. If I make the steering wheel level, then I start going to the left little by little. This is something I will mention on my next maintenance (at 11,800). I've already had 3 scheduled maintenances I believe.


    I was driving last night on wide empty residential roads. There was a curve which was covered with ice. As I was driving on it, I felt my car sliding more and more to the outside of the curve. And so I pressed the brake slightly and the back of my car slid out and I was travelling sideways while my front sharply aimed toward the middle of the road. I had to quickly turn to the right to straighten myself. Then when I reached unfrozen ground, my car got grip again and lurched the other way around. I was going at approx. 30mph and it was scary. This leads me to my observation. I thought it was because I had low roll resistant tires, but you know what? I have dunlop sp20e or something like that, and when I parked today next to an older, regular civic, I saw it had the same exact tires. So I don't think I have "low roll resistant" tires. In a way, I'm glad cause the ice incident was scary and this tells me that I just have to be more careful on ice cause my tires are normal.


    Finally, maybe it's because I've driven my car mainly around 3000rpm, the engine noise is a bit louder. The weird thing is, when I test drove the car, everything seemed super quiet. Now, I notice a lot of outside noise. I guess the insulation is not that great. But the engine is still quieter than most, especially when it warms up. Just louder than it was before.


    I still love my car and while I keep thinking of other cars that could be options, I come to the same conclusion that I got the best car for me. There's no regret. I just hope that my car doesn't have any problems for the next couple of years.

  • rileyyhrileyyh Member Posts: 49
    Today I put in a full tank of Exxon's regular gasoline. Usually, I go for anything cheaper since I have about 4 or 5 gas stations nearby and Exxon is more expensive by 7 cents or so. My other options are Chevron, Hess, Amoco, Shell, and some other one. All are cheaper than Exxon by a little bit. I usually go Hess because it's usually the cheapest. But I always thought it was weird how Exxon would sell their gasoline for more when everyone else was selling at similar prices. Funny thing, I normally get about 39-40mpg, but today, I got 48mpg over 21 miles. I'm going to see how far I can go and what mpg I get after the whole tank is used, but I think there might be some reason why Exxon gasoline makes my hybrid finally save gas like one. I think after this, if I do see a significant difference in the Exxon gasoline, I'm going to try Exxon's premium gasoline to see if it has any effect of its own on my car.

    Maybe it'll help if you guys all go and write your average mpg, location, and main gasoline company. Maybe we'll see a trend among the 30mpg people and the 50mpg people.
  • framarackframarack Member Posts: 1
    I am considering buying a hybrid CVT but am concerned about the efficiency of the AC in a hot climate such as S.Florida. Also, how does the use of climate control affect fuel economy and performance in general?
  • econguyeconguy Member Posts: 12
    looking for help from anyone with a similar experience...

    i have a hybrid cvt, just under 10k miles. last night the car started rough (1st time this has happened), and the engine malfunction indicator light came on. owners's manual says one cause is loose gas cap, so i removed and re-tightened the cap, went for short drive as advised by manual => light has remained on for past day and a half, but the rough start has disappeared and car seems to be operating normally.

    have an appointment at dealer on monday, but in the meantime am curious if this has happened to anyone else, and if so, any possible remedies. nhtsa website has 2 TSB that sound related. anyone have any specifics on them?

    thanks.
  • lillian35lillian35 Member Posts: 3
    I have a white civic hybrid automatic since Sept. and really do like it. My problem is that the paint is chipping on the lower part of the car. Anyone else have this happening?
  • tim552tim552 Member Posts: 13
    I bought my Hybrid in late July. Since I live in Texas, I had ample opportunity to test the AC in extreme heat. It performed admirably, with no discernible difference from any other Honda. It will make a 3-4 mpg difference in your mileage when the AC is on, but that's normal, of course.

    To those disappointed in their mileage, I submit that getting good mileage from your Hybrid is a learned experience. You have to sacrifice a little time in order to optimize your mileage. By letting the car coast a bit and by feathering the accelerator, you can get that mileage into the mid- to upper-40's.
  • anaheranaher Member Posts: 2
    Hi there,
    I tried a higher octane name brand gas, and it didn't improve my mpg at all. Now I use the cheapest 87 octane I can find. I find that the hills in my town (steep), my driving style (coasting downhill is a learned but beautiful skill), and the cold weather (brrrr) have a greater effect on our still improving mileage than pricey gas. We've got almost 5,000 miles on the HCH, and started out getting 35.5 mpg. Now we're getting about 38.7 mpg, but it was up to 39.3 mpg before the cold hit. In fact, our best tank was 41.2 mpg after I'd filled up at a no-name gas station in Teaneck, NJ. I paid $1.34 per gallon. That's about 25 cents cheaper than locally. I think the better mileage on that tank was because most of it was used on flatter land than our usual driving. I can't wait until spring to start breaking 40 mpg on a regular basis. We love this car.
    Minerva: 2003 HCH, CVT, blue, $19,700.
  • spratt1spratt1 Member Posts: 53
    We have 4400 miles on our Blue CVT, having owned since June 2002.

    1. We live in Texas which has similar AC conditions to Florida. AC works very well. No problems. We leave climate control system in Auto at all times.

    2. A loose gas cap will cause the light to come on, and can cause rough idle. Even though you put it back on, the light will stay on for a while, then eventually go off, if like many other cars. Had a similar thing happen with our Volvo V70. There is also a way to reset it using radio controls on some cars. You have to get info from dealer. Anyone else get that dealer info yet? You can also bring it to the dealer and have them reset. I have also been told that disconnecting the fuse to the ECU will also reset the light. The computer will then have to relearn info on driving habits, etc., but that doesn't take long.

    3. Have had no paint chip problems. My wife scraped the bottom of the front ground effect by hitting a curb. I sanded it well and put on several layers of touchup paint. Has held fine and blended pretty well.

    4. At 4400 miles we get 44.2 mpg overall on mostly flat terrain in Texas. Have noticed no difference with different gasolines, or different octane. We only saw about 1-2 mpg drop with AC.

    The car has been completely flawless. We love the car. The other day I pulled up to a light in Dallas. A Hummer H2 pulls up next to me (with of course only the driver inside, no passengers). I thought how interesting it was to have the best and worst MPG vehicles side by side. Wonder if anyone noticed.
  • tunes77tunes77 Member Posts: 5
    Anyone had experince with a non-dealer oil change yet? I'm coming up on my first (blue CVT) and can't find anyone with 0w oil but the dealer.
  • lcowherdlcowherd Member Posts: 5
    Hello! I'm new to this forum, considering purchasing a Civic Hybrid sometime this year. My oldest son turns 16, so he's getting the old reliable Vovlo 240 and I get a new car.

    Most of my driving will be short hops around town, usually with only me in the car. My work is only about a mile from my home so I'll put maybe only 30-40 miles a week of in-town driving on the car, with an occasional 60 or 100 mile round trip to neighboring cities.

    Which transmission would yield the greatest mpg? I live in Kentucky, so it's a little hilly and gets moderately cold in the winter. THanks!
  • hybridgreen2khybridgreen2k Member Posts: 3
    Hi
    we bought a civic hybrid some months ago, and we love it,but there's one problem. It doesn't get the gas millage it should be. We've gotten only around 35 mpg. That's less that the regular civic.Has anyone had this sorta millage?
  • jcollins93012jcollins93012 Member Posts: 3
    Toyota Prius may be better bet if you are doing primarily city driving, but I have no experience with one.

    The Honda Civic Hybrid CVT gets better city mileage than the manual according to EPA testing. That probably depends a whole lot on how you drive it. With my manual Civic Hybrid, I find I get about 40 mpg city, and 55 to 60 mpg freeway. Since I do about 80% freeway and 20% city, I get an overall average of about 51 mpg so far (685 miles).

    I'm in Southern California, so temperatures have been moderate so far. A/C is never on, Econo switch is always on. In city driving I try to minimize boost and maximize deceleration coastdown charging in order to keep the state of charge up, but not to the point of annoying the hell out of the drivers behind me. Still, I'm getting only about 40 mpg in my city with moderate hills. Freeway uphills knock the hell out of the mileage, but most of that is recovered on the way back down.
  • dannyyodannyyo Member Posts: 14
    I've been thinkin about buying a Honda Civic Hybrid, but one of my main concern is the battery. They have a 80,000 mile/8 year warranty on the battery. Geez, I'll hit 80,000 miles in just 4 years or less. Does anyone have any idea what the replacement cost of the battery in the Civic might be???
  • daysailerdaysailer Member Posts: 720
    and found reference to a price a little over $1200, but I didn't save the link and do not know whether it is accurate. Might be best to call a Honda dealer parts dept.
  • kcisivkcisiv Member Posts: 23
    > i have a hybrid cvt, just under 10k miles. last night the car started
    > rough (1st time this has happened), and the engine malfunction
    > indicator light came on.

    Was the "rough start" actually the backup starter starting the car instead of the IMA? Was the IMA working when you started driving?

    There have been several reports on the Yahoo! civic_hybrid group of something similar happening to CVTs, and there is apparently a software upgrade remedy. Check that group for details.
  • kcisivkcisiv Member Posts: 23
    > considering purchasing a Civic Hybrid sometime
    > this year....Most of my driving will be short
    > hops around town....My work is only about a
    > mile from my home...Which transmission would
    > yield the greatest mpg?

    I'd say it's a toss-up between the CVT and 5-speed. The CVT seems to do a little better with real in-town, stop-and-start driving; the 5-speed a little better with more 35 mph+ open road.

    In your case, though, with only a one-mile commute, neither car is even going to get fully warmed up before you get there! So really neither one will reach its full mileage potential.

    For this particular situation, you might want to check out the Toyota Prius, which has an electric-only "stealth mode" which you might possibly be able to use most of the way to work, depending on the speed of your roads, etc. Or if you really want to save gas, walk or bike the mile to work and keep the HCH in the garage for those longer trips!
  • scooter71scooter71 Member Posts: 56
    save money and the evironment- walk or bike to work. for the out of town trips, buy a used civic hx.
  • scooter71scooter71 Member Posts: 56
    you might want to read the civic hybrid review at vtec.net- the author mentions the electric motor not operating unless the car is fully warmed up, or something to that effect (i.e., you'd be running on 100% gas during your commute). that was my impression, anyway.
  • john1701ajohn1701a Member Posts: 1,897
    >> the author mentions the electric motor not

    >> operating unless the car is fully warmed up


    That wouldn't be a limitation of the motor or battery-pack. My Prius favors the motor when I first start it up here in Minnesota. That allows the engine to warm up a bit before placing heavy demands on it.


    JOHN http://john1701a.com

  • waynerwilliamswaynerwilliams Member Posts: 2
    I saw a lot of postings about MPG. I looked around a the NET and found that the EPA has requirements for "Winter Grade" and "Summer Grade" automobile fuels. Winter grade fuel gets lower mileage.


    Here's a link to an EPA document which might be useful: http://www.epa.gov/otaq/rfgecon.htm

  • hev_angelhev_angel Member Posts: 1
    In a Prius, the gasoline engine will run for the first two to ten minutes, or thereabouts, to warm up the engine and emissions equipment. In a one-mile commute, it would be nearly impossible to "use the battery" the whole way unless it's gridlock traffic, or unless you'd driven somewhere else first and the car was already warmed up.

    Sadly, the Civic Hybrid won't perform much better than a Prius on a one- or two-mile drive. It too needs to come up to temperature before things like Auto-Stop will happen.

    If the vehicle you're looking for is to be driven on the short hops you describe, perhaps you could realistically consider an electric vehicle of some sort with a charging station at home.
  • daysailerdaysailer Member Posts: 720
    also has a requirement for the occasional 100 mile trip, which eliminates an EV. The Honda Civic HX can be had for about $13K and is EPA rated 36/44mpg ($7K less than a HEV, and even a minimal, limited use EV such as the Sparrow will cost at least as much). A Toyota Echo costs a few hundred less and delivers 2-3mpg less mileage. Any number of used cars could also deliver good fuel economy and offer even better overall economics, particularly for such low utilization.

    I don't see any rational hybrid application here.
  • scooter71scooter71 Member Posts: 56
    Yeah, I agree with your practical view of things.

    I live in a city and only drive 6,000-7,000 miles per year. I really regret having leased a new car in 2000. Luckily I can make up for it this coming July!

    I'll be looking at late '90's Civic DX hatchbacks and only wishing for a Civic Hybrid...
  • dzraydzray Member Posts: 2
    I'm looking to buy in the next few weeks. I've already got two quotes from two dealers for approximately 19,500 for the Hybrid with CVT. Anyone have any experience with purchasing in the last 3-4 weeks? I'd be curious to know if most dealers are still getting close to MSRP. I'm purposely looking at dealers near where I work in the southwest 'burbs, because I'm sure the average price is much lower than closer to where I live. Most folks out here ain't interested in a vehicle unless it's a Dodge Ram pickup!!
  • rileyyhrileyyh Member Posts: 49
    I've gotten mine for $19,800, but it came with some stuff and leather seats/trim. But this was back in May 2002. I also get free oil changes for like a year or so. Just remember, practically every car can be bought for a price just a bit more than listed on kbb.com or some other places which list the price the dealer gets it for. I almost got a 2002 Mazda Protege5 for $13,000. The sticker price was like $17,000 but the dealer was willing to go down to like $13,800. Just know your stuff and you'll get a better deal.
  • emcclendemcclend Member Posts: 4
    I purchased my HCH back in May of 2002. I have put over 14,000 miles on this car already. So, obviously I drive it a lot. My car routinely gets about 44-46 miles per gallon. I took it on a long distance trip (475 miles) and drove it 70 MPH and the average for that leg of the trip was 46.7 mpg. The best mileage I have received is 47 mpg. I have the automatic, not the standard. I am in traffic quite a bit and the auto-stop feature is great for that. I commute 41 miles one way to work. Hence, all the miles I have on the car. My Hybrid works very well, I have been very pleased with its performance and mileage. BTW, it is not recommended to put anything other than regular (high octane will not make the car get better gas mileage).

    I purchased this car for about $1,700 under the sticker price which, at that time, was $21,010. I live in a large metropolitan area and there are more than 30 Honda dealerships in the area. I used the internet to get the dealers to bargain with me. I started off visiting 4 dealers who I had contacted on the internet via email. I then sent an email to all 4 stating the best deal each offered. Within 24 hours, I got calls from 3 of the 4 dealers offering me better deals. I narrowed it down to 2 of the dealers when the third dropped out. I got 4 additional things added to the car at no extra costs, mudflaps, protective covering on the hood and the back of the side mirrors, wheel locks and floor mats.

    I would say that 90 per cent of my driving is Highway driving. The lowest gas mileage I ever got was 41 mpg and that was on the first tank of gas.

    Oh, my mileage doesn't really vary that much, when I use the air conditioning in the summer time.

    So there's my 2 cents worth.
  • IleIle Member Posts: 14
    I am 24 years old now, and I bought my Echo(2-door and 5-speed) brand-new on 23rd of dec. 1999. At first I used to deliver pizza and than I moved to Chicago where I comute every day about 28 miles each way. My car has 72000 miles on it. Things I have had to replace only rear left light-bulb, and tires. My worst milage was 31.4 on a tank, my best was 48.2. Trip from Chicago to Washington DC. But generally the car gets low 36 in the city, and about low 40's on the highway. New ECHO looks much better. Once when I was coming back from TX with my girlfriend and that trip back from Washington I was following some people in a group not going under 100mph! From TX it was through entire Il. and from Washington DC it was about half of Oh. and entire IN. I averaged 32mpg at those speeds. At low 70's and high 60's it it doesn't ever drop below 45mpg, even when there are 3 people in it and some other stuff.
    I have spent at least 12 nights that I can remember sleaping in that car. 4 of those were with two other people in it. Drop the back seat and put legs in the trunk. head on the back seat.
    I've changed oil, spark-plugs, and I've put gas in it. That is it. I've talked to other people who have ECHOs. They have very simmilar results for fuel economy.
    I have raced people off the stop lights many a times. I have raced people in their civics. If the civics are non-modified, and I have yet to loose. I have purposfully raced some frientds of mine and even when we swap cars my ECHO beats them. They in my car I in theirs and vice versia. The cars we were swapping were civic ex coupe with 5 speed manual! Actually i cannot remember a day that has passed that the car did not hit redline, not racing just acceleration on ramps, highways etc. The engine is barely audible.
    Options I had on mine. Rear window deffoger, ac, power steering, very basic. I walked out of the door with taxes and everything 12.1G. I bought the car at 100 over invoice. It was if I am not mistaken in the low 11g's.
    To summerize: I SEE NO POINT IN BUYING A HYBRID(7 G DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ECHO AND HYBRIDS ANY WAY YOU LOOK AT IT). HOW STUPID IS THAT. ECHO COSTS LESS, ACCELERATES BETTER, HAS VERY SIMILAR AMOUNT OF ROOM INSIDE, AND YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THE BATTERIES.
    People get a grip. Those cars are pointless. For that kind of money you could get a Jetta or a Golf tdi. Reliability for VW is not as good as Honda, much less Toyota, but the diesel will not break. Just the other small stuff, if that.
  • john1701ajohn1701a Member Posts: 1,897
    > I SEE NO POINT IN BUYING A HYBRID

    Yes, you missed the point.

    Echo emits dirty emissions. The SMOG related exhaust (that's NOx & HC) is worse than any of the hybrids.

    Plus, your MPG isn't as good. My Prius gets low 40's in the winter (here in Minnesota) and low 50's in the summer. At 45,395 miles my lifetime average is 45.0 MPG.

    Also, the propulsion thrust provided by the motor does a great job to reduce strain on the engine. Engine maintenance should prove lower and the life longer. Motor maintenance should be almost non-existent, since there aren't even any brushes to wear out.

    > ACCELERATES BETTER

    Are you sure you were actually looking at the speedometer? Judging based on feel & RPM doesn't work in a hybrid.

    > YOU DON'T HAVE TO WORRY ABOUT THE BATTERIES.

    What is there to worry about? The battery-pack in Prius is designed to last between 150,000 and 200,000 miles. Plus, it's covered by an 8 year / 100,000 mile warranty. Replacement years and years later won't be that big of a deal (or price) since Toyota is signing deals now to be able to build & sell 300,000 hybrid systems per year beginning in 2005. And the quality of the design has already proven great. The battery-pack survives both heat & cold wonderfully. (Personally, the extremes mine has been in were -13 F and 102 F. In both cases, performance wasn't impaired at all, even with the heater and A/C cranked.)

    JOHN http://john1701a.com
  • dzraydzray Member Posts: 2
    Well.. just to follow up. I was able to get a Hybrid CVT yesterday for $19,085 ($151 under invoice)! Carsdirect.com was quoting a price $51 under invoice, so I was able to get the dealer to take off another $100.
  • rivertownrivertown Member Posts: 928
    I dunno if an argument for hybrids can be made on grounds of economy and/or environmental impact alone. It may have been hashed out, but I haven't read it.
    Don't you come out about even on environmental impact and ahead on economy and performance if you compare a hybrid and something like a Civic HX or Toy Echo or even an Si - factoring in initial cost, resale, service, environmental impact of manufacture and batteries, etc?

    The big hybrid joy seems to me to be in participating in a developing technology. That's not be underrated. For example, computer use was a great joy before there was any valid practical or economic justification.
  • scooter71scooter71 Member Posts: 56
    rivertown brings up a REALLY good topic- the environmental impact of say, a civic hx, vs. a civic hybrid from manufacture through disposal and recycle.

    the hybrid clearly has the upper hand during its road life, given zero emissions at traffic lights and stops in bumper-to-bumper traffic. and we all know that global warming is largely due to gas vehicles sitting at lights and in standstill traffic, when emissions peak. then, factor in gas mileage, which seems to vary widely on hybrids but still come in above gas-only equivalents. but i'm not sure what happens to a hybrid's battery once the car is scrapped/recycled.

    anyone?

    if the invention of hybrids is like most engineering marvels, the end-to-end impacts won't be assessed until after they're observed, which is unfortunate (witness many pharmaceutical drugs, hydropower, nuclear power, frankenfood, lead paint, asbestos, etc., etc.).
  • scooter71scooter71 Member Posts: 56
    i'd like to add that hybrids would be largely unpopular in the US as they are in europe if we had high-quality diesel here. gobs more real-world torque than gas equivalents and gobs more mpg too. what's the point of a prius in the uk when there's a handful of sporty-handling diesel compacts that get better mileage?

    i love those diesel european city cars ;-)
  • rivertownrivertown Member Posts: 928
    scooter71 implies hybrids are cleaner, I think. But I'm not even sure that's true if we take a look at the big picture. The economics play a part in 'clean'.

    For example, if a hybrid costs 5K$ more to buy, that means 5K$ more economic activity; and, depending on what that economic activity is by which I come with the extra $, the purchase of a hybrid could well entail a net loss to the environment. Suppose I earn the extra 5K$ with a gas powered lawn mower and leaf blower?

    So, like I say, the economy and environmental agruments for hybrids may not carry; and the real benefit from hybrid ownership may well be in participating in the development of an emerging technology.
    Consider, then, the fact that some emerging technologies don't develop.
  • scooter71scooter71 Member Posts: 56
    rivertown, i don't follow you. i was speaking strictly of the environmental, not economic, side of things.

    regardless, given the same mileage as a hybrid, the hx would emit more ozone layer harming emissions. period. no question. no room for debate.
  • rivertownrivertown Member Posts: 928
    Plenty of room for debate, LOL, but obviously not here.
  • rileyyhrileyyh Member Posts: 49
    Hi. I'm trying to determine what the common factor among all of you owners getting high mileage is. I've only gotten good mileage when I've conciously held back on my driving by monitoring myself on the mpg readout. If I drive normally, I get about 40mpg (cvt auto). So all of you who get more than 40mpg, please answer the following questions:
    1. specific brand of fuel you use? if not, write any.
    2. do you conciously monitor your mileage?
    3. do you drive within speed limit?
    4. what is the average city/highway speed you travel at.

    Here are my answers:
    1. used to be any, but get best mileage with Exxon Regular
    2. usually don't monitor my mileage
    3. usually over speed limit by at least 5mph
    4. i usually travel 40mph/75mph

    I think this would be very useful to see if any one of these would be a large factor in the mpg we get.
  • hybridgreen2khybridgreen2k Member Posts: 3
    1. Any regular gas
    2. We have monitered our milege since the day we've bought it and it's never been above 40.
    3.within 2-3mph of the speed limit.
    4. 45/60mph
  • glaster1glaster1 Member Posts: 2
    I have been looking at buying the Honda Civic Hybrid. I have test driven it around town. I live in Salt Lake. The litmus test of power locally is driving from Salt Lake to Park City, which involves a climb up Parley's Summit of about 5000 FT within about 30 miles. I had 4 cylinder car once that could not keep the pace on this climb without turning off the air conditioning! I specifically asked the dealer how the power was going up Parley's Canyon. He said the car had no problem maintaining the 65MPH speed limit the whole way. Also, I spoke to a family member that owns a Civic Hybrid and they indicated the same thing. They drove from Salt Lake to Los Angeles, which includes many points on the highway of significant altitude changes in a short distance. They experienced no problems on the high grade roads.

    Hope that helps.
  • todditoddi Member Posts: 6
    Everyone (PLEASE!) take a second for this poll. Please post:

    1. Total miles on your Civic Hybrid.
    2. LIFETIME mileage (MPG) of the car (estimate OK).
    3. Percentage city driving/percentage highway.

    My answers:

    1. 2000 miles
    2. 36.8 MPG
    3. 80/20 %

    Thanks everybody, I think this will be interesting. From what I am able to gather, there is a general dissatisfaction with mileage in the Hybrid "community" (though the car itself is beautiful...)
  • icvciicvci Member Posts: 1,031
    My 2000 DX hatchback averages 37 mpg. I know it isn't as clean as the hybrid but comon, I'd expect better mileage than that.

    48,500 miles
    80% highway

    Seriously, I regularly get 400-440 miles out of my 11.5 gallon tank. 15 miles to work on a 50 mph road.
  • todditoddi Member Posts: 6
    I agree. Hybrid mileage is weak!

    The sticker where I bought promised 49 city/48 highway. So far, I am disappointed, hoping things will change. If I drive differently (weirdly, that is, a lot of coasting, I've gotten up to 46 mpg - still less than promised...)
    My 96 Nissan 200SX got in the mid 30s regularly.
  • hybridgreen2khybridgreen2k Member Posts: 3
    I agree hypbids are not what they are cracked up to be. The civic hybrid isn't even as enviormentally clean as many other regular cars.
    Civic hybrids are only a ulev while something like the nissan sentra is a partial zero emitions vehicle, and it's much cheaper.
    total miles: about 5600
    average mpg: 34
    highway/city: 60/40
  • john1701ajohn1701a Member Posts: 1,897
    >> hybrids are not what they are cracked up to be.

    What are you basing that judgement on?

    After 100 years, engine-only technology has peaked. That's as good as it gets. There's a tremendous amount of potential available in hybrids though, motor & battery technology is still very young.

    My SULEV 5-person hybrid has delivered a 45 MPG average driving 46,000 miles in a northern climate (Minnesota). The traditional vehicles simply can't compete with that already. Imagine what the hybrid technology will be like a few years from now.

    JOHN http://john1701a.com
  • daysailerdaysailer Member Posts: 720
    The electric motor PREDATES the IC engine, it is NOT a "young" technology!
  • dsgechodsgecho Member Posts: 89
    But, in the MODERN sense, of computerized control as well as other electronic control/integration- it is! Which was how John meant it and how I took it. Not hard if one is not critical.
    Don Gillespie
    Nahsville TN
  • daysailerdaysailer Member Posts: 720
    is in its infancy. Electric motors AND there drive technology will certainly improve, but they are no less developed than is the IC engine (which will also improve).
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