Lox wrote:Does anyone here own a Civic Hybrid?
I thought someone had one.
*raises hand*
That would be me. Had mine for about 9 months now, and I still love it as much as I did when I first got it last summer.
As far as performance goes, both engines added together give the thing roughly 93 HP or so, which is perfectly adequate for 99% of all driving needs. I can get up to speed on the highway just fine, I beat people off the line at traffic lights (although that's due more to reaction time than anything else), all that sort of good stuff. I have no clue what the top speed is as I've never bothered trying - I can get it to 80 just fine when I need to for passing or whatnot, but I haven't spent much time on the highway going any faster than 65 as I feel the small gains in time aren't worth the loss of mileage.
Speaking of that, the way I know of the loss of mileage at higher highway speeds is the instantaneous mileage meter on the main dash, which has really changed the way I drive (for the better). I drive a little bit slower now (thus more in control), and I try to stay at a constant speed more often (I've become addicted to cruise control, as I figure the car is better at driving itself than I am). I've also, by my own choice, turned into the default carpool guy - since my car is going to get the best mileage, why shouldn't I drive if multiple people are going to the same place?
As far as actual mileage goes, I averaged about 50 mpg in the summer and in the low to mid 40's in the winter (cold, snowy conditions + less fuel-efficient "winter gas" didn't help the mileage any). The best I've ever done on one tank was when I was driving from Ohio home to Massachusetts last June and got 600 miles on 10.1 gallons. *chest swells*
As far as I know, the Insight gets much better mileage than the Civic at the cost of passenger space (the Insight is only a two-seater), and the Prius gets comparable mileage to the Civic but is not available in a manual transmission (which was a deal-breaker for me - give me stick or give me death!). Not to mention the Prius is butt-ugly.
I would expect the Accord Hybrid to get in the high 30's for mileage, which isn't that impressive until you remember that the Accord has a 255 HP engine in it (although, I think "255 HP hybrid vehicle" is a bit of an oxymoron).
Personally, I think the Civic Hybrid is a much niftier car than the Prius. Not only does it look like an actual car - as opposed to a futuristic "travel pod" - you get your choice of transmission, and I still say the fact that the Civic's gasoline engine shuts itself off when the car is slow/stopped is the coolest thing ever. (I went to an AHL hockey game last week, and when I pulled into the parking lot and stopped to pay the attendant, he looked at my silent car in confusion and said to me, "Hey, is this thing running?"
)