New car at the shack

[psyshack]

We went and traded the wifes 05 Accord in on a HCHII.





Its a Civic. It gets great mpg. It's slower than a snail. The steering is so numb I swear it has a Novocain injector system in it. The brakes are typical Honda joke. The CVT sucks some thing awful. It has much more body roll than my 06 Civic EX Sedan had. The CVT makes Fas'ing a no no. It's so under powered load driving is a pain.

But it gets great mpg and burns clean!

My best hwy segment was today at 63 mpg for 45 miles. Best city was 50 mpg for 12 miles. The wife has been at 49 mpg city and 52 hwy. Current mpg is setting at 50.6 mpg ave with two tanks ran through it.

Thank God we traded her Accord in on this car and not my Mazda3.

Over all I can pick on the car. But it looks like it will meet our daily grind needs very well. The wife and I carpool into Tulsa 3 to 5 days a week. So given our carpooling, then throw in some mpg. It's a win win for us!

It is the most boring car I've ever owned.

[theholycow]

Thank you for reminding my why I like my car and shouldn't replace it...

[dm1333]

Its a Civic. It gets great mpg. It's slower than a snail. The steering is so numb I swear it has a Novocain injector system in it. The brakes are typical Honda joke. The CVT sucks some thing awful. It has much more body roll than my 06 Civic EX Sedan had. The CVT makes Fas'ing a no no. It's so under powered load driving is a pain.

I'm sad to hear this. I bought a new Civic DX in 1988. It was a peppy little car that handled well and was fun to drive. There were numerous times when I got over 50 mpg on the highway, as high as 54 on a trip from Forks, WA to Sacramento, CA. Granted, I drive the speed limit with a light foot, but for something built in 1988 that was pretty darn good.

[bowtieguy]

congrats! it's nice to hear from you again.

[Old Crows]

Oi! Have you seen Jeremy Clarkson's (the TOP GEAR guy) review of the HCHII in the London Times Online??
Its not pretty. But it does get good mpg!!

[IndyFetch]

I sold Hondas and Nissans last year. I agree that the Civic Hybrid drives like a robot. It does not have the passion that I have come to expect in other Hondas. My VX will outrun and outhandle one (albeit, while rubbing the door handles on the ground during deft maneuvering). However, it can consistently rack up the MPG. I sold one to a customer who was consistently averaging 55+, when he was only getting 30 with his 02(?) EX.

[Jay2TheRescue]

The most boring car my family ever owned was a 1981 AMC Spirit... Looked just like the following one, but didn't have nice wheels on it, just some cheezy hubcaps... Suprisingly it weighed 300 pounds more than my Buick, and got about 700 - 800 miles/tank (It had a 20+ gallon tank). It had no options except for the heated rear window defogger. We probably would still have it now if it had a/c and/or 4wd (4wd was the Eagle)

[psyshack]

I wanted to report back on the Civic. Other than being slow and boring it is doing its job very well. With a tad over 3k miles on the clock now it's running in very nice.

No squeaks or rattles. Even the light colored beige interior as done well thru rain events and normal dirt and grim of the human animal. The suspension is settling in very nice. It does have Honda's always present road noise. They should patent it. The Navi and hands free cell stuff work well. The climate control system works well. The auto feature is nice in cretin situations.

The CVT is settling down a bit also. But it will never be a high speed fas monster. And IMHO it does not do well with lowering its ratio's until your at steady state forward motion. It just does not use the torque right IMO. Assist comes on to early for no real gain as does regen.

When your on the hwy at steady state and controllable load its becomes a dream come true. Say at 57 mph level ground you can slip it right into SAHM ( super atkins highway mode ) Real time mpg goes thru the roof. While not as impressive as a Insight in lean burn. It's still something to behold. 70 to 90 mpg is very easy to hold for a a mile or two if conditions are right. This is with the ICE running. And it can be done hwy or city.

It's glide capability's are impressive also. While not as good as a hardcore fas, its good and very usable. With some careful throttle use one can extend a all out ice off glide with the IMA assist with out taking to much of a hit on the pack. This can be done city or hwy.

The engine and drive train are very quite. Not silent mind you. About the loudest thing you will here from the car as it pass's by is the growl of the intake system if the throttle is blipped or you actually try to lay the coals to it. OOO and the air intake system will lend it's self to a basic WAI setup for the winter months.

Fit and finish is good. All panel alignment points look good and have held. The paint only has minor orange peel. Once I get around to claying it out, putting the polish and wax to it,,,, it should be beaming and gleaming.

Right now its holding a 52 lmpg ave. with the wife behind the wheel more than I. I have the M1 0w-20 at the ready for it's first oil change. The Honda gooo needs to go real soon. I expect the mpg to start climbing in the near future as it keeps on developing its wear patterns.



Windows tinted as looks now.

[theholycow]

So you're coasting with the engine off ("fas", "ice off glide") with the CVT? Is that ok to do? Do you need to rev-match when putting it back in D?

[dkjones96]

I doubt it needs a rev match. Most of these hybrids only turn like 1500 rpm at highway cruise.

Then again, it's not anything like the Prius which I have the most experience with. The Prius doesn't even have a real transmission. It could do a redline launch from a stop if you programmed it to.

This is what Honda needs. The Civic Hybrid Si. All the fun of revving an engine out to 8k while still retaining a fuel economy orientation on normal days. Give the CVT paddle shifters like the Lancer has and you've got it made! If they do the electrics right, the Hybrid Si could walk all over a normal Civic Si.