Our high-tech holiday
Today, Robin and I are taking off to a friend's wedding in upstate California, and I figured this would be a perfect time to put the Honda Civic Hyrbid to the test. (Bear in mind that a guy is suing Honda because his Civic Hybrid is only returning 32 MPG.) We're planning to put the Civic through all sorts of driving situations to see just how fuel efficient it really is. The benchmark is the Toyota Prius, which averages around 45 MPG in mixed driving. Yesterday I brought the car home through an hour and a half of bumper-to-bumper Los Angeles traffic (34 MPG). As you read this, we'll be wending our way up the Pacific Coast Highway, then into San Francisco to pick up friends at the airport.
From there, we have to find the place we're staying -- and that's where my other gadget, a hand-held navigation system on loan from TomTom, will come in handy. We'll see how the $400 TomTom ONE XL compares to the the Civic's built-in $1,750 navigation system.
So, anyone want to take a guess as to what our average MPG will be? Closest guess gets... oh, I don't know... how about an autographed copy of an About.com Cars screen-shot. How much do you think that'll fetch on eBay? -- Aaron Gold
More hybrid stuff:
- Civic's main rival: 2007 Toyota Prius Touring Edition test drive
- Alternative view: 2007 Honda Civic Hybrid review at About.com Alternative Fuels
- Hybrid Central
Photo © Aaron Gold
Comments
I can’t wait to read your review. I am especially interested in the Nav System comparison. In-dash units seem more protected from theft, and have a nicer built-in look, but it is really the function that is important. I have heard the Honda unit is probably one of the best systems out there… but $1350 is a big difference in price for “nicer look”.
I am guessing the Civic Hybrid will get about 41 MPG (I want to win the autographed About.comn screen shot =)
I own a ‘05 Honda Accord with the NAV and also have used my brothers Tom Tom when I had to borrow his Honda Element. There is no comparison… the Honda Nav was so easy to use vs. the Tom Tom. It was smoother, more accurate and had a very intuitive map to read. I am looking forward to your comparison between the two.
wow, great timing for this road test…we are trying to decide between getting a civic vs civic hybrid and between getting a honda nav. in that civic or get an aftermarket one…Aaron are you psychic or what? your call is going to make our decision…Don…P.S. I’m guessing 44mpg.
Don, I’m curious — what would the MPG have to be for you to decide for or against the Civic Hybrid? Do you have a specific figure in mind?
Aaron
We’ve got the factory nav system in our Mazda and from what I’ve seen, it blows away the add-on products. Not only is there not an issue of battery life and where to mount it, it communicates with the car itself (measuring speed and so on accurately), there’s the bigger screen, voice recognition (which actually works), more POI info, no need to hook into your PC to load different maps, fast route adjustment if you go a different road than they recommend or you miss a turn, etc. There’s only two downsides: updated map DVDs are very expensive (but generally not necessary), and you can’t get the alternate Mr. T voice with it like you can with the TomTom! “Turn left, fool!” As cool as the nav system is in the wife’s car, I don’t think I’d bother getting an aftermarket one for my car - but my next car (way in the future) will probably have to have a factory system.
As for MPG, since hybrids do better in city driving and it’s only hit 34 there, I’m going to go with 38 mpg overall, and that might be high.
Aaron, Since my ‘05 Civic gets 40+ mpg regularly on flat (Florida) roadways and I do inflate the tires an extra 5lbs,add 2.5 oz of acetone per tank, keep my tach at 3000rpm (70mph) in 5th gear and don’t drive aggessively, it seems ridiculous to buy a hybrid. Now, if I employ these same principles to a hybrid, I’m sure I can get over 50mpg on the Hybrid. Now, if you only get 40-43 mpg on your trip that bodes poorly for the Hybrid. However, if you get 50mpg like it should and then you add my gas saving regimen, then the Hybrid is looking gooood! The big equalizer in this whole scenario that everyone seems to overlook is the CITY MPG. My car only gets about 30 mpg city, but the hybrid claims 49-50 wow! Considering my wife is pounding those bumper to bumper miles from Lauderdale to So.Miami that mpg rating(city) starts looming as a more important number. But up above you’ve already mentioned some pretty grim mpg numbers(34)…uh,oh! Question how bad was the traffic(as bad as the 5:00 Orange Crush?)…was the car broken in yet? Are you going to do one full tank on I-5 on the way home using cruise control going through the San Joaquin Valley? There’s a lot of variables and I hope you document your results and your road conditions. Ok you’ve got your homework, son!