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All About the 2005 Honda Civic Hybrid Car February 2005Automobiles, especially those of the large variety, have long been the scourge of hippies and eco-warriors alike. Thought to be gas-guzzling, polluting behemoths, tree huggers have claimed that cars are destroying the environment and are therefore responsible for killing baby seals. So what is an environmental activist supposed to do?Well, one could walk or ride a bike. Those don't cause too much pollution and ozone-destroying fumes -- provided one hasn't partaken in an all-you-can-eat burrito buffet. But that's not practical for covering long distances. Electric cars were once thought to be a great, non-polluting wave of the future for commuters. But just try finding a station to recharge an electric car's batteries. It's impossible -- especially after the car's batteries die out every 5 miles... Well, until we are all able to drive cars that run solely on the power of positive thinking, we have hybrids. For those that don't watch Access Hollywood, Hybrids are the new trend in Hollywood -- and therefore, the rest of America. These vehicles come powered by both a gas and electric motor, and are designed to get better gas mileage and cut down on harmful emissions. Hippies and activist-celebrity types both can approve of these lean, green machines. Now that we've got that lengthy intro out of the way, let's talk about the Honda Civic Hybrid. Yes, it's a Civic. Yes, it's a Hybrid. And yes, we drove one around for the week. So guess what? We're gonna go ahead and review it right here! Strap in tight, kids! The power of the Hybrid is gonna knock you back in your seats. Or not... But it will at least save some gas! Pricing First thing's first -- hybrids aren't cheap. Like with all new technologies, you gotta expect to pay a premium if you want to be the first to have one. Our Civic Hybrid test car comes in at a relatively hefty $20,950. We admit, that price doesn't seem too expensive, especially considering the fact that the Civic Hybrid is very nicely equipped. Our test car came with remote keyless entry, power windows/locks, AM/FM/CD player and front side airbags. Sounds like a decent deal, yeah? But a comparably-equipped Civic LX Sedan comes in at only $16,560. Granted, the Hybrid is EPA-rated to get at least 10mpg more than the standard sedan. But depending on the way you drive, the gas mileage may be a lot less than that. Styling While Toyota's Prius and Honda's Insight have a... well... odd shape to them, the Civic Hybrid looks like a plain-old Civic. While a stock Civic sedan is far from the most attractive ride out there, it's definitely a more accessible design than that of either the Prius or Insight. The Civic Hybrid gets a few exclusive design touches, such as the headlights and front fascia. Honda claims that these design cues aid in aerodynamics, and therefore aid in engine efficiency. Whatever, it looks like a plain-old Civic to us. But then, we like Civics, so that's not exactly a bad thing. Performance You want power? The Civic Hybrid has boat loads of power! Actually, no it doesn't. It just has a meager 93 horsepower and 105 lb.-ft. of torque -- and that's with the electric motor assist. Though it sounds weak, it's actually not too bad. Acceleration is adequate -- we can merge onto the freeway without fear of getting run over by a semi. Once on the freeway, though, the Civic's power starts to wane. We can keep a pretty decent speed, but there's no extra power on tap if we need to pass a slower vehicle. The handling is about what we expected. That is, it drives like a stock Civic sedan. The ride is comfortable enough, but it doesn't feel as sure-footed as the EF/EG/EK Civics of yore. But then again, sports car-like handling was never in the design plan for the Civic Hybrid. The Brakes are nothing to write home about, either. Again, they're decent, but we would prefer a "grabbier" brake. As this is a Hybrid, we should talk about something that only Hybrids do. All we can think of is the automatic shut off. When the Civic Hybrid comes to a stop, it will sometimes kill the motor to save gas. Releasing the brake pedal will have the car start right up and resume as if nothing happened. The automatic shut off doesn't happen every time the car stops, so the first time it happened to us, we thought we stalled the car. Since our test car was an automatic, our confidence in our driving ability plummeted. But, we then remembered that this is something that Hybrids like to do, so we got over it and continued to drive. Comfort The interior of the Civic Hybrid is just like -- you guessed it -- a regular Civic. However, as anyone that has read a car magazine in the past 30 years can tell you, that is one of the highest compliments possible. Hondas are known for having the highest-quality interior fit in finish in any class. Many auto magazines have even adopted the term "Honda-esque" to describe an auto interior of the highest caliber. Everything about the Civic Hybrid's interior is just right. The seats are comfortable, sit at just the right ride height, and offer excellent support. The steering wheel has a slight contour to it, making it very comfortable to hold. The gauges and controls are very clear, very intuitive and very easy to use. While the Civic Hybrid doesn't have the bitchin' touch screen found in the Toyota Prius, it does have its own IMA gauge. Situated right next to the speedometer, the IMA gauge tells you just what the Civic Hybrid is doing at any given moment. Wanna know the battery charge level? If the electric motor is being used? How about if the battery is recharging? All of that info is displayed in the IMA gauge. Oh yeah, it also has a lot of pretty colors. We like pretty colors. Final Thoughts The easiest way to describe the Civic Hybrid is to just call it a Civic. Just about everyone knows what to expect from a Honda Civic: an economical, reliable, high-quality, comfortable commuter car. It's just that this Civic has two different engines working in tandem with each other. The standard and Hybrid versions of the Civic are just about identical. If it wasn't for the special badging, one couldn't tell the two cars apart. In a sense, that's about the best-possible comment one can give any hybrid. The Civic Hybrid doesn't have that "funky" stigma that other hybrid/electric cars have. It looks and drives just like a regular car -- it just saves a bit on gas. That "regular car" comment can also hurt the Civic Hybrid. As there is nothing to really differentiate it from a standard Civic, it is hard to justify paying over $4,000 more for the Hybrid. The increased gas mileage is definitely not worth an extra four grand to us, and most people will probably never see that money come back to them in gas savings. So, the only reason to buy a Civic Hybrid (over the standard Civic) is to make yourself feel like you are doing something for the environment -- or to impress that hot hippie chick in your social studies class. Until the prices for Hybrid technology come down, picking up a standard Civic (or any small displacement car, for that matter) would be a much smarter buy. SOURCE: IGN.com | ||
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