We were happy to discover that not only does the Civic Hybrid get good mileage at high and low speeds, but that it’s possible to beat the EPA estimated 44 miles per gallon fuel mileage rating without even trying. In fact, driving with the ECON button off made it even easier to cruise along at an average fuel economy of 48 miles per gallon without major adjustments in driving style. The ECON button maximizes the efficiency of the vehicle to theoretically improve gas mileage, but we found that it mostly reined in the power of the car in a way that simply required us to push the gas pedal down farther to get it to do what we needed it to do. So, ECON button happily turned off, we enjoyed the improved power and smoother acceleration.
Even 48 miles per gallon isn’t fantastic for a modern hybrid, especially considering that number can drop in cold weather and that the ordinary Civic already gets 31-39 mpg, but we found the Civic Hybrid to be a very comfortable middle of the road kind of hybrid–just what you would expect from Honda. The car has heated leather seats, digital HVAC controls, satellite radio with navigation, and a smooth ride. The only glitch came with braking. This hybrid doesn’t plug in, which means it recharges its battery from regenerative braking. Unfortunately we could really feel the system bearing down, even automatically slowing the car to nearly a stop as we cruised to stoplights with minimal pressure on the brakes. The system suddenly lets go at about 2 miles per hour, giving the driver a little lurch to compensate for as the car comes to a stop. This seems completely unnecessary as no other hybrid on the road has this awkward performance, including other Honda hybrids. Other than that, though, the Civic Hybrid was an extremely comfortable ride and could get more worthy fuel economy numbers if driven very carefully. Check out our gallery of photos from our test drive to learn more about the features and foibles of this upmarket little cruiser.
+ Honda
Thankfully some bloggers can still write. My thanks for this blog post
Gee thanks.
I bought a 2007 Civic Hybrid new and have been happy with it. I find it comfortable, and since I’m pretty much a slowpoke, I don’t care if it is not “zippy.” I take at least two drives every year of over 1,000 miles each, and average right at 50mpg. Average in local driving, and I’m consistently in the 43 range. The semi-heads-up speedo is a feature I like a lot.
Your eco score is a long term rating of your driving efficiency, not a rating of your most recent drive. Since you were presumably driving a new car, the score was low. It increases over time, if you drive efficiently (my CRZ with 9000 miles just broke into the third tier).