Honda Civic Hybrid

Test drove the HCH and Prius back-to-back and found the HCH the better choice. I drive the Estima Hybrid so this was to further my experience with hybrid cars.

The big difference I found was that the IMA system works well to give the HCH a responsiveness not found in the Hybrid Synergy Drive of Toyota cars. The throttle feeling is more similar to normal petrol cars. Would choose this over the regular Civic as well as the Prius anytime.

Speaking of Toyota hybrids, the difference in feeling is due to the fact that Toyota hybrids push off with torque from only the battery unless you floor the throttle. They have power modes that make the throttle more linear but you lose the point in choosing hybrids there.

Anaemic is the word I would use to describe a Toyota hybrid low on battery charge. You simply have to get used to a more efficient driving style. Not the HCH. You can drive it normally and still probably get 15 km/L.

By the way, I have gotten used to my hybrid and average 13.5 km/L with an efficient style that maximizes regeneration of the battery charge. I wish I could drive normally all of the time. You can definitely do that with the HCH. Ideally, I would love to have the new CR-Z as a 2nd car.

My elder sis car for 1 and a half years. We drove this car from Tampines to KL and ride was indeed smooth altough having a green powerplant, the civic hybrid is powerful at all ends, is cheaper than the puris, but the only complain I have, is the price

I bought the HCH in 2007. At $79K, it was only about $3K more expensive than the 1.6. The fuel consumption is pretty good. I travel 50% on highway and 50% city, and manage to get consistently close to 16 km/l. I top up petrol about once in 7 - 10 days, paying about $180 - $220 every month. Really saved on petrol and road tax.

Owned this car since 2007. Took a bet on this "too good to be true" machine when it was selling at 1k lower than a Civic 1.8; and it come with higher specs, lower maintenance, and way better fuel efficiency.

Proven right on all aspects. I used it heavily and it is still going strong. Tend to be heavy footed and hence a efficiency of only 13-14km/l. I was deeply impressed with the power despite its smaller engine. In many ways, the bet pays off as seen in its increasing price.

People are suspicious of it then but not anymore. With high fuel prices in the past two years, the bet is paying off.

Fuel Consumption

Most people concern on the consumption before consider buying a hybrid. I have drove a few thousand km on my hybrid and here are my summary. When driving on sgp road 50:50 city:highway, i can easily achieve 17 - 18 km/l as long as you didn't caught up in masssive jam too often. But when driving high speed on ns highway (120 - 150 km/h), do not expect too much as I'm only getting around 15 ~ 16 km/l.

Hybrid Performance

When you drive below 80km/h, the car is very responsive and fast in acceleration, almost equivalent to a 1.8 civic even before the i-vtec is activated, but smoother and quiter as compared to 5 speed auto in 1.8 Civic thanks to its CVT transmission. But if you drive at high speed ~ 120km/h and above, the acceleration becomes slower and almost comparable to an 1.5l car only with the fact that the car is still primarily powered by 1.3 i-vtec petrol engine and IMA is merely to assist when you accelerate. The IMA assist appear to be significantly helpful in low and medium speed and gradually reduced as you move to much higher speed. The sport driving mode "S" is useful especially you need extra power for your drive where the engine will always keep at a higher rpm, but "S" is not for high speed driving (useful for 90km/h or slower), I find it very useful when I drive up to genting recently. Some people may wonder will the battery run out of charge during uphill or on highways, dun worry too much as the petrol engine will divert little power to charge the battery when charge level is low as Honda engineer believe it is much more efficient to divert little petrol power to charge the battery at high speed and use the battery to assist in acceleration as they know acceleration will consume much more fuel if without the IMA assist. The car will cut off the petrol engine once you stop and the engine automatically restart once you release the brake. The engine on/off is very smooth, you shouldn't notice much about it while driving. But when you are in a massive jam, you will notice that the engine will need to on/off even you move your car a few metre away, this is the time you will find this features quite inconvenience.

In short, if u are driving in sgp road that is always 100 km/h or below, this car seems to be a good choice as IMA works extremely well in this range, unless you always travel at high speed on ns highway(mal).

1st I thought that hybrid cars are really anaemic on performance. Most of us have been educated with a concept that performance can't compromise with fuel consumption.

However as the Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) began to cut in, together with the 3 stage i-VTEC, all of these blend into a symphony of torque. Despite frequent overtaking on the highway, I never had to rev the engine above 3000 rpm. It felt like driving a turbocharged 1.3 litre without the turbo lag.

One thing for improvement though, the body roll is very significant during cornering. Because the Civic Hybrid was never designed for performance. The turning radius of the FD chassis is also wide compare to the former EF chassis. The interior is sporty due to the digital speedometer together with the bluish tachometer. The shifting knob is short, creating a sporty look. Not forget to mention about the steering wheel, which grips & looks like a Momo steering wheel.

Overall, I can say that the Civic Hybrid is indeed a good drive for beating those peak hour jams. Soup up the exterior with a set of bodykit & a set of 17" rims & Voila!! Who says that fuel consumption & performance can't compromise?

Tried driving this model before and the excellent handling, features and comfort really attract me to this car. Although it has a lower engine capacity, nonetheless, you won't feel a difference driving it or a normal civic. I would recommend this car to drivers who travel frequently.