Honda Civic Hybrid Review         

Will Faulkner, presenter of the Midlands Today Show, is currently reviewing the Honda Civic Hybrid, 
which can be found at Autoworld Casey in Athlone.

For the past number of weeks, Will Faulkner from the Midlands Today Show has been testing the Honda Civic Hybrid, courtesy of AutoWorld Casey in Athlone.
To read his previous report, click here.

Tune in from 9.30am - 12noon to find out more

The Car:  Honda Civic Hybrid
Engine type: Water cooled 4-stroke SOHC i-VTEC petrol engine with Hybrid Electric
Engine size: 1,339cc
Horsepower: 115bhp
Torque:  166Nm
Curb weight: 1,336kg
Transmission:  Automatic - CVT
Price:  €28,795euro

Listed fuel economy (in litres per 100km)
Combined: 4.6
Extra Urban: 4.3
Urban:  5.2

 
Will's findings:
1st fill: 53mpg (5.37 litres per 100km)
2nd fill: 51mpg (5.59 litres per 100km)
3rd fill: 52mpg (5.48 litres per 100km)
4th fill: 50mpg (5.7 litres per 100km)
5th fill: 53mpg (5.37 litres per 100km)
CO2 emissions: 109 g/km

Final Thoughts 

To some people, a car is an inanimate object with four wheels that exists simply go from A to B. Others have a more intimate relationship involving regular washing, polishing, hoovering and admiring. I fall between the two but I must admit to becoming good friends with this Honda Civic Hyrbid over the last two months. It's an attractive looking car and has plenty of gadgets to keep it occupants comfortable and amused. Financially, it is kind to the pocket in several ways. Under the new VRT system (which operates on CO2 emissions rather than engine size), it retails for 28,825 and annual road tax amounts to just 100 euro. In a climate of rising energy costs and mounting fuel prices, cars like the Civic Hybrid are no longer the preserve of a niche customer but are instead a tempting prospect for the increasingly green-minded mainstream market.

Honda says this car will do 60mpg. My experience didn't confirm this - 53mpg was the best I could get. Car manufacturers generate these figures under ideal conditions and, unfortunately, road conditions here in the Midlands don't lend themselves to perfect motoring. My foot is slightly overweight too! Realistically, this car can return fuel economy in the low-mid 50 mpg range... which, by any standard, is pretty fantastic for a car of its size.

It's a challenge to find fault with this car. Emmm...there's no split-folding rear seat, which had been a feature in previous models. The alloys are sexier on the conventional petrol model. Emmm... that's it really.

It's hard to fault a car that sips petrol, responds with the performance of a much larger engine, luxuriates you with heated seats and cruise control, looks great and costs 100 euro per year to tax.

So is the wizardry dependable? A few years ago, Jeremy Clarkson wrote in The Sunday Times that he found the Honda Legend 'boring' because nothing ever went wrong with it!! It was certainly high praise, if unintentional. Incidentally, a quick-thinking marketing exec at Honda ripped the relevent section out of the article and placed it at the centre of a full-page advert the following week!

Admitedly, I'm fond of Honda cars. I still have my 1995 CRX Del Sol - a small sports car that, for a man, is slightly more acceptable than a Mazda MX5 - and nothing matches it on warm sunny days. In fact, I wonder if the modern Civic Type-R can come close to touching the agility and accelleration of the older, lighter models. In writing this review, I've been careful not to wear rose-tinted glasses. The Hybrid is genuinely a great car and should be seriously considered by anybody looking for a mid-sized family saloon. Traditional diesel buyers should not be swayed on fuel economy - petrol engines are traditionally thirstier but this car bucks the trend. The diesel advantage has been eroded further by the widening price gap between the two fuels.

At last, you don't have to be a hypocritical Hollywood star to own a Hybrid!