Civic Luxury with Economy (Honda Civic Hybrid 1.4 IMA ES)

Member Name: upton66

Product:	Honda Civic Hybrid 1.4 IMA ES
Date:	24/07/09 (66 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Comfort, Quiet, Economy

Disadvantages: Not a hatchback

I have been the owner of a Honda Civic Hybrid for three years and have been delighted with every aspect except for a couple of niggles. It's been used extensively on all journey types, around town and long distance.

The list price now is £17,990 to £20,450, but we bought ours for £16,500 including the leather seats option plus £500 for the five year HondaCare that includes all servicing costs. At the time there was just the one model. The leather seats make it so much easier for ease of getting in and out, especially as the car is quite low.

Ordered in April 2006 soon after launch we never got it till November due to production delays. Initially we were concerned at the not so impressive economy and it took a good six months before it started to improve, apparently this is true as the engine wears in and the battery "matures", sounds odd but apparently is true.

The main things affecting the economy are, above all, your driving style, but also hugely influenced by the weather and the payload. Warm summer, just the driver - no passenger, no luggage on traffic free roads on a long distance motorway run and we have hit our record of 70mpg.

I know this economy is nothing compared to a diesel, but you have the advantage here of a luxury car, no tick-tick of a taxi and it's an automatic with cruise control. It is a very quiet car and very comfortable with body hugging seats that are fully adjustable. Again it is, and was then, expensive but this is offset as follows:

It is only a 1.4 engine so cheap to insure, road tax is currently £15 per year (dropping to £10 /year from April 2010), and achieving on average 60 miles/gallon the petrol cost savings against our other cars are about an extra 220 extra miles per tank full (11 gals) - it's now definitely paying for itself. Servicing costs would, I believe, be about £150 /year without the HondaCare. You also get exemption from London congestion charges (although they cheekily charge £10 /year not to pay it).

The niggles are the thick front side pillars which do limit visibility; you sit quite low, even with the seat wound up as high as; it is a saloon rather than a hatchback; the whole car is low so need to be careful when parking nose in to kerbs; the knobs to lock the cars are fiddly with no grip and would be difficult to open in an emergency; lastly, you have to open the boot with a key which is a pain when shopping.

The large, wide, high-level, line-of-sight speed indicator is great and really focuses your attention to the speed limits. This is accompanied by the current mpg figure you are achieving to the left and to the right, the fuel level gauge. The main panel is dominated by the rev counter, to the left of this is the battery charge/assist indicator and to the right the gear position indicator (Park, Reverse, Neutral, Drive, Slow) that illuminate with your current gear position. Steering wheel controls are radio/CD to the left and cruise control to the right with the usual sticks for lights and wipers. All displays are really bright and clear.

With a single button press you can scroll between trip meter one and two with mpg, outside temperature and odometer

The central console is neatly split into three with equal prominence given to radio/CD and clock display at top, radio/CD control in middle and heating/air conditioning controls at bottom.

The shiny automatic gear shift lever and handbrake are in just the right place. Behind these are the heated seat controls and behind again a storage box with cup holders behind with a sliding arm rest half over the top.

The CD player is a six CD changer, superb quality though it chunters and crashes around to change CD's. The climate control works well and holds the temperature steadily, you can set the temperature, let it adjust then turn the system off to maintain the temperature without the fan whirring which is pleasant.

For the rear passengers there is loads of room and the flat floor makes for added legroom. Like all cars it is bit of a squash for three across unless they are really thin, but it is comfortable in the rear even though the seats lean back too much so you feel as though your bottom will slide forward, not too serious.

Driving feels like any mid size car though I would say feels less stable than some in high winds - it can drift if not careful, it must be relatively light for it's size. Overall it is very quiet and relaxing to drive. Some criticism of Honda is that they are cheap and plasticky inside, well the expanse of dashboard is grey plastic but there you go, what else would one have.

The automatic CVT gearbox is very quiet and you effortlessly glide up and down it with good acceleration when you need it.

Night driving is fairly stress-free with reasonable, but not outstanding headlights, but with the additional driving lights illuminating the kerb and central line it is better.

Those who are not used to the hybrid technology will notice three main differences from an all petrol car. When accelerating, especially up hills, the combination of the relatively small engine, only a 1.4, and the extra drive from the electric motor push the car into high revs which make for a pretty raucous sounding strain on the engine, no problem but no doubts critics would find this a problem and say it is vastly under-powered. Next difference is if you gently decelerate with the intention of stopping, the engine cuts out at 8mph and effectively goes into freewheeling, which can be alarming for the un-initiated. The engine cutting out when stationery in traffic and traffic lights is pleasantly quiet and you hardly hear the engine fire up again when you take your foot off the foot brake.

It is very easy to develop good economy driving thanks to the big current mpg display, tiny tweaks to your foot on the gas cut out the petrol and indicator welcomely slides up the scale toward 100mpg!

It's a conservative car, looks more like an accord than the flashier new Civics, but ours had the fancy wheels that have flat discs for hub caps which draw the odd glance but it understates its comfort, luxury and technology from the outside.

Interesting that the Civic Hybrid slipped into the market three years ago without too much funfair, whereas the new Insight is being promoted as the world or cars going forward with no mention of this Civic Hybrid, but personally I think is a big let down, as though they tried too hard and failed to beat the Prius, shame. Go for the Civic Hybrid instead.

This is certainly one of the most comfortable cars I have driven and been a passenger in; the driving seat for me is the best ever. With Honda's name for build quality and reliability it should be trouble free for years to come.

Summary: Hard to beat

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