mikef

Why the Honda Civic Hybrid?
1] for the environment.
2] for the economy... over the Toyota. The Prius is just too futuristically odd-looking and, due to the design, the visibilty is not very good--- but if city mpg's were my priority, I might have considered one. The Civic's 50/50 mpg's is a better deal for someone who does mostly rural driving, and moreover the car is quite attractive, without being ostentatious like its competitor.

I had a pretty 05 red Camry SE loaded, and traded up for the HCH.
I love the new 06 Hybrid; it's a blue/gray one that they describe as Magnetic Pearl but write down as sage. It started out getting 47.4 mpg but has slipped into the low 40's after 2000 miles. Any tips for increasing the mileage? Oddly, it doesn't seem to do any better in the city than on the interstate at 70 mph.

Does anyone know about all-season tires for the hybrid? I live way up north, an hour from Montreal [in NY], so it'll be interesting to see how it'll do in the winter.

I intend to keep this car a long time [got a 120,000 m. warranty for it].

Moondog Mike

vtechsi

the hybrid takes a special load range because of how heavy it is so becareful when buying new tires for it.........snow tires for it may not have the correct load range for it....... will look at work tommorow and see what is available for it a/s wise and snow wise what tires do you have on the hybrid??? is it the stock bridgestone or something different????

mikef

Dunlop 31-S tires came on it, labeled "standard load." I doubt they'll be very good as far as traction goes in the winter. I appreciate your help with information on this.

Canadian Honda dealers may be helpful too. I've bought several vehicles in Canada, back when the exchange rate was favorable [1985-2001]. I live more than an hour from a U.S. dealer or Excel in Montreal [whereas Cornwall, ON is only 45 minutes away]. Of course, ONLY U.S. dealers will do warrranty work on my HCH; conversely, I could not get U.S. dealers to work on my Canadian Hondas or accept them for trade.

I have not seen a single HCH here in the North Country yet, although Priuses [or is it Prii?} are fairly common. I did see an 05 HCH in Albany last week, but that's not the North Country [except from the warped geographic perspective of NYC].

Anyway, as for mileage, if I get at least 45 mpg overall. I'll be quite content with the compromise of size and comfort over the Camry. I need to learn effective hyper-miling techniques, as just driving slower doesn't seem to work.

After seeing "An Inconvenient Truth" recently, any remaining qualms about buying the HCH were dispelled. Coincidentally, the preview trailer for "Who Killed the Electric Car?" piqued my curiosity--- and made me feel good about having had only Hondas and Toyotas since the 1970's.

Mike

vtechsi

good tie would be a bfg traction t/a, michelin symmetry, yokohama avid trz or avid touring, or if you decide to go with a snow tire i would have to say a michelin x-ice studless snow tire .........hope that helps you out!!!!!!!!!

mikef

Thanks for the information. Mike

sketcher

Here is (possibly) all you'd want to know:

Adapting Basic Hypermiling Techniques to the HCH-II - CleanMPG Forums

hth

ETP

Tire pressure should be 40-42 PSI and be very careful about the tires you buy. Make sure they are as narrow and tall as the originals or more tall and more narrow. Wider tires and low profile tires will mess up your odometer and mileage. Michelin makes most of their tires lower and wider for the same size. Be careful. Use synthetic oil, turn the AC off and coast to a stop. I get 48-56 on all 3 of my hybrids. Also put fuel injector cleaner every 6 months in your fuel tank.