ShareThisWhen drivers plunked down their clunkers in the first round of the wildly popular federal incentive blitz, Honda's Civic notched third place in the rankings of replacement cars behind the Toyota Corolla and Ford Focus.
Dealers indicated that the Hybrid, whose sales had fallen more than 70 percent in July, was back on the shopping lists of buyers armed with up to $4,500 in federal subsidies for trading in their gas-guzzling models.
As a car that averages 42 miles per gallon of gas, the Civic Hybrid goes more than the extra mile in achieving a key goal of the program -- increasing fuel efficiency of the American automotive fleet.
One dealer said that when he ran out of Civic Hybrids, his sales crew began directing shoppers to the regular versions of the Civic, which also achieve exceptional fuel economy.
In fact, the only Hondas that don't qualify for the incentives are the limited-production S2000 roadster, the Accord V6 Coupe with manual transmission and the FCX Clarity fuel cell vehicle, which is excluded because of its five-year lease requirement.
And you won't see any Hondas scrapped as clunkers because none of them qualify.
"You don't really need a complicated chart to find a qualifying vehicle at a Honda dealer," said John Mendel, executive vice president of American Honda Motor Co., Inc. "We hope that this program will help consumers make the move into vehicles that are easier on both their wallets and the environment."
In an otherwise disastrous year for car makers, the Civic Hybrid has played second-fiddle to the remodeled Insight, whose sales have surged behind the more distinctive design. Research indicates that people who buy hybrids want a car that stands out from their conventionally powered kin, which explains the popularity of Toyota's Prius, by far the best-selling hybrid car.
The Civic Hybrid, aside from some minor badging, could be mistaken for a regular Civic. The distinctive traits are found in the instrument panel, with efficiency indicators for the combined gasoline and electric motors.
The Civic Hybrid's price of entry is somewhat steeper than the Insight's, which partially explains the falloff in sales. The base Civic Hybrid sedan starts at $23,650, compared to $19,800 for the Insight. The top-of-the-line Insight EX with navigation system bears a price of $23,100, lower than the entry-level Civic Hybrid.
While the Insight was completely remodeled, the Civic Hybrid was simply tweaked for 2009. Additional options include leather-trimmed seating surfaces and steering wheel, heated front seats and side mirrors, and Bluetooth HandsFreeLink on models equipped with the Honda Satellite-linked Navigation System. Vehicle Stability Assist also known as electronic stability control, is added as standard equipment.
The front grille opening was redesigned, along with a new front bumper cover with a new three-port shape at the lower air intake. New headlight and taillight color combinations use clear turn indicator lenses with amber bulbs.
The interior features a two-tier instrument panel, front bucket seats and useful storage compartments with room for mobile phones, MP3 music players, compact discs and other devices.
On city streets, the Civic Hybrid performs admirably, taking off quickly and quietly. Only under hard acceleration do you hear 4-cylinder i-VTEC gas engine rev hard.
The 1.3-liter engine is a meager 110-horsepower, but gets a surprisingly potent boost from the 20-horsepower electric motor fueled by nickel metal hydride battery pack that is recharged by the brakes when you come to a stop. The generator brake system produces a slight shudder when you are simply slowing the car at low speed. When you come to a complete stop, the system shuts down the gas engine to recharge the batteries.
The 2.8-inch-wide electric motor is mounted between the engine and the continuously variable transmission. An "Intelligent Power Unit" controls the flow of electricity to and from the electric motor.
Passive safety features include side curtain airbags, driver's and front passenger's side airbags and front passenger's airbags. Active safety features include disc brakes with brake assist and anti-lock braking system with electronic brake distribution.
The Civic Hybrid rides on an independent suspension with front and rear stabilizer bars and 15-inch lightweight alloy wheels clad in all-season tires.
Standard features include automatic climate control, cruise control, power door locks, power windows with driver-side auto up/down, security system with remote entry and trunk release, a 4-speaker 160-watt AM/FM audio system with CD Player, USB Audio Interface 4, auxiliary audio input jack, center console with sliding armrest and storage compartment, progressive blue illumination instrument panel with IMA operation mode display and battery status meter.
WHAT'S NEW: Styling tweaks, leather upholstery.
PLUSES: Fuel economy, comfort, safety.
MINUSES: Price of entry, easily mistaken for regular Civic.
BOTTOM LINE: A Civic's lesson in fuel economy.
(E-mail Richard Williamson at motorfriend(at)sbcglobal.net)
AUTOS TODAY
With sidebar: AUTOSSIDE
MPG
I think 43 mpg is a low estimate of what the Honda Civic Hybrid can achieve. I get an average of 50 easily!! Only once did I get as low as 46 mpg and that was on a vacation trip with the AC running. YEa I do do a little hypermiling but I do not go crazy with it.