Test Drive: 2009 Honda Civic Hybrid
Ottawa, Ontario – It’s difficult to complain about a car that will travel 100 kilometres on just six litres of gasoline. Even more so when a car will travel that distance on that little gas in the rigours of stop-and-go driving. Especially when the car in question isn’t the kind of penalty box one used to have to drive in order to save a few pennies at the pumps.
The Honda Civic, of course, is far from a hairshirt on wheels. And the Civic Hybrid, despite being one of the oldest gas-electric hybrid models available today, is notable for its combination of efficiency and comfort.
Honda has been making much of its newest hybrid, the Insight, but a week in the Civic Hybrid proved that it is still very much worthy of consideration.
It must be noted that in a week’s worth of driving, the Civic Hybrid’s average fuel consumption was 5.7 L/100 km. Going by percentages, that works out to 14 per cent more than the Insight, which I drove a few weeks ago. That car returned an even thriftier 5.0 L/100 km, despite its slightly higher Energuide fuel consumption ratings. The Civic Hybrid’s fuel official figures are 4.7/4.3 L/100 km (city/highway); the Insight’s ratings are 4.8/4.5 L/100 km in LX trim.
The Insight is also less expensive than the Civic; my Civic tester rang in with a base price of $27,350, a substantial $3,450 more than a base Insight LX (the up-level Insight EX costs $27,500).
But what you get for the Civic Hybrid’s higher starting price is a car that feels more substantial than its newer sibling. The Civic’s cabin, despite its polarizing styling, is roomy for four, though, like most compacts, sticking a third rider in the back won’t earn you any favours. But otherwise, headroom, legroom and general comfort are generous, front and rear. Standard convenience features include power windows and locks with keyless entry, heated side mirrors and automatic climate control.
The unconventional dash layout takes some getting used to, but it works well. Secondary controls are all within easy reach of the driver, and while the high-mounted digital speedometer seems better-suited to the zoomy Si models, it’s a convenient place to locate the only source of information you need worry about in this car. There’s no point watching the tachometer, as the car’s standard continuously variable transmission (CVT) responds to deep stabs of the throttle by allowing the engine to rev high and stay there until the car reaches the desired speed.
Reaching that speed, incidentally, requires quite a lot of patience from the driver. The Civic Hybrid will step away smartly enough from a stop, but accelerating at speed – say, to merge with highway traffic – requires patience and plenty of advance planning. Steep hills also make the Civic Hybrid work hard just to keep moving, much less accelerate.
Driving this car in heavy traffic, which occasionally requires a quick burst of acceleration to squirt into an opening in an adjacent lane, can be nerve-wracking. It’s also mostly pleasant. This is a very smooth-riding car, with a suspension tuned for comfort above handling. It’s quiet, too, owing to the fact that in normal driving, the gas engine doesn’t have to work too hard, thanks to the help it gets from Honda’s Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) system.
The IMA is less-sophisticated than Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive, mostly because the car won’t drive on electricity alone, whereas a Prius, for example, can move away from a traffic light without sparking the gas burner. That fact alone makes the Prius look like the better choice if you do a lot of driving in heavy rush-hour traffic, where the Toyota could conceivably creep along for some time on electric power alone. The Civic Hybrid’s engine does shut down when the car is stopped, but fires up the instant the brake pedal is released. For the record, Honda’s IMA does allow the car to travel on electric power alone, but only under very specific conditions, which, in my experience, are quite difficult to achieve without paying more attention to what’s happening under the hood than what’s on the road in front of it.
While this is a far-from-exciting car to drive, it’s interesting to see how well you can adapt your driving habits to best take advantage of the hybrid drive system. Generally, this involves beginning to decelerate sooner for stops, and accelerating more gently when it comes time to go again. The hybrid battery state-of-charge indicator in the instrument panel is a useful way to gauge how well you’re doing; keeping the battery above a half-charge means you’re doing a decent job. If you’re really gung-ho about driving as efficiently as possible, leave the air conditioning off as much as possible; the electrically-powered compressor draws a lot of juice from the battery, and has a noticeable impact on how frugally this car will run.
The Civic Hybrid does force some practical concessions on its buyers, the most significant being a smaller trunk (294 litres versus 340 in a standard Civic sedan) and a rear seat that doesn’t fold. Both can be attributed to the hybrid drive system battery, which rests upright behind the back seat. Still, the trunk is usable for everyday cargo needs; 95 per cent of time, most drivers won’t miss the extra trunk space or the folding seat. It’s that occasional trip to IKEA or the hardware store that will cause pangs of regret for giving up those practical aspects.
As mentioned, the current Civic is in its fourth year since its last complete redesign. The 2009 model year brought with it the mid-cycle refresh that, with Honda, usually indicates that the next version of the car in question will arrive in about two years. The changes are subtle, including a new grille and front bumper and amber rear turn indicators. New standard features in the Civic Hybrid include stability/traction control and a USB connector for music devices.
I like the idea of hybrid cars very much, and I appreciate that these fuel-efficient options are available to drivers conscious of their carbon footprint. What I have a hard time getting past is the high price-tags attached to them. While hybrids are getting cheaper, their advantage dwindles as gas prices drop.
The truth is that the regular Civic is a very fuel-efficient car as well. Choose the decently-equipped Civic DX-G sedan, and you’ll get many of the hybrid’s convenience features in a car that costs close to $8,000 less and would still be easy to live with at the pumps. Add the fact that the DX-G model can be had with a manual transmission (the Hybrid gets the CVT only) and you can factor a little fun into the equation, too.
Would I recommend the Civic Hybrid? Yes: it’s a comfortable car, and its relatively simple hybrid system is appealing, as it translates into fewer flashy gauges and indicators to drill its message of efficiency into the driver’s brain.
But it’s not as efficient as the 2010 Prius, which is priced a mere $350 more than the 2009 Civic Hybrid (and that gap may dwindle or disappear altogether if Honda raises the price for the 2010 model); also, any savings at the pumps may be hard to justify next to the already-efficient, and less-expensive, non-hybrid Civic.
The Civic Hybrid buyer will want for little in the way of comfort, but if you want the latest and greatest in hybrid technology, you’re better off looking elsewhere.