Got a new Civic

6416 Views 29 Replies 12 Participants Last post by Resist, Jul 29, 2006

Rick

Discussion Starter · Dec 24, 2005

Well, this is almost hard to write considering I'm the highest post count member here but here it goes. I am pretty sure the Insight will be for sale soon. Two days ago I picked up a brand new 06 Civic Hybrid, and let me tell you it is nice…. very nice. The two seater was cool at first, but it seemed more and more I feel bad because I land myself in a situation where me and some friends go out and I never drive because I have the 2 seater.

Things I like. The dash layout is awesome. In the pictures of the top tier on the left it shows the temperature gauge. Well, on the hybrid there's a button which switches it to the instantaneous MPG gauge! So it's right there with a quick glance down rather than all the way down. Also it's quiet! This is one thing that I have fought with in the Insight, the Civic is dead silent and the factory stereo is really good on top of that. A major selling point also was the electric AC compressor; I know this will be a huge deal come next summer, plus the battery thermal management looks to be much improved, which is the other thing I fought with in the Insight.

The drive train is AWSOME! This thing is what I wish they'd do to the Insight. Even with the bigger heavier car you can feel the electric motor is much more powerful. I haven't played much as of yet, but the auto stop seems to not be limited to two times without getting above 11mph. And on this brand new car with all of 8 miles (2 of which were by me on a test drive) I immediately started driving in traffic, got on the freeway and took it easy, but not hyper mile type easy. I managed 53 mpg on a freeway which is a challenge for the Insight to get upper 60's on. The driving style is very similar, lean burn is brought about in a very similar manner, you can hold ~75mpg lean burn, the meter tops out at 100. I've also been able to coerce the electric only mode out of it already. It's weird because you can't really tell because the engine in still spinning and it only will do it for a short period of time.

The other thing about the drive train is the regenerative braking is massively improved. First it's variable. Barely tapping on the brakes brings up about half regen and a little more push and it goes full regen which really slows you down a lot. They've even got the brake pedal modulated to feel like a normal brake so you get the same brake force with the same pedal push even if regen is temporarily deactivated.

Things I know I will miss. The Civic doesn't handle quite as well as the Insight, plus the looks are definitely not as unique. I’m also going to miss all my modifications. My full leather interior, which I just finished, will be missed for sure (I might be willing to sell this). The nice shifting, easy clutch manual transmission I know I’ll miss at some point as well. The CVT is definitely unique in its own right, and I can see why they ditched the manual transmission option for this drive train, but I’ve already caught myself going for the clutch several times already.

Overall I would like to look back on my time with the Insight as very positive. Sure I had a few issues with it, but it never left me stranded. It will most definitely be the most unique vehicle I ever owned. I really wish I was in a position to hold on to it forever, but the way it sits right now it is worth almost what I paid for it 3 years and 40K miles ago!

So will I be leaving Insight Central? No. I may not be around quite as much, but I know way too much to leave now. I’m sure I’ll still be answering Insight questions for years to come. Plus Benjamin added the other Honda hybrids forum so I guess I’ll get to man that one.

There will be pictures and more details to come soon I’m sure. Actually, I have a uncle who wanted a hybrid so I think this one might go to him eventually when the other comes in because it was a deal where we were on the list for a blue one and they called us when someone backed out of this silver one and we got it out the door for seven dollars over window sticker when I guess everyone else is getting at least $1,200 over window sticker right now. This one is only vin # 6069 so they’re trickling in slowly, that’s for sure.

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Rick

Discussion Starter · #3 · Dec 25, 2005

Good deal, your going to like it A LOT!!! And hey they've already got a hard plastic dead pedal rest in there.

I guess on mine it was someone else's order that backed out of it. We were a few down the list of people that wanted one. I was told the guy above us came to look at the car right before us and himmed and haa'd about it and left. We came and left a deposit. Apparently the next morning that guy came back with a cashiers check for the window sticker and they told him sorry.

I should mention this too, AT-PZEV really can clean the air in some situations. We pulled it in to our shop and hooked it to the expensive emissions diagnostic scope we have. Of course it registered some CO2, but hydro-carbons and CO went down. Our head mechanic looks at the car funny and tells me to rev it some to see if it changes, the readings go down another notch and he says "it's cleaning the air in here." So yes as far as smog forming pollutants this car emits a negative amount.

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Rick

Discussion Starter · #8 · Dec 25, 2005

Yeah the electric only mode is fairly limited and only at lower speeds only after you've accelerated to that speed. It's kind of like bringing about lean burn, but you let the fcd get pegged at 100mpg and then very ever so slightly push the pedal back down. The FCD will stay at 100mpg and there will be a couple bars of assist showing.

Ohh yeah, I wasn't super trying either and the car was reporting 64mpg last night :shock: I'm driving it real nice for the first 1000 miles anyways for break in, but that was cruising at 60-65mph with temperatures in the high 40's to low 50's.

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Rick

Discussion Starter · #10 · Dec 26, 2005

Ok I have to retract that 64mpg. I do have a picture of it, but I think it had to be a glitch somewhere because as soon as I started the car again it went back to ~51 mpg, which is the average so far since I drove it off the lot ~140 miles ago. Which I can't complain one bit about for a 5 passenger sedan.

Good idea with the vacuum gauge, but I'm not sure just how ready I am to modify a brand new car just yet.

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Rick

Discussion Starter · #12 · Dec 27, 2005

Per Pound, I think this will crank out better MPG's.

The car has no LMPG so I reset Trip B (there's only Trip A and Trip B) before starting the car on the dealer lot. At 140 miles the lifetime mileage is only at 41, but that is with the whole family driving it some and none of them get it. I'm so far averaging right around 50mpg, which is just as they said close to the EPA estimates.

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Rick

Discussion Starter · #21 · Jul 14, 2006

I've driven a 2003 HCH CVT and my 2006 HCH CVT, both got very similar mileage. You might be a few more mpg out of the 2006 just because it's the latest and greatest. The biggest differences to the drivetrain are the more powerful electric motor and dual scroll AC compressor which allows auto stop with air.

I think a 5 speed HCH would likely best a 2006 which is only available in a CVT.

Now if we get in to styling.... well I personally find the previous Civic a bit borring compared to the current one. The 2006 also has the highest possible saftey ratings in every test.

The Civics are lean burn with either transmission.

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Rick

Discussion Starter · #23 · Jul 15, 2006

I'd have to say the regen on the Insight feels about the same as the HCH1. The motor in the HCH is larger so it will make more power, but it's also a heavier car so I think they kind of cancel eachother out. The HCHII deffinitely has more regen power to it, plus it's variable. The Insight and HCHI just do full regen when you tap the brake pedal.

On mine when I was commuting to school I was averaging a pretty consistent 55mpg at 65mph, and that was on a not so ideal freeway either. At 55mph I'd expect 60 is doable, it all depends on how you drive and ambient conditions. As always YMMV (your mileage may varry).

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Rick

Discussion Starter · #25 · Jul 16, 2006

70-80, this is without AC; turn the air on and it's a very different story.

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Rick

Discussion Starter · #29 · Jul 17, 2006

Ref said:
so the 55 MPG at 65 MPH in your HCHII was with or without air?

Without the AC.

I was once able to get 62mpg in a 35mph zone for probably 10 miles. Lights are times for the speed limit so I think I only completely stopped once or twice the whole way. To my suprise the EV mode actually came in handy and was used quite frequently.

Of course that is the upper bound, currently on this tank I'm sitting at 36mpg because anything over 100 degrees auto stop won't function until the cab and batteries have cooled off sufficiently (thankfully they figured this out, had problems with this issue on the Insight). The air has been going full bore the whole time.

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