Thursday, July 3, 2008

Honda Civic Review

Honda Civic Hybrid

As soon as the second-generation Prius arrived on the scene in 2003, the Civic Hybrid was cast in its role as runner-up in the hybrid world. It’s true that the Civic Hybrid is not quite as fuel-efficient, not quite as comfortable and roomy, and not quite as powerful as the Prius. But the gas-electric Civic, like Rodney Dangerfield, deserves more respect than it receives.

"The Honda Civic Hybrid is completely redesigned with daring new styling, a more powerful and fuel-efficient powertrain, added interior space, and a bigger trunk. It still looks too much like a regular Civic sedan, and it doesn’t feature the handy utility of the Toyota Prius’s folding rear seats and hatchback configuration, but with real-world fuel economy in the high 40s, it might be worth getting out of line at the local Toyota dealer and checking out the latest high-mileage car from Honda."
Autobytel

"The Honda Civic hybrid is a five-passenger, full-featured sedan measuring 176.7 inches long; it's packed with safety features, everything from compatibility-minded body structures (helping to protect occupants in collisions with heavier, higher vehicles such as SUVs) to an energy-absorbing hood to help lessen impacts to pedestrians. And yet, loaded like Tara Reid on Ibiza, the car weighs only 2,875 pounds, aces Honda's internal tests mimicking the government's frontal and side-impact resilience, gets in excess of 40 mpg and has almost immeasurably clean emissions. Such a car was the stuff of science fiction 10 years ago."
Los Angeles Times

"The Hybrid enjoys all of the design upgrades that make the conventional Civic sedan a real head-turner, such as a sportier front end treatment incorporating sharply angled headlamp clusters, a new chromed grille insert, flowing character lines that run from the front wheel arches, across the cars shoulders and through to the its tail end, bypassing raked A-pillars and large exterior mirrors, integrating unique triangular turn signals - exclusive to the Hybrid. The rear design looks most distinctive, unlike previous Civics that either appeared too staid to inspire comment or left the impression of being heavily from one of Mercedes-Benzs sports models. Now, the sedans taillights are positively original, and shaped in such a complicated yet pleasing form as to make describing them without the help of a photo near impossible. The Hybrids wheels are also unique, and designed with minimal openings to enhance aerodynamics."
Automobile.com

"The design is somewhere between engaging and gorgeous. The silhouette's swoop is what you'd expect on an auto-show car or in a designer's first fevered sketch, not on a production vehicle. The interior is equally daring. Dandy to drive, nice to view, better than its predecessor and welcome in a time of $3-a-gallon gasoline."
USA Today

"We briefly drove a Civic hybrid through the wide-open expanse of Joliet, Illinois, and found its new technology to be very much transparent and its newfound power welcome. On occasion you would be aware of the gas engine stopping and starting itself, but it's generally unobtrusive."
Edmunds.com

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