My previous car was an 2000 Audi A6 2.7T, 250 Hp twin turbo, 0-60 in 6.0 seconds. Before that was 1998 Passat 1.8T. Before that a 1997 VW Jetta VR6. Before that was a 1988 Acura Integra. I loved the Acura and I have been searching in vain for my dream car ever since. The 2.7T was great but it was a gas guzzler and I just cannot see the point of driving fancy cars that guzzle gas anymore.

I test drove the Toyota Prius a year ago with my fingers crossed that I could like that car. I was very disappointed. The Toyota was a big disappointment because it didn't drive like a regular car, in particular the brakes didn't feel like real brakes. During the test drive I remember trying hard not to press the gas pedal too far in case the gas engine started up and ruined the gas mileage. Because I had heard about the Honda Civic Hybrid I decided to wait a year until that car was available in case Honda did a better job.

Honda did a much better job. The Civic looks and feels just like a regular car. Since the gas engine is always running while moving there's never this "concern" that if you press the gas pedal too far that the gas engine will start. Instead, the Honda design recognizes that fact that cars burn most of their fuel while accelerating, and so the little electric motor is there to assist during those times.

How the car works. I think most people researching this car know how it works in general, but here are some details on how it works after putting approximately 800 miles on the car.

There's no starter motor. The electric motor is used instead. So the car starts very quietly and very quickly.

The battery pack is regenerated in two ways: the first is when you take your foot off the gas and slow down, the second is when you press the brake pedal. It's neat the way it works. You take your foot off the gas and 3 of the 4 cylinders are disconnected to reduce friction. The car would slow down very slowly except that the electric motor is reversed and engaged so that it charges the batteries. Then if you press the brakes, the electric motor is further engaged causing even more braking and more charging. If at this point you press the brakes a little harder then the regular disc brakes kick in. When you release the brake pedal the electric motor is not disconnected immediately, which I think would be too abrupt, so the braking eases gradually and quickly (in under a second). It feels similar to downshifting a regular manual transmission but it's less noticeable.

For the engine to shut off the car must be in neutral or the clutch must be disengaged, the brake pedal must be pressed slightly, and the car must be moving slower than 20 mph. Some people have said that if the car is stopped, and then you start moving but go less than 10 mph and then stop again, then the engine will not stop a second time. I have not had that experience. Quite the contrary, I have found that I can start the car by putting it back into gear and cause it to stop again by taking it out of gear, without moving at all.

With a manual transmission, the engine restarts as soon as the car is put back into gear. It happens so fast and silently that you do not run into any trouble even when doing a hill start. You press the clutch, throw the car into first, and the engine is running before your foot gets from the brake to the gas pedal. Amazing.

You can disable engine shutoff feature by turning off the Econ button located right next to the A/C button.

Some Quirks. So here are a few things I've noticed about the car that I didn't notice at first.

If you are braking while coming to a stop, and you take the car out of gear causing the engine to stop if you are moving below 20 mph, then the car moves a little bit faster suddenly because the regenerative engine braking is no longer in effect. So as a result I've found that I have started to press the brake pedal a little harder in anticipation of the engine shutting off to compensate for the slightly reduced braking at that point. So, when I got back into my Audi, I found that I was doing the same thing in that car, causing the car to jerk as I suddenly pressed the brakes harder.

I find the car to be quite noisy when going down the highway. I think it's tire noise. A smooth highway though is very nice and the car is very quiet in those circumstances. I am not sure what the deal is with that since most of the reviews I have read say that the car is very quiet inside.

If the engine has stopped because you're below 20 mph and your foot is on the brake, but then you want to keep coasting a little further and take your foot off the brake, the car restarts. That's even though the car is not in gear. So I assume that this has something to do with what you would expect with the automatic transmission, but I am not sure. I have learned either not to care about this, or just keep my foot lightly pressed on the brake.

The radio reception is very poor. I really hope that this is a temporary problem due to a faulty connection or something. I haven't taken the car in yet to have it checked.

The automatic climate control has two auto settings: one for which vents are open, and one for the fan speed. It works well except that it shuts off completely when the engine shuts off. If the fan speed is not set to the auto setting then the fan stays on when the engine is stopped. So while I prefer an Auto setting for the fan in general, I find that I need to take it out of that mode when I am in stop and go traffic.

I took some long drives up hill to see how the car would work in that situation. My first drive was up Page Mill Road in Palo Alto, CA, and then up Skyline to Highway 92, and then back down 101. On the way up Page Mill the battery pack drained down to just 1/3 left. The car was fun to drive, and handled fairly well. The battery regenerated very quickly.

My other drive was down to Santa Cruz from Palo Alto via highway 17. In both directions the car did very well despite the long hills and the A/C on. The battery back drained to about 1/3 again, I had to downshift to 4th to maintain speed up the hills, but in general the car was fantastic.

Actual Mileage. Well I am sorry to say that with about 800 miles on the car so far, I have only gone to the gas station once :-). So I only have one tank to test the mileage on so far. That tank was 44 mpg. It was 90% 3 mile short trips to work. My 100 mile trip on the current tank of gas to/from Santa Cruz with the A/C on and the car full with my family was 48 mph. The trip home from the dealer yielded 56 mpg. I can easily believe the advertised mileage but I have yet to go on any really long trips. I am dying to just so I can see how far I can go.

Summary. If it seems like I have found a lot of faults in this car, that is not my intention. The quirks I have listed here at very minor and I have related them here just in case somebody else is as curious about how it really works as I was. The car is a fantastic piece of engineering and I just get a kick out of driving it and watching it in action. Now if only this country would charge the proper amount for gasoline. Then the car would make good financial sense as well as good environmental sense.

Good luck!

Update: 8/13/2003. I have about 3000 miles on the car now. I have come to appreciate it more than ever: the car does not even feel like a compromise to me anymore. Now that the engine is broken in it seems to have more pep, is more freely revving. Also, I've changed how I drive it a little: if I need to go faster I press the gas pedal further :-) The thing is, Once the electric motor kicks in, the car will accelerate fairly well, even in 5th gear on the freeway. I don't think of pressing the gas pedal as throwing more gas at a struggling engine, but rather as a signal to the car to engage the electric motor. It does, the car speeds up, life is good.

I don't miss my Audi even a little.

Gas mileage continues to be around 44mpg with my 3 mile trips to work. Any trips onto the freeway move my average up into the high 40s and low 50s.

Update: 5/20/2004. I have over 8000 miles on the car now. I commute during rush hour on the freeway 18 miles each way now. My gas mileage is about 52 mpg (according to the trip computer, about 49 if you do it the old fashioned way). I routinely get over 500 miles per tank on about 10.5 actual gallons.

I tried putting a Thule roof rack on the car so I could go mountain biking. The car did not like the rack at all. My mileage went down to 45/46 mpg without the bike on the roof, more like 40 mpg with the bike on the roof. And the battery pack would routinely be at 50% which is very rare unless climbing into the hills. So, I got a trailer hitch and a hitch mounted bike rack and my mileage is back to normal with no bike and higher than the roof rack was with the bike. So, yeah, by a trailer hitch for your Civic Hybrid.

Comparison to the new Toyota Prius. So I had heard about the new Prius and was very curious about it. Somebody at work let me take their car for a drive, so I took the Prius out and then later I took my car on the same route to try to compare them.

The Prius is definitely very cool: no keys, a power button to start the car, etc. The car drives well, is quiet inside, and seems very peppy. At the end of my little test drive I had achieved 46 mpg. My car on the same route felt a little slower. My car got 45 mpg, well within the margin of error of course. I was worried the Prius would get 5 mpg or more better than my car, since it's rated that way, but it didn't. I've heard of people not getting such great mileage in their Priuses, e.g., a trip to Santa Cruz rarely getting out of the mid to upper 30s. I heard that from two separate people just recently. My car, you'll recall, got 48 mpg going to Santa Cruz with 4 people, a full trunk and the A/C running.
Amount Paid (US$): 19160
Condition: New
Model Year: 2003
Model and Options: 5-speed manual, SULEV