(you mean an I4? there are no V4s) The merits of a 4cyl HAH have been preached to the ends of the Earth... wlcome to our little choir!
When Honda came out with the incentive for HAHs, it was immediatelty pointed out that it was Honda's own fault:
http://www.greenhybrid.com/discuss/s...l?page=1&pp=10
Much as I love my car, I would love it far more if it were a 4-banger. 6 cylinders for stop/start local driving sucks, and you are correct- IMA rarely helps much if at all in normal traffic.
Even as-is, with the V6, this could've been a rock star. IMO Honda presented this car incorrectly to the public, and hardly presented it at all to boot. NOBODY KNOWS IT EXISTS! And the few who do don't know what segment to compare it to- other hybrids? It gets killed. Other trimmed-up family sedans? YES! But Honda never pushed that.
A Honda ad for the HAH SHOULD go something like this:
"...exactly what you expect- an Accord in every way- the bedrock of the midsize family sedan segment. Oh, by the way, it gets better mpg than any other midsize family sedan you can buy, with a tax credit to boot."
They should never mention "performance" and "hybrid" in the same arena- it confuses people.