A bit of perspective is needed here. Anyone who is buying a hybrid in this price range for "performance" is really missing the boat. You really need to go upscale to the high-powered, hybrid-Lexus to get acceleration fast enough to be of interest.

As far as I'm concerned, an HCH or Prius, either one is a fine car that can give the owner many years of good service. I'd have preferred seeing the posting about HCH-CVT maintenance get covered in an HCH forum where it might do some good. But going back to the original question, I think we're reaching the point of beating the spot where the dead horse was drug away from. Just my two-cents.

Bob Wilson

Operation Iraqi Oil Freedom:

Automatic, stock, project car.

My other 1500 cc car:

Automatic, stock, backup car.
Free speech, dialog and knowledge thrives without the poison of SPAM.

We are comparing the two because the OP chose to. The cars are not that different in size and the Prius is only a midsize because it is a hatchback. I try to be balanced in my posting and in fact suggested the ToyotaCH as the best replacement for an Accord. To bad not everyone can remain objective....

I really think this goes back to my comment about the Prius being better for "potential" - for tinkering. Tinkerers are simply drawn to the Prius. The Prius mods and literature out there go on and on while the Civic Hybrid has relatively few. If you're a geek who likes to mess with how their car works... you're pretty much gonna pick a Prius.

On this forum actually. Check over in the Honda section, do a search. When I was selecting between Prius and Civic I looked at as many factors as possible. In particular I recall reading a PDF someone posted, it was a Reliability summary by a car rental place, comparing the reliability of several cars, Prius and Civic Hybrid included, after several years of service. The most costly reliability issue in the entire PDF was the Civic CVT issue.

As I said the difference is minor. I've seen the 0-60 test results, and simply have not found them to be consistent with my experience driving the 2 cars - the Prius just doesn't hop on the highway or tear up a hill the way the Civic does. But again, it's minor - you go buy a Lexus 350h like Bob mentions and it'll put them both to shame.

Have you seen the front page? They're the MPG winners. If you want high MPG it's one or the other. The comparison makes a lot of sense.

Prius 2006, bought September 14:

My experiences have produced just the opposite. But without the hopping or loudy tearing up a hill. The Prius has a smoother ride so one doesn't notice how fast in actually moves. So we can’t both be right. This is one case where experience has no accountability to actual facts. So I’ll have to rely on objective reviewers…who happen to agree with my experiences.

why do people even compare the performance aspect between the 2 hybrids? just get a honda civic si and call it a day. it's cheaper too.

As I said, check the MPG numbers on the front page. People like myself who want the highest MPG they can get without buying something barely drivable are going to be curious about every point of comparison of the 2 MPG leaders.

Prius 2006, bought September 14:

We are in complete agreement, it is cheaper.

Bob Wilson

Operation Iraqi Oil Freedom:

Automatic, stock, project car.

My other 1500 cc car:

Automatic, stock, backup car.
Free speech, dialog and knowledge thrives without the poison of SPAM.

"Prius better than Civic Hybrid? "

From all I've read and experienced, it pretty much appears that way.