A product is deemed "Made in the USA" if 70% of the parts is domestic. Today while waiting on Insight repairs (Autostop blackbox replacement from a wreck 2-years ago), I saw a 2006 Civic. It was not the hybrid. Only 15% was Japanese-made (the transmission) - 70% was made in Ohio.

One thing that was cool is the "upper dash" that is almost a head-up display on the windshield. Actually it's better because it's shaded from the sun.

Does anyone know if the 2006 HCH is made in Japan or Ohio? I suspect it's made in Japan. The only thing better than a 2006 HCH made in Ohio would be if GM ever built a full-hybrid Saturn.

61.5mpg lifetime - 82mpg in recent months

Best Run >
www.cleanmpg.com

"fanatic" is what the lazy call the dedicated

Hi Chuck; The answer is like you thought, (Japan-For HCH). I'm sorta guessing but I bet Honda is not taking any chances on (Build-Quality) with this new state of the art HCH for 2006 with all the press looking on and you know already that the 06 HCH had better perform as expected with (NO-PROBLEMS) and get really close to the suggested FE Rating from Honda at 50/50 City and HWY. I suspect that the FE is not going to be a real concern because I have already read where it has been driven in a normal manner and the FE was 47.1 MPG and as quoted we "Didn't-Even-Try" and never used the Electric assist at all at low speeds to conserve fuel. We drove it with a heavy right foot and still got 43-44 MPG another Mag. reported.

Also I read in many articles that Honda was very aware of the public being put off with the FE ratings on Hybrids especially and Honda was Quoted as saying that we set the FE rating so that drivers would get 80% (Should-Be-98%) of the FE rating on the 06 HCH. So I suspect that is the reason that Honda chose not to raise the FE higher even if alot of people could have gotten it, this way Honda is assured that most drivers will come within 80% of this FE rating and those of us that want to slow down and adjust the climate-control-accordingly, tire pressure etc. will most certainly be way above the FE rating of 50/50. Amen

Regards;

Terry
I made an "Error" in the FE Percentage above, I changed it to the correct in "RED' 98%. Not the 80% that I first wrote in posting above.

The Exact wording from (AUTOWEEK) SEPTEMBER 19, 2005 is as follows:
Hybrids have been notorious for falling short of their EPA ratings, so Honda says it has made adjustments to ensure that most drivers see 98 percent of that figure most of the time.

That FE figure is 50 city and 50 highway:

80% of 50 is 40. 40mpg isn't bad, and it is above the average "normal" drivers get with the 2005 HCH, but I hope for a bit more than that. We'll see.

I agree with you; A whole lot more like 40 city and 50-55 hwy. I hope.

Terry

About 75% of Honda's sold in the US are considered domestics. They release the exact figures when they post their sales data every month. You can tell the country of origin from the VIN, by the way. If it starts with a 1, it's made in the USA. 2 is Canada. J is Japan.

CGameProgrammer; Sorry big guy but I screwed up the percentage that I quoted that I read in a magazine.

The (Correct) percentage which I have changed in the 1st posting.

The correct percentage that Honda had said was (98%) of their FE ratings of "city-50 MPG" and "Hwy-50MPG". Taking this into account that would mean that Honda is saying that (49 MPG Would-Be-Reached By-Most-People).

I think Honda is really smart to have realized that it's better to put a more realistic FE Rating that the majority of people will see and if the customers get better than that, the customers will be jumping up and down with Joy and therefore so will Hondas reputation unlike say Toyota with the high FE rating they gave the Prius and the majority of the customers saying (Your-Crazy-Toyota) 'NO-WAY".

HTH

Terry

BTW; sorry about the screw-up

Actually, Terry, the automakers are required by law in the U.S. to post the official EPA estimates; they cannot post their own figures, even if they're lower than the EPA's. So Honda has to say the 2005 HCH mileage is 47/48 and Toyota has to say the Prius gets 51/60. It doesn't matter that those highway numbers (48, 60) are only what the car gets at 48 mph on perfectly level roads with no A/C; they still have to post it as the EPA highway mileage estimate.

But Honda may have gotten around the problem by improving the efficiency in a way that doesn't increase the EPA estimates too much, for example by making the car far more streamlined. Wind resistance is minor at 48 mph but increases exponentially as you go up, so the streamlined shape makes a big difference at higher speeds.

From most of the reviews I've seen, this seems to be the case. The car seems to perform far better at interstate cruising speeds (75mph +/- 5mph) from anecdotal reports than the '03 to '05 models, while only performing marginally better at the slower speeds in the EPA test. Considering speed limits are between 65-75 on the majority of highways, with the flow of traffic at or just faster than that, those changes will benefit the majority of Honda's customers.

From what I understand, the newer civic doesn't burn as lean as the ones ones, this means it likely won't show a big improvement in slow, steady-load testing. However, the engine has dramatically reduced engine friction and pumping losses, which helps all around, but is a bigger deal relative to overall fuel economy at higher RPMs. Also, the extra engine power should help to keep the engine in a more efficient range (maybe 2500rpm instead of revving up to 3000 )for for fast cruising, as well.

However, the improved regenerative braking, and the fuel-cut all electric mode for slower-speed cruising ought to help out the hypermilers as well, making up somewhat for the less-lean engine.

[quote=CGameProgrammer]Actually, Terry, the automakers are required by law in the U.S. to post the official EPA estimates; they cannot post their own figures, even if they're lower than the EPA's. So Honda has to say the 2005 HCH mileage is 47/48 and Toyota has to say the Prius gets 51/60. It doesn't matter that those highway numbers (48, 60) are only what the car gets at 48 mph on perfectly level roads with no A/C; they still have to post it as the EPA highway mileage estimate.

But Honda may have gotten around the problem by improving the efficiency in a way that doesn't increase the EPA estimates too much, for example by making the car far more streamlined. Wind resistance is minor at 48 mph but increases exponentially as you go up, so the streamlined shape makes a big difference at higher speeds.
{/QUOTE]

Your exactly correct in that EPA does set the FE ratings and now that I think about it I guess Honda is really saying that they have (As-You-Stated) designed their 06 HCH so that the majority of people will come very close to getting what it is rated for in FE by the "EPA".

Yeah-Honda, I hope their right

Terry

from what i understand from recent reports and confirmed by my local dealer is that the 2006 won't have a manual shift option??? i am sure glad i didn't wait, because i really like my 5 speed, always have. and i have always been able to beat the estimates with all my hondas, i have had an 85 accord, a 93 civic, 2004 crv and now my 2005 hybrid. the only one that gave me fits with the mileage was the crv. i just couldn't keep it about 25 mpg. part of it may have been the all wheel drive. also, the thing had such a small gas tank i almost never got more than 300 miles on one. it seemed like i was always at the gas station. but this hybrid has given me above EPA estimates since day 1. even my salesman was impressed. and since it's VIN starts with J, at least i know it was made in japan..........

having said all that, i sure like the looks of the 2006

Best fill 66.7 MPG, best tank 801.5 miles


laurie, central minnesota