Not a professional road test, mind you, but a personal one. Recently (yesterday) I took my daughter down to college, our two civics packed to the gills. One civic was a 2000 LX automatic with 60K miles, and the other was my 2005 HCH CVT with 15K miles.

One car following right behind the other: same roads, same speeds (travelling at roughly the speed limit: 55, 65, or 70 MPH). The drive includes flat interstate, urban freeway, and a couple of steep hills of 1500 ft to cross over.

Admittedly the 2000 non-hybrid is four years older, and 4500 miles wiser. But still there is some value in this comparison.

315 miles driven. The mileage results:

- 35.5 MPG for the 2000 civic non-hybrid (EPA highway is 35)
- 49 MPH for the 2005 HCH (EPA highway is 48)

I think that may be a reasonable comparison of what a person might expect, in terms of highway miles, from a non-hybrid civic versus the hybrid.

That's a pretty good comparo. I have always asserted to people that the HCH should be about 12-15 MPG better than the non-hybrid under similar circumstances, regardless of EPA numbers, and this is right in that range. Thanks for the report !!!

Hi Coyote:

___I love those kinds of comparisons and a nice job you did too!

2000 Honda Civic LX: EPA rated 28/35 - actual: 35.5 mpg
2005 Honda Civic Hybrid: EPA rated 47/48 - actual: 49 mpg

___You actually hit EPA highway almost dead on in both of them …

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net

Recently I drove a new 2005 Civic auto for a little over 100 miles at 75mph+-3

and it got 32 mpg. this was a new one with <100 miles on it to start. Ther is a pretty good difference, loss in gas mileage on most any car when getting in excess of 65-70 mph. Prehaps the reason here for lower mileage.

I regularly commute with a friend on the same 80 mile route to work. We trade off driving, I have a 2004 HCH CVT, he has a 2003 Regular Civic MT. He drives with the cruise on at around 80 and his tanks average between 34 and 36 mpg. I drive 75 with some minor economy strategies (letting the car slow a little on uphills, coasting down long downhills, not using cruise, minimizing AC) and I have a 3000 mile average now of 43. So in my estimation I am getting a minimum of 20% better, though he drives a little faster on average.