The reason why I bought Accord vs. the Prius is because when I stepped on the pedal the car was actually going somewhere. I think the system is absolutely fine as it is and love the power and acceleration. Whoever wansts smaller engine etc should look at the Civic Hybrid or the Prius. The fact that I have plenty of power under the hood with the added fuel economy is why I bought the car. Lightweight spare tire would be nice. A bigger electrical motor may also be a good idea as long as it doesn't start catching on fire like some Toyotas have done in the past.

2005 Accord Hybrid
2005 Durango HEMI (wife's wheels)
1998 AUDI A8 4.2Q

Except I bought the Accord mostly because I need the room (3 kids, 2 of them in car seats.)

You're right though, the Prius is maybe more what I wish I could have. But the Accord also has better safety features and ratings.

Maybe I should have started the thread "improvements to the Prius/HCH":
#1: 3 inches of more room in the back seat.
#2: better crash test ratings

:-)

Hi GoNavy:

___As usual, 100% correct.

___A bit OT and near and dear to my heart … With the high speed AS issue, I have read from more then one US national lab that a series hybrid will not receive the FE of a parallel one. And once again, these guys are not thinking outside the box because there experiences will not let them think otherwise. If we had 100% electric drives, you automatically have AS/FAS/P&G/Free coast as long as the dimwits get off their love for regen at any let off of the accelerator! Let the smallish ICE run the pack up and allow regen only when the brakes are touched is about as simple a hybrid setup as one could achieve.

___Some evidence that this idea is beginning to be used in today’s non-hybrid quarters … There are very few complaints about the 05 non-hybrid Camry’s almost complete lack of ICE braking with any let up of the accelerator. Toyota engineers are doing the smart thing. They do not have the same ICE efficiencies as Honda yet they have similar EPA based FE ratings in similar automobiles (Camry/Accord) because of their design smarts. The lesser ICE braking on accelerator let off is just one item of course but it is an item that all automobiles are going to be headed towards or the manufacturer(s) of said automobiles will not be viable much longer. This small design change is moving FE in Toyota’s non-hybrid’s upwards and much of the industry appears to be absolutely clueless that this paradigm shift has occurred. Brakes are for decelerating and/or regen if you have a hybrid drivetrain. No brakes should allow for high or low speed coasting w/ fuel cut or ICE off. This is what is pissing me off to no end. Ford/GM/DCC have the ability to make a simple Ford Focus, Chevrolet Cobalt, and Dodge Neon w/ < $1,500 “IMA Lite/BAS” setups to receive 50 + mpg around town if these guys pull their respective heads out of their @$$es and start designing for maximum FE instead of letting Toyota take over the industry with technology creep. Remember, Toyota is designing a 25 - 30 mpg City based ICE in the Prius II that gets 60 + mpg around town because they know ICE off time is the real answer to higher FE, not just smaller and more fuel efficient ICE’s to begin with …

___Sorry to all for my 2 paragraphs of rant as even my PZEV Accord needs a few of these design changes done to it. Honda does not yet have this design figured out yet unfortunately

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net

I'm sorry I keep seeing the word "ICE" Could someone tell me what that stands for?

2005 Accord Hybrid 15.65@89.91mph

2003 Lancer Evolution VIII (Sold) 287whp/283tq

Hi Caymandiver75:

___Sorry about that. ICE = Internal Combustion Engine or engine for short.

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net