Wayne, the TCH is 477 pounds heavier than a Prius but that's irrelevant for maintaining speed on a level road. Weight only affects acceleration and going uphill. The frontal area and cofficient of drag (which is only 0.01 worse than a Prius) are what matters, along with rolling and engine resistances and all that.

After having read in Consumer Reports about how many lives VSC will save and how it is the best safety innovation since the seat belt, I am disappointed that car manufacturers are making it an option instead of standard on all vehicles.

There should be a law that 6 airbag systems and VSC should be standard on every vehicle produced.

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After having read in Consumer Reports about how many lives VSC will save and how it is the best safety innovation since the seat belt, I am disappointed that car manufacturers are making it an option instead of standard on all vehicles.

There should be a law that 6 airbag systems and VSC should be standard on every vehicle produced.

I agree wholeheartedly and it's one of the reasons I moved from my 2000 Camry to an '05 Prius with all of the safety features.

However I also recognize, being in the business, that there is a very very large segment of buyers who will not pay for these features.
'I've never had them, never used them, never needed them and wont pay for them'

That being said the movement is toward standardization, and somewhat higher vehicle prices. Toyota has announced already that VSC will be standard on all vehicles in the near future. All SUV's presently are.

Lifetime fuel usage: 2.1 GPC ( 1.99 recent )

XCEL-Thanks.I didn't realize that they-Prius- could use so little energy.No wonder folks want to add another battery pack to make them plug in capable.We(South La.) pay about 12 cents a 1000WH.At 200WH/Mile it would be about 2 1/2 cents a mile-very cheap-1/2 the price it would cost a 50mpg vehicle with $2.50 gasoline.Thanks
I see that the new little Honda will have full airbag protection.If you will actually be able to buy one for $14000(with a 5 speed auto)-they will be a real bargain;close to the Hybrid Civic in city mpg,but a lot cheaper.I don't picture Chevy selling many Aveo's if Honda produces adequate numbers of their car.Of course,Honda is usually very careful about matching production to demand,and they always seem to err on the side of underproduction.Hope they get them out before the next big price spike.Thanks.Charlie

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Hi Wayne,

Are you still saying TCH MG2 is smaller than Prius II's?

Let's list as follows;

Prius II
A: ICE 76 HP
B: System 110 HP
B-A: 34 HP

HH
A: ICE 208 HP
B: System 268 HP
B-A: 60 HP

TCH
A: ICE 147 HP
B: System 192 HP
B-A: 45 HP

Ken@Japan

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XCEL, is the 33 mpg city with the auto trans;if so it isn't too bad.I was a bit surprised at the 38 HY-that isn't too good for such a small car.The Civic auto is rated at 40,I assumed that the smaller Fit would get maybe 44 or so.The over gearing must be responsible for the kinda poor HY mpg.How many RPMs does it turn at 60 miles per hour in 5th?I would guess 2800??
Our primitive 1985 manual trans Corolla(60 hp) got an honest 42mpg at 70 miles per hour with a carb and primitive electronic ignition.It was probably lighter-2100 lbs-,but the same frontal area,and I doubt it had a lower CD.
Maybe the Fit will be a pleasant surprise and perform better than its EPA city numbers.The 2006 Civic got just 18 mpg in CR's city loop(about what the Focus got);I remember that the 2003-4,5 Civic got 22 mpg on CR's city loop-big surprise!!!.The 2006 Civic beat the Accord by just 2mpg city in CR's loop despite being EPAed 6 mpg better..The Corolla beats the Civic in CR loop now 18 vs 20??Maybe they did the testing in very cold weather??
Shame it doesn't have better hy numbers.Thanks.Charlie
PS Honda might get very lucky and catch oil at another peak with the Iran saber rattling that is currently costing us at least another $4/barrel.

Does anyone know if the Camry Hrbrid's naviagtion screen will be an Enhanced one with 32000 colors like in the 06 Prius?