I drove both and the 2006 HCH is not much better than the 2005 in terms of hybrid tech... it is a better car though. Much better steering and not nearly as weak as the '05; I rented a 2005 HCH and it could not accelerate up hills at highway speeds, it was ridiculous. I didn't even try it on mountains like I've driven the '06 over (though it does suffer on them; the engine's only 93 HP).

Boy this thread zigged and zagged alot.

Looks like the Camry that I had a shot at has become vapor-car. Given that my car is about to die, I will very likely be driving the HCH 2 this weekend.

It won't come in a manual so I guess you won't be driving one. In any case, let's look at some things I consider advances. In previous years the gas engine could not shut off at at a stop if the air conditioning was on. A new electric motor driven portion has been added to the AC compressor so at a stop the elctric compressor keeps the cabin cool. This is major to me. It means while the car is moving I can keep the AC off and use it to cool down at stops without using the ICE.

On traction and stability the car has improved leaps and bounds. Its wider wheelbase and slight decrease in length makes it much more a driver's car. It was tested recently by a test race car driver, who posted at hybridcars.com in the HCH section on the results. It blew the Prius out of the water on this, and is an improvement over the 2005.

The battery pack is both smaller and lighter, and generates more HP when used maximally. The gains here are obvious I would think. Performance goes way up, at no Fuel Efficiency cost. The 2005 and prior FE would have tanked if it had to perform like the new 2006.

I do not know if the older model HCH had head curtain air bags. If not, this would be a major advance, as a lot of driver head injury is due to left front head banging on the pillar glass/roof area.

The cabin is 4 decibels quieter. While not a Lexus, the difference is noticeable, depending on raod surface actually. The insulation is awesome from door up, but road noise insultation was not attended to in the same way is what I mean.

The car has more power. Its not my now retired Volvo, which the new owner took up to 100 yesterday he says, but it's in the game finally.

Yesterday my city driving tank hit 52 MPGs at about 200 miles driven as I am finally figuring out how to really drive the thing. Haven't inflated the tires passed 32 yet and there is a slight alignment issue I have yet to handle.

Anyway, the changes to me seem to qualfy as major, but as they say, IMMV.

By the way, the new Camry Hybrid has a knree airbag for the driver which I thought was pretty cool.

rysa4

Nice response! I'll agree that the 2006 has "major" improvements in the non-mpg areas. That extra power sounds nice too........

Too bad they won't make one in a MT.

BTW the 2005 has side airbags but not a head airbag.

additionally, 06 has all-cylinder deactivation while the 05 has 3 cylinder. that results in less vacuum pumping losses when the ice is switched off and accounts for a rather large gain in the efficiency of the regenerative braking (which i think is improved somethin glike 30% over 05.)

I can tell that the regenerative system is incredibly efficient. Yesterday I was in a commercial bank window line, autostop on, ICE OFF, air on, with AC full on. The battery drained down to one over my 10 minute wait. Within about 5 minutes of driving it was recharged past 50% and fully functional again. Interestingly, auto stop kept working the whole time, which surprised me.

Well I'll tell you, I have been driving Infinit V6 then TL V6 last few years and it is not fun any more. I go about 300-320 on a tank and get 21 MPG and about $46 to fill it with Premium. Well I give up and my TCH is due July 22. I got a good deal on my TL and witht he tax credit I figure my gas costs will go down $85-$100 a month and then I get a $2600 tax credit! Sure the TCH is no TL, but it is close enough.

[quote=xoham]This review from Road and Track which was linked from the Camry forum on www.greenhybrid.com led me to go Camry over the Civic:

http://toyotanation.com/forum/showth...38#post1189638

While the Civic's EPA mileage is better, the Camry was almost as good in R&T's test (within 10%).

While getting a bit more mileage is great, I prefer the styling and more power of the Camry.

I just bought a Camry Hybrid instead of a Civic for two main reasons. The Camry is a larger car and scored better in crash tests. Safety is important. Secondly, the Camry has traction control and the Civic doesn't. Another safety issue, but it only has to save the bacon once to be worthwhile.

Lesser reasons include more room, bigger tires, and I just liked the Camry better.

Averaging 38 MPG in mixed driving.

I am in the same boat as Stevenvillatoro. I actually really wanted to get a HCH, but I felt that the TCH had a little more room in the backseat (carting kids around), and I liked the options. Also, I didn't like the digital dashboard of the Civic. I've always been a fan of dials. That said, I liked the drive of the Civic better as the Camry suspension is a bit soft. What put me over the edge in making me buy a Camry was my wife who wanted a bigger car. Ergo, ipso and facto, I got the Camry. And my wife promptly swiped it from me.

I have friends who have the Civic hybrid and are perfectly happy with it. Drive both, and get what fits you better.

--benny

I never really considered the Civic to be a contender for the obviously nicer Camry. It was a done deal and to my pleasant surprise, I now milk out at least 43mpg per tank over the last 3 tanks doing speeds mostly around 65 - 80 miles per hour. I believe the Civic gives similar FE if not worse at such speeds.

Also, based on the FE database numbers Civic = 46 mpg average, I am more than satisfied that I get close to if not better mileage than a lot of Civic drivers.