I'm in the process of shopping for a hybrid, and owe you all a great thanks - this website has been invaluable in the search. I'm hoping to get advice from some of you experienced folks out there as to which HEV to buy.

I currently drive an Audi A4 wagon. Great snow car, lots of fun to drive, and consistently gets 28 - 30 mpg. A bit of a bear on the maintenance, but otherwise a great car. It's at 145K miles and the time has come to get something new. I love the idea of hybrids, but don't want to sacrifice what I've already got (namely, nice amenties in the car and relatively fun to drive). AWD would be nice for the snow (I live on the MA/VT border), but not critical.

What do you all suggest? I've tested the Accord hybrid and Highlander hybrid, but not fallen in love with either. The Accord feels like it could use a CVT - a little choppy on the acceleration. And the Highlander doesn't get any better mileage than my Audi, but costs more. For that $, I might as well just buy another A4. (Personally, I don't need the space in an SUV, and just don't like being that high off the road.) I looked at (but didn't test) the Civic & Prius - both seem like a few too many compromises on interior style, even though I love the FE.

All of this has me leaning towards the Accord, but it's not love... just seems like the best available option. Before I commit though, I'd love to get some advice or redirection from the experts.

Thanks in advance.

Sean;

I suggest driving the HCH ll and then make your decision. All and don't forget the Prius for 2006 as well.

Both are great vehicles and with either you can load them up with all the modern things.

I also would say to you that you (IMO) cannot make these vehicles the same as the Audi. I have owned two-Audi S4's and an older Quatro 5000 and I guess if there is a point here to be made, these Hybrids are great but they are not going to replace an Audi. I just sold my last Factory Hot-Rod, the Volvo S60r All Wheel Drive, Close Ratio 6-Speed car with after market upgraded performance enhancements and all the Volvo Factory Options. I have the 06 HCH ll on order and I think it will be just Great but I know it is never in a million yrs. going to be that S60r. All the wife is still driving her Mercedes All Wheel Drive car and loves it. The 93 Octane and to say the least lower FE than the Hybrids is not much concern to her at this point. She drives maybe 20-miles back and forth, round trip to work and thats it so she says until this Mercedes runs out of the Mercedes Ext. Warranty I'll drive it.

I guess we just have to decide what we want worse. Great FE and a Modern Hybrid and leave behind the Audi, Volvo, Bmw etc. Two different worlds (IMO). Neither bad but two different Things.

HTH;

Terry

I hear audi is coming out with a hybrid sometime. Maybe you should hold on to what you have. I wouldn't consider the Accord for just FE. To me its more of a sports car. Any car these days will be fine in the winter if you don't go crazy. The low rolling resistance tires aren't great so if you want to replace them with some good snow tires that would help a lot. the prius does have a stability control option I believe. If money is no object I think maybe you should look at that. The civic is a nice car if you want to blend in or don't want to pay the high price for a prius.

My hydroponics experiment

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You may also want to give the Ford Escape Hybrid a try. It's got AWD, wagon sized, lots of amnenities and usefull stuff, gets at least your MPGs (And I get in good weather around 35 MPGs with AWD), and is considered by many to be fun to drive. It's AWD is called one of the best, from people who do serious off roading in snow and sand. Plus, it's not terribly expensive, about 30K gets a nicely loaded AWD hybrid.

First 4WD Hypermiler

Have you read the FEH FAQ?

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Here is my Escape report. At the time, I was not aware of the purpose of the 12 V. automotive battery to power the vehicle control electronics. Since then, I've learned better.

In the Prius, the 12 V., lead-acid auxillary battery is much smaller than a regular battery since it doesn't have to operate a 'starter.' It is there for the lights and traditional automotive accessories that still need 12 V., high current source. Our Prius does not have an alternator but generates the 12 V. charging current from the inverter.

Bob Wilson

Operation Iraqi Oil Freedom:

Automatic, stock, project car.

My other 1500 cc car:

Automatic, stock, backup car.
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Camry Hybrid in late spring.
You can buy it standard with wheels, BT, cloth interior.. or add Sunroof, leather, Navi.

It'll have ~192 hp in a 2.4L and combined FE of about 40 mpg. IMO the new styling is exceptional.

Lifetime fuel usage: 2.1 GPC ( 1.99 recent )

I think I've went throug similar thoughts as you. I started out with the HiHy for the power then looked at the HCH II but didn't fall in love with it. Against my will I test drove the Prius and fell in love. The prius is a very nice car with a lot of cool features that makes it feel more luxorious then it really is. I ended up ordering one (#8) and hope to pick it up before the end of the month.

So please take a test drive ina prius. I think you will be suprised with how much of a car it really is. It seats 4 people as well as my current Maxima and with the hatch back you can pack a lot of stuff in it. I think it's a GREAT car.

Drive 'em all!....if you don't feel the love with any currently on the market, hold out. There are more coming every year! Also, bounce it against your personal list of "must-haves".

Agree with SomervillePrius...take a test drive of the Prius. And you'll note that the hatchback makes the vehicle so much more versatile.

Rich, Jennie & Boston (with little Piper on the way in April 2006)

2005 Toyota Prius (Driftwood Pearl #4) - 54 mpg average


2002 Toyota Prius (Silver Gen-1) - 51 mpg average

Many thanks to all of you for your help - this was an invaluable resource, and I really appreciate the time you all gave to my question.

I should let you know on what happened, although you may not like the answer: I bought a car, but not a hybrid.

Test drove lots of them, but found that the only ones that get reliably better fuel economy than a non-hybrid failed my "fun to drive" test. And the ones that passed the fun to drive test didn't look like the FE was any better than cheaper, non-hybrid competitors (at least according to the postings on this website, as compared to the EPA stickers). The closest I got to really loving a hybrid was the Accord, in part because of the power and in part because of the nice amenities inside, but given as the average driver is only getting 29 mpg, I kind of had to question whether it was worth all the extra $ for a hybrid. (After all, a totally loaded 4 cyl Honda gets 34, but costs almost $10K less. If I'm not getting better environmental impact for the extra $, then what's the point?)

So I ended up with an Acura TSX. Same amenities as the HAH, same fuel economy but $5K less. And it comes in a 6-speed manual, which is way more fun to drive than an automatic (at least without a CVT, as the HAH has strangely done).

Bottom line is that for now, I'm sorry to say that I'm not a hybrid owner. But I do hope that there are more options out there next time around. My dream (in case anyone from the auto industry is listening!) is a manual transmission hybrid with the amenities of the HAH and at least 40 mpg, as measured on this website. (And AWD would be nice - Audi had a test vehicle a while ago that used the electric motor to power the AWD wheels which I think Toyota copied in their Highlander.) And OK, I'm just one person, but it does seem to me like if you could meet those specs you'd get a lot more hybrid drivers on the road and therefore bigger environmental impact. After all, 1 million cars sold with 10 mpg increases in fuel economy has a much better impact than 100,000 sold with 30 mpg increases. (Not to mention that getting that kind of volume would have to help drive the costs down, so we could start to see bigger motor/engine power ratios...)

Anyway, I'm delighted to see all the manufacturers getting into the game - maybe with more options next time, we'll get one. And thanks again to all of you for help in the process this go 'round. We'll be back!

Sean

I hope you enjoy your TSX. Too bad you didn't fall in love with any of the hybrids. Try to stop thinking about how stupid it is that your engine keeps running when your stopped in rush hour traffic... what can I say your technology (6 speed and all) is about 100 years old.
Joking aside never buy a car you don't love.

It's hard to make a stick **** hybrid. Keeping the battery happy and living long requires quite a bit of clever manipulation. Having a stick **** overides that. The honda insight stick shift is a sweet car and gets insane FE but their batteries seem to fail a lot sooner then their automatic counter part. I think that is beacuse people trick the car into using the battery a lot more. I'm sure this limitation can be overcome but it's not easy.

And in the end I don't think hybrid's are neccesarily for the driving enthusiasts, it's for the people that want a smooth and cheap commuter car. I used to be one that loved to drive hard and I had to overcome that to like the Prius. I still love driving as much but driving a hybrid is another sorta game. Sure I don't corner as hard, pull away as hard but the new game is to use the break as little as possible, maintain speed and coast as much as possible to coax that FE up. To me it's about as much fun as drive "spirited" and I find that you can play my new game a lot more. Spirited driving never works on my commute which in the end is the majority of what I'm driving but my new game is to predict all the red lights so that I can coast in perfectly for when the traffic starts up again. It's actually harder to do then to drive "spirited". Nowadays I think "spirited driving" is just marketing hype and that this too will pass.

Enjoy your car.

/SomervillePrius