Since Toyota no longer sells anything like the Supra, the Celica, or the MR2, the 2k6 RAV4 with the V6 is Toyota's fastest accelerating vehicle

Stiff,

If I was in your place. I would not get a Hybrid, driving 16km (about 10 miles) per day and in Canadian weather it just doesn't make sense to pay extra for the hybrid. You won't be able to get it warmed up.
If walking or taking public transit is out of the question for the 5 miles each way, then get a small efficient used vehicle like a used Honda Civic or Toyota Corolla.

Cheers.

Best Tank = 54.2 mpg (Sep. 9'06)
Best Trip = 61.9 mpg

You're not obsessive. I would not even consider buying a new car without side airbags. When I bought my '98 Camry XLE in 1997, it had side airbags. One reason I just bought a new car is to get the new, improved side airbags. I didn't need a new car - my XLE had 115k miles and was still like new - but I wanted the safety improvements of a new car. I definitely hear you on this issue.

Hi WS,

Any internal combustion engine has an optimal operating temperature, typically hot. In the past cars needed to be warmed-up before the car could be moved. Now days most cars get warmed after they're driven for a few blocks.
In the case of the Civic Hybrids we have at home if the outside temperature is below 15 Celsius it could take a couple of kms before the autostop starts working. Above 20 celsius it seems to do autostop from the start.
Another thing in the HCH is that the FE during the first few kms is very low, around 10 DIN (DIN = L/100km). After you've driven a few kms the DIN goes down to 5 or better depending on road conditions, driving, temp., etc.
Also the large battery in a hybrid is charged when you're going downhill or slowing down. If the charge gets too low a forced re-gen occurs, this uses some of the ICE energy affecting the cars aceleration and FE performance.

I believe this is the same for all hybrids. With short drives you probably won't take advantage of the electrical motor, except for the easier starting. It can actually be counter productive to have a battery that gets charged and not used, plus the extra weight and cost.

You can see in my signature the difference between my HCH driven for longer trips (over 1/2 hour and over 30 km each trip), and my wife's hybrid driven for short trips (10 minutes and less than 10 km per trip). I can easily get trips below 4 DIN, my wife has a hard time getting 5 DIN. This is now with temps between 20 and 30 Celsius, in colder weather we anticipate a bigger gap.

Sorry for the long note. I just don't want you to be disappointed if you get a hybrid and find that in short trips your FE seems the same as non-hybrid cars or possibly worst.

Best Tank = 54.2 mpg (Sep. 9'06)
Best Trip = 61.9 mpg

Katz, this is important information. Thanks. Now I understand the reference to it being a bad choice for my short drive to work.(I also feel pretty dumb that I didnt know this). I actually thought my mostly city driving made me the perfect candidate for a hybrid.

That puts me back at the LE Camry for the power seat or take a chance on the Corolla manual seat working for me.

I checked out the Honda Fit from an earlier post and it's too small, light, basic, for this period in my life.

I am dejected....

Before you get too dejected, and before you give up entirely on the TCH, consider:

1. If you get the TCH, it will get better mileage on your short city commute than the non-hybrid Camry. It just will not be as significant.

2. If you get the TCH, you will get much better mileage on longer city routes that you will inevitably take throughout the course of the year.

3. If you get the TCH, you will be contributing to a technology that may well have a significant impact on getting us away from our dependence on foreign oil, and you will be rightfully rewarding companies that are doing something about it.

4. If you get the TCH, it will make you irresistable to hot chicks and/or dudes.

Okay, maybe not that last one. But you should certainly consider the first three, in making your decision. From what you have said, it sounds like a Camry is the right *car* for you -- why not go with the hybrid?

oh you sweet guys are so sexist.
Glad you put the "dudes"in there. It's hard to be a hot chick at 58 plus facing a TRH but I am a girl.

Truth is, it really isnt a hot car, is it. I think of all the hybrids, excepting the Accord and other performance hybrids, as more intellectual than hot. Even the people buying because of gas prices rather than the atmosphere are making a decision based on careful thought.

Coyote, thanks. Maybe I dont need to dismiss the Camry. It's going to take some of that aforementioned thought. Any other input from anyone gratefully received!

(I'd still have the long wait; surgery could come first. Bummer.)

I wouldn't knock the style of the new Camry, but I am currently driving a real plain vanilla little car (a 1999 Corolla). I think the 2007 Camry, hybrid or not, is much more stylish than some of its Camry predecessors.

Performance-wise, the TCH sure beats the wheels off my Corolla too. During my test drive I was really pleasantly surprised with the performance and handling of the TCH. My test drive included city and highway driving and I had no problems at all with acceleration on the highway ramp or passing. Granted, I am used to driving a much less powerful vehicle, so perhaps it would feel less powerful compared to something that is designed for enhanced performance rather than fuel economy.

When I started looking for a new car I had these specific criteria in mind:

1) It must be at least as fuel efficient as my 1999 Corolla.

2) It must have more rear passenger space than my 1999 Corolla (in order to accomodate my growing toddler who enjoys resting his foot on my shoulder while I am driving in my little Corolla ).

The TCH meets both of these, AND I like the way it looks, love the way it drives, and feel that it is all around the best choice for me. Oh, and I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Jasper Green color... which is why I am trying to patiently wait for one that is Jasper Green.

For me it's not just an intellectual choice, because the FEH met the criteria too, but I just didn't LOVE it like I did the TCH.