What about non hybrids with high mpg ?
#21
05-22-2008, 09:05 AM
Re: What about non hybrids with high mpg ?
In 1997 I bought a new Honda HX 5speed for around $13,000. That included dealer installed AC and a CD player.
That car regularly got mid 40's on the highway. I drove with my pregnant wife from Maine to Milwaukee and averaged 45 MPG, using the AC intermittently!
Mind you, I wasn't trying to conserve fuel at the time (gas was cheap, being green was new...) I was trying to make time. I imagine that car would have produced igh 40's if I drove appropriately.
Hybrid's are nice, but you have to wonder why Honda got rid of the HX. A much cheaper model performing as well as their pricey hybird?
That car regularly got mid 40's on the highway. I drove with my pregnant wife from Maine to Milwaukee and averaged 45 MPG, using the AC intermittently!
Mind you, I wasn't trying to conserve fuel at the time (gas was cheap, being green was new...) I was trying to make time. I imagine that car would have produced igh 40's if I drove appropriately.
Hybrid's are nice, but you have to wonder why Honda got rid of the HX. A much cheaper model performing as well as their pricey hybird?
#22
05-22-2008, 03:11 PM
Re: What about non hybrids with high mpg ?
I don't think you could make another HX in the days of side airbags and extra safety features--it would be too heavy for the small engine (and too slow for the American palette). The HCH addresses this by having a small ICE and offsetting it with the small electric motor.
#23
05-22-2008, 03:41 PM
Re: What about non hybrids with high mpg ?
Basically but Honda is making a specific point to have a separate hybrid model with no gas only sibling.
There was something in the paper just today about this. Honda thinks that part of the reason for the success of the Prius is that it is easily identified as being a hybrid. You see a Prius and think "hybrid". This contrasts with the HCH which is a "stealth" hybrid, which no one except other HCH drivers recognize as being a hybrid.
Anyhow Honda wants a car that when you see it you instantly think, HYBRID!
The new small Honda hybrid is NOT going to be a Fit hybrid for this reason.
There was something in the paper just today about this. Honda thinks that part of the reason for the success of the Prius is that it is easily identified as being a hybrid. You see a Prius and think "hybrid". This contrasts with the HCH which is a "stealth" hybrid, which no one except other HCH drivers recognize as being a hybrid.
Anyhow Honda wants a car that when you see it you instantly think, HYBRID!
The new small Honda hybrid is NOT going to be a Fit hybrid for this reason.
#24
05-23-2008, 03:21 AM
Re: What about non hybrids with high mpg ?
Well... it also depends on what you can afford. If you can't shell out $24k for a car, then the small high-MPG conventional vehicles are a good deal. My partner just got a Scion xD that I can get almost 40 MPG highway if I'm careful, and the car was $15k. It's tiny, but at least it's got the "cute" factor.
#25
05-26-2008, 10:30 PM
Re: What about non hybrids with high mpg ?
My '97 VW Passat TDI has averaged 43.0 MPG so far, without even trying to drive economically. The worst I've gotten is 39.2 MPG and the best so far was 46.6 MPG. That falls pretty well in line with its original EPA rating of 37 MPG city, 47 MPG highway, 42 MPG combined. No batteries under the trunk, just a big fuel tank. 
And it's no 3-cylinder rollerskate. The EPA rates it as 99 cu.ft. passenger volume and 14 cu.ft. cargo volume, versus 96 cu.ft. and 16 cu.ft., respectively, for a current Prius. 0-60 in about 11 seconds.
You're also forgetting Honda's early '90s Civic VX, whose "lean-burn" VTEC-E gas engine had EPA ratings well into the 50s, and could surely average in excess of 40 MPG.
And it's no 3-cylinder rollerskate. The EPA rates it as 99 cu.ft. passenger volume and 14 cu.ft. cargo volume, versus 96 cu.ft. and 16 cu.ft., respectively, for a current Prius. 0-60 in about 11 seconds.
You're also forgetting Honda's early '90s Civic VX, whose "lean-burn" VTEC-E gas engine had EPA ratings well into the 50s, and could surely average in excess of 40 MPG.
#26
05-28-2008, 06:53 PM
Re: What about non hybrids with high mpg ?
Great - some old cars get about what a hybrid can do. But none of these are available today - Metro, VW TDI's. New TDI's do worse - emissions? Metro was 0-60 in 16 sec, tiny, little safety features.
You do wonder why a Civic HX isn't made - aero treatments, lightweight stuff. Shrink the engine a bit. You might get 1/2 the hybrid benefit at 10% of the price premium. You could make it 0-60 of 12 secs with a 1.4 L. Would probably sell well - and cut into hybrid sales.
You do wonder why a Civic HX isn't made - aero treatments, lightweight stuff. Shrink the engine a bit. You might get 1/2 the hybrid benefit at 10% of the price premium. You could make it 0-60 of 12 secs with a 1.4 L. Would probably sell well - and cut into hybrid sales.
#27
05-28-2008, 07:08 PM
Re: What about non hybrids with high mpg ?
I actually saw a Civic VX today. They're easy to identify because they only came as a hatchback and have unique lightweight aluminum alloy wheels (used on no other Hondas).
I've also seen several times a Geo Metro with a "Keep Laughing, I Get 50 MPG" bumper sticker on it.
And of course, everone on TDIclub knows this guy!
I've also seen several times a Geo Metro with a "Keep Laughing, I Get 50 MPG" bumper sticker on it.
And of course, everone on TDIclub knows this guy!
#28
05-28-2008, 07:38 PM
Re: What about non hybrids with high mpg ?
Mine is all right, over 60 US MPG lifetime, WET (without even trying). How I am not trying includes: freely using the A/C, frequently dropping the soft top and suffering the aeroodynamic consequneces, and the wider wheels and tires I've put on the car. And it has more front passenger room than any sedan I've ever sat in.
#29
01-21-2010, 06:27 AM
Re: What about non hybrids with high mpg ?
No i.c.e. car gets 40 mpg.
This is a semantic trick that people play when they try to disparage hybrid cars. They cite the best possible highway mpg ratings under the old EPA guidelines, and claim that THAT is the mpg the car "gets," meaning "averages."
For example, the i.c.e. Honda Civic used to have an EPA rating of 30 city / 40 hwy. It no longer does, but people used to say, "You can get 40 mpg from a regular Civic, so a hybrid is a rip-off." The regular Civic never AVERAGED 40 mpg. In fact, it barely averages 30 mpg. But that doesn't matter to people who are pushing a political opinion.
So, don't fall for the unsubstantiated claims about hybrids vs. regular cars. Check out the REAL mpg figures from actual hybrid owners (many of them here come with photo proof), and visit http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg . It shows the true AVERAGE mpg on every make and model of car.
This is a semantic trick that people play when they try to disparage hybrid cars. They cite the best possible highway mpg ratings under the old EPA guidelines, and claim that THAT is the mpg the car "gets," meaning "averages."
For example, the i.c.e. Honda Civic used to have an EPA rating of 30 city / 40 hwy. It no longer does, but people used to say, "You can get 40 mpg from a regular Civic, so a hybrid is a rip-off." The regular Civic never AVERAGED 40 mpg. In fact, it barely averages 30 mpg. But that doesn't matter to people who are pushing a political opinion.
So, don't fall for the unsubstantiated claims about hybrids vs. regular cars. Check out the REAL mpg figures from actual hybrid owners (many of them here come with photo proof), and visit http://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg . It shows the true AVERAGE mpg on every make and model of car.
#30
03-03-2010, 04:43 AM
Re: What about non hybrids with high mpg ?
I used to have a honda civic that got about 40 miles per gallon. I think the new toyota camry/corrola models get pretty good mileage as well. Perhaps the new ford focus. I remember reading an article a few weeks ago, but I don't remember for sure.
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