I'm going to buy either a HCH or a Prius. I want it to be the HCH, as I like most all of the features better than the Prius, but one factor has me questioning my potential choice. I live on the top of a mountain, about 2000' above the rest of the area.

I have a friend with a Prius, so was able to test drive it, and it went up the hill (good paved road) like it wasn't even there (this isn't a mileage issue, as even the Prius only got about 6-8 mpg going up the hill). I can't really test a HCH, as the nearest dealer is WAAAY to far away, and no one around owns a HCH.

My question is this: Can anyone tell me how the HCH performs going up fairly steep hills? I mainly am concerned about the car going up briskly, with not a lot of surging, down shifting, etc, that small cars experience. I know mileage will suffer, but will still be a whole lot better than my Ford Explorer!
Thanks for any info.

 

I'll let you know in about a month. I have one on order and have a place in the mountains (about 7,000 feet). We have an HCH I and it does fine. I am not sure what you mean by briskly as that can be subjective. We got up the hill fine and averaged about 43 MPG total over the 140 mile trip.

Also, ask you friend with the Prius about backing up on a hill. Because it uses the electric motor only for backing up, you are somewhat limited on how steep the hill can be for backing up. Since the HCH uses the gas motor for backing up, that problem does not exist with the HCH.

 

By the way, welcome to GreenHybrid. If you can't find the information you need to make a decision, it probably doesn't exist.

 

I can't say for sure, but I can say the engine in the HCH is bigger than the prius so thats a plus if its a realy long hill. The prius has a larger battery pack so thats a plus for a shorter hill. both packs will eventualy run out of juice on long hills. When the HCH does it has a fair amount of power from the engine. When the prius does the engine isn't as powerful. If FE isn't a problem I suspect either will work well. Again the prius would work best on shorter (meaning length not height) hills and the HCH should work better on the longer hills.

This is just supposition on my part and you can print out this comment and use it as toilet paper because thats all its realy worth, but I thought I'd throw in my thoughts.

 

you mean better engineered. Hondas's engine is a 1.3 while the Prius is a 1.5 Its just the power output of hondas engine is greater than the prius thanks to its 8 spark plugs and 3 modes of the VTEC system that helps the engine save fuel and achieve cleaner combustion resulting in more efficient use of fuel.

 

Yes. More horsepower out of the engine.

 

Thanks for the input. The hill here isn't too long (about a mile). I suspect that the HCH will probably do fine.

Does the CVT help or hinder the task? My wife has a 2004 Avalon, and it is very UNsatisfactory re climbing our hill. 2nd gear is too much, and third gear not enough. With the CVT, apparently there's no "2nd, 3rd, 4th", etc, so that particular problem should go away, shouldn't it?

I just put my name on a Galaxy grey, 2006 navi. I'm looking forward to it's arrival about a month from now!

 

It should. The best thing to do is try to find one and test drive it. I will be interested to hear how it works out for you. Be sure to post updates.

 

I would think the CVT would actually be preferable over an AT (although it would lose to a manual). Reason being is that you don't have the transitional losses as the car shifts to the next higher gear in an AT-equipped car. So in theory, you could climb with marginal / minimal increases in engine RPM, if I understand it correctly (and by what I observed during my recent test drive of a CVT-equipped car on a smaller hill).

Someone had recently posted a link to a website that had an animated graphic of the difference in how two cars climbed a hill - one with AT, the other with CVT. It showed the AT-equipped car dropping back down the hill with each gear change (it doesn't, but it represents how you have to increase the RPM of the engine to keep climbing at the same rate). This would probably be demonstrated by what you describe occuring in the Avalon with it's 5-speed auto.

The best is a true manual of course, because you have the most control over the car - both from a gear / RPM standpoint. But depending on how any AT / MT is geared, you may not be at an optimal RPM / gearing for your hill. The CVT is supposed to correct that. Maybe some of the HCH / Insight owners with CVTs in hilly terrains can chime in here as to their experiences.

 

Will do. I'm going to continue to look for a HCH owner in my area for a test drive.