Congratulations! Best of luck with your new car.

 

Keep in mind that buying a hybrid is only half the battle. You will need to change your driving habits in order to get the most out of your hybrid. Drive a hybrid as you do your mustang, and it too will suck down the fuel. Anyway, you can always change your driving habits first and see what you can get in a GT.

 

I did not read the entire thread, but did read the first post.

Here is my $.02 on this question :

I have a G35 and a Civic Hybrid. Now lets do a little comparison...
Honda - 110hp, 0-60mph in about 10 days
G35 - 298hp, 0-60mph in about 5.4 seconds, 1/4 mile 14.0 sec

Now, with those numbers above you might jump on a G35 right away. In reality who cares about how fast you can really go, or how much horsepower you have under the hood. With the speed limits placed in the streets today, when can you really use that power? The only great benefit for a car with the power would be on the race track.

With taking information above into consideration.... lets look at amount of money spent on gas for an estimated year. ( These numbers will be from my experience only from driving a G35 everyday compared to the HCHII)

1 year = about 52 weeks

G35 - I would put about $50 of gas a week
Calculation: ($50 gas per week) X (52 weeks in a year) = $2600

HCHII - I now fill up about $30 every two weeks
Calculation: ($30 bi-weekly) X ( 52 weeks divided by 2) = $780

This calculation is based on my daily commute to and from work. Obviously during the weekend you will tend to drive a little more ( well I do ). Now with these numbers, if you try and calculate for a longer period of time... you will soon realize why a switch in vehicles will be of greater benefit.

I rather be in my Civic than a G35

Dont get me wrong the G35 is a beautiful car, but I think the Civic has its own way of being sexy as well. Mentioning you own a hybrid gets peoples attention as well.

 

Yeah...but did you drive your G35 the way you drive your HCH?

Anyway to be fair on the savings it should be more of an apple to apple comparison, granted that was the car you had prior to an HCH but the implication is that everybody can get huge savings by switching. It's true for most SUV owners switching over, but cars that are already getting good gas milage the above comparison will not show the big numbers. Just keep that in mind when calculating savings.

In other words had you had a civic lx, going to a hybrid, the numbers will not be as impressive. Or had you bought a civic lx with same options as your hybrids(if that's possible, which i don't think it is), you would have also saved compared to your G35.

 

Well lets be honest here, if you have a vehicle with high HP, the chances are you are not going to be going slow. Having that power is always kept in mind when driving. Example: when about to get off on an exit and a vehicle is next to you, majority of the time those people that can WILL speed up and then get off. On that same note, having that much power makes it so much easier to gain speed with out even trying.

Now comparing the HCHII, this vehicle puts you in a mind-set of an "old lady" driving. You have just enough power to get arround town, and that is it. You very well know that you have a little "cruiser" (as I call it)... and it removes the "speed deamon" inside of everyone.

A Civic LX,DX,EX ... all of those will save you a TON of money as well in gas. The comparison we have here in focus is a Mustang GT to a Civic Hybrid, that alone should say it all... especially for those of us whom already have a hybrid.

Note: now that I drive a hybrid, compared to driving my G35, I am much aware of my driving habbits and have adapted to the "hybrid driving style". One is not aware of getting best MPG, until they drive a Hybrid.

To answer the question about " Mustang GT owner thinking about HCH? "
My answer: DO IT ASAP and if you can afford the GT parked in the driveway... maybe take it out on the weekends just for fun!!!

 

Enjoy your new HCH!!!

What a way to start the New Year...

1. save money

2. slow down

3. relax

the list could go on....