[KumaravelS]

What I like (specific to Civic Hybrid):

• Four years maintenance taken care by Honda including consumables.
• Warranty for hybrid battery for 12 years.
• Maintained swank clean.
• Confidence generated by Seller when he was forthcoming with details on the vehicle.


What I don't:
• Seemingly low power (1339 cc) wouldn't risk overtaking
• scrapping at Chennai's natural and man made speed bumps.
• limited boot space.
• I would be the third owner. Resale might be affected.




The Thought Process

Joined the forum in end of 2010 hoping that I would be able to find ways to maintain vehicles better. Am not a auto enthu. Am a utilitarian ( an average Joe :-) ). Went through Lateral upgrade and the Best used car for 6 L or less threads and got hoked. Naturally got inspired by GTO's coveted pre-worshiped Civic.

I thought of upgrading to a Corolla and started my search.

In Chennai used car market, Corollas are abundant but not Altis. Could not find a likable. Didn't think I would go for Civic. So didn't update myself about Civic specs et all.


Found my Honda Civic Hybrid

In the First weekend of June, Hindu, there was an advt for Civic Hybrid. Without much knowledge or expectation had discussed with the owner. Went with wify and had a look at it. Wify fell for it. Out of 15~16 vehicles that we scouted, this is the first one she liked very much. Isn't it the primary reason I can go for it?

Anyway, went back to T-Bhp. Read through the hybrid threads. Got disappointed with GTO's disapproval of Civic Hybrid at any price point.

Also in the international forums, there were complaints against Hybrid battery.

To the seller, I asked for a price which he would not agree for and left it there.

Test drove 4~5 Civic afterwards but didn't like any. Felt the same problem of loss of confidence to overtake in VAT too. Most of them were at Honda Terrace. Was wondering if this is the condition of the Civic's offered by Honda Terrace, would it be extremely difficult to get a well maintained Civic in used car market.

I also saw a Civic Hybrid in Terrace, which was shabbily maintained . They quoted 10.7 before negotiation.

Then the Hybrid owner replied to my previous mail, settling for a price in-between for 8L.

The after-market reasoning for me to settle for Civic Hybrid are
• Am not a Enthu driver. So the loss of power, may not actually worry me. Also Honda would have researched well and developed this product to suite the hybrid to satisfy normal drivers like me.
• I may not get the goodies bundled with Civic Hybrid in other version.
• It might be another up-hill task to get go-ahead for a different car from wify.
• Have checked with the Honda service about the claim of 12 years warranty of battery and they vouched for it.
• The service records (though not available as a print out, but checked in service station) is again pristine.



Execution process



I followed the Team-BHP Used Car Article (ARTICLE: How to buy a *USED* Car in India).

Took printout of the forms and got it signed in all the forms in sufficient #s. As the NoC is yet to comeby, would transfer the car and insurance in my name after that.




Comparison of specification with Regular Civic

Overall Length (mm)4545 (same as regular civic)
Overall Width (mm)1750 (same as regular civic)
Overall Height (mm)1450 (same as regular civic)
Wheel Base (mm)2700 (same as regular civic)
Ground Clearance (mm)165 vs 170
Front Track (mm)1495 (same as regular civic)
Rear Track (mm)1520 (same as regular civic)
Curb Weight (kg)1290 vs 1240
Boot - 376 vs 405 liters
Fuel tank 50 liters (same as regular civic)

Engine Type/ModelSOHC iVTEC + IMA Displacement vs iVTech - 1.8L
cc 1339 vs 1799
Power (PS@rpm)95PS @6000rpm vs 132ps
Torque (Nm@rpm)122Nm @4600rpm vs 172Nm


Front Suspension - McPherson coil spring (same as regular civic)
Rear Suspension - Double wishbone (same as regular civic)



Minimum Turning Radius (meter)5.4 (same as regular civic)
Wheel Size - 15 Inch (same as regular civic)
Tyres 195/65 R 15 Radial & Tubeless (same as regular civic). However the alloy seems to be different.


Other differences from Regular Civic

* Drive-by-Wire (DBW)
* Steering Audio switch
* Single exhaust pipe instead of double barrel.


The hybrid had clocked 30K kms by the time I took over.

Driving experience

So far completed around 500+ kms.

I drive around 14 kms in bumper to bumper (hardly reaching 15kmh) and then some 8 in normal one (40~50 kmh).
I had to drive through many insane streets through my daily commute. For first few days, I had to scrap at the yet to be accustomed potholes. Now am more aware of the streets and not scrapping anymore.

I had to take it for offroading (well, not intentional, but had to go through battered nonexistent road behind Siruseri) Oops even at dead slow spead, I had heartbreaking bruises underneath near the front seat. At that time it was driver + co-passenger. In my zen I did not face this hard.
This is my first Auto transmission car. The driving characteristics might be for all auto or might be specific to hybrid variation.
I certainly miss the feel of control. i.e. In stick shift, when I have to overtake, I accelerate, if required reduce the gear and then overtake. However in autogear, it’s just I peddle in more fuel.
Back of my mind, I still have the feeling that its 1339 cc and not 1799cc.
As I drive mostly in bumper to bumper, my left leg thanks me for choosing an auto. Most of the time the hybrid battery takes in charge of cooling me (Engine auto-stop)

After auto-stop, I just release the brake to keep the vehicle starts moving.
I calculated using cut-off to cut-off in same pump (shell pump near Kamakshi hospital). So far achieved 11.5km/L. It matches with the display. Not an exciting figure for hyped hybrid. I did not choose to hypermile (don’t know how-to, seems not safe).
Am yet to take her to highway.



I miss ipod connectivity. Seems this feature is added in 2009 facelift.

Some people say Civic AT = Auto + paddle + manual. I don’t understand how Civic AT is a paddle shifter?? I didn't see any levers!!


Many might have observed that hybrid was launched and stopped in 2008. Honda launched updated civic hybrid in 2009. Looks like they had cleared stock worldwide and simultaneously test marketed India.



Disclaimer and Declaration

As an non Enthu, I may not develop more techno-insight about the car to share.

If a moderator or an Enthu member in Chennai would like to have it tested and share the knowledge with the community, please drop me a message. We will fix a weekend to do that.

If you feel deju vu, you have reason. Its copy paste and edit of GTO’s thread “got-my-pre-worshipped-honda-civic”.

[GTO]

Thread moved from the Assembly Line to the Test-Drives forum. Our first Hybrid ownership review . Thanks for sharing KumaravelS!

[sushrutha]

Congratulations KumaravelS.
The car looks spankingly new.
Please add some more pics of the side profile .
Frankly speaking, I don't like the alloys of Hybrid Civic.

[speedmiester]

Congrats on your new car. The first hybrid car ownership on Team-BHP. Looking forward to a comprehensive review from your end on owning an Hybrid.

[fuel_addict]

Wow, that's a clean looking first Civic Hybrid ownership thread on TBHP. 12 years battery warranty is awesome. I understand the battery alone costs around 8 lakhs. Hope you have a wonderful experience.

11.5 kpl is a tad disappointing. What is the mileage claimed by Honda?

[Guna]

Congratulations for buying a hybrid car.
Car doesn't seem to have lost too much for the battery.
Regular Civic AT does come with paddle shifters.
11+ in a bumper to bumper traffic is a good figure (probably the regular Civic AT gives 7+ in the same conditions)

is the switch between battery and engine seem less or is there a feel of momentary power loss?

[vasoo]

Congrats. Great looking for a 30k run car. My 10k car looks more shabby

Originally Posted by Guna

...
11+ in a bumper to bumper traffic is a good figure (probably the regular Civic AT gives 7+ in the same conditions)

is the switch between battery and engine seem less or is there a feel of momentary power loss?

11+ is just about average considering that it is a 1339 cc engine. My Civic AT gives about 8-9 kmpl in really bad traffic. Civic 2012 Hybrid comes with a 1.5L engine and apparently offers 44 mpg (18+ kmpl). Not sure how much will it be in our conditions.

[rr_zen]

Congrats Kumaravel. Glad to see the first Civic Hybrid in the forum and happier to note that you are from Chennai as well. The car looks well maintained for its time. Two things that caught my attention:

1. I never knew the Civic Hybrid had steering mounted audio controls which is one of the major gripes of the regular Civic owners.

2. Correct me if am wrong, I thought the regular Civic is also governed by the drive by wire technology, is it not ?

Happy ownership and looking forward to meeting up with you sometime.

[SmartCat]

Nice drive! Questions & comments -

- How is the availability of spare parts for Hybrid Civic? I wonder if consumables like brake discs/pads are different from normal Civic (because of difference in weight between the two cars).

- Do post a picture of your tyres/alloys. From what I read long time back, the tyre tread design for the Hybrid is unique in the sense that it has been designed for fuel efficiency (at the expense of outright grip).

- Any idea about replacement cost of the batteries after the expiry of the warranty?

- Other than steering mounted audio controls, does Hybrid Civic have any other features that are not available in the normal Civic?

- Has Honda installed EPS in Hybrid Civic instead of Hydraulic power steering in the interest of fuel economy? Does the steering feel super-light or does it feel heavy-ish?

[dot]

Congratulations on your hybrid Civic. It looks pristine. There seems to be quite a few interesting surprises when the hybrid is compared to the regular Civic with AT.

Originally Posted by KumaravelS

Some people say Civic AT = Auto + paddle + manual. I don’t understand how Civic AT is a paddle shifter?? I didn't see any levers!!

I could not trace the paddle shifters on the picture. They are usually next the the mid bar of the steering wheel, at 3 and 9 o'clock position. Yet the AT lever has a "S" and "L" slots. I wonder what they are for? Do you have the manual of the car? Curious to know what are the functions of those two positions.

The FE seems to be too low. One way to find out would be to take the car for a highway drive and maintain speeds of 80-100kmph. The petrol 1.8L Civic will return 15-16 under these conditions. It would be interesting to know how much the hybrid returns at these conditions.

Originally Posted by rr_zen

2. Correct me if am wrong, I thought the regular Civic is also governed by the drive by wire technology, is it not ?

It is.

[Guna]

Originally Posted by dot

The FE seems to be too low. One way to find out would be to take the car for a highway drive and maintain speeds of 80-100kmph. The petrol 1.8L Civic will return 15-16 under these conditions. It would be interesting to know how much the hybrid returns at these conditions.

If I remember correctly, even ACI road test suggested similar figures.
On the highway with steady speed, the FE of a hybrid wont be any better then the regular car (it can be probably worse because of the extra weight) because the hybrid principle wont be at action (regenerating and charging battery while braking, deceleration etc)

[cityvic]

Welcome to the Civic Club.
Have driven the Civic hybrid,quite good it is.
Some more pictures please.

Enjoy.
Take Care And Drive Safe

[dot]

Originally Posted by Guna

If I remember correctly, even ACI road test suggested similar figures.
On the highway with steady speed, the FE of a hybrid wont be any better then the regular car (it can be probably worse because of the extra weight) because the hybrid principle wont be at action (regenerating and charging battery while braking, deceleration etc)

You have a point. However the petrol engine in this car has 1.4L capacity. Inherent FE should be superior. Or is it that lower power/weight ratio kills the FE?

11.5 in bumper to bumper traffic is better than regular Civic AT for sure. It is about 15-20% higher. Maybe that all you get in a hybrid.

[Guna]

Originally Posted by dot

You have a point. However the petrol engine in this car has 1.4L capacity. Inherent FE should be superior. Or is it that lower power/weight ratio kills the FE?

11.5 in bumper to bumper traffic is better than regular Civic AT for sure. It is about 15-20% higher. Maybe that all you get in a hybrid.

ACI quotes "The electric motor assist and the auto-shutoff feature help the Hybrid return 4.4kpl more in the city than the Civic auto. On the highway, the difference is smaller, because the electric motor has less of a role at higher speeds. The Hybrid gave us 14.04kpl against the auto’s 11.9kpl. It’s still not as efficient as some of the modern diesel engines we have though".

I also realised it is CVT (no wonder there are no paddle shifts)

[charthom]

@KumaravelS,

Congratulations on the first Civic Hybrid thread. Your account was very informative. I had never read another ownership report on the Civic hybrid.

Thanks for sharing.

Kumaravel,your Civic seems to have a different design-it is not equipped with paddle shifts! Also it has a position L after S!!

@Guna, can you please enlighten why CVTs can't have paddle shifts?


@dot,L could be a mode where fewer gear ratios are available. I remember reading similar things in my ANHC's manual. ie. a position D2 means only 1st & 2nd gears are available.