By Gary Anderson

Road Test

Honda Hybrid handles well and cuts down on gas costs

Do you feel a little twinge of guilt when you drive your conventional car or SUV on a “spare-the-air” day?

I’ll admit to feeling a bit smug last week while driving the new Honda Civic Hybrid, the first mainstream application of automotive gasoline-electric hybrid technology.

With its continuously-variable automatic transmission (itself a recent innovation that offers ultrasmooth speed changes), this technological marvel is rated at 48 miles per gallon for both city and highway driving.

The available five-speed manual transmission delivers 47 mpg in the city and 51 mpg on the highway.

In addition, the Hybrid carries the enviable EPA and CARB certification of “ultra-low emission vehicle” (ULEV).

These achievements are enabled by a 10-kilowatt/13-horsepower electric motor inserted between the transmission and the 85-horsepower four-cylinder gasoline engine.

When the Civic Hybrid is under way and doesn’t need a lot of power to keep going, the small gasoline engine is more than adequate to power the car at highway speeds.

When starting from a stop or merging into highway traffic, Honda’s patented Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) system uses the high-torque capabilities of the electric motor to supplement the regular engine to provide comfortable acceleration.

When slowing down or cruising, the gasoline motor acts as a generator to recharge the standard-sized nickel-metal hydride battery.

Even with this new automotive power technology, driving the Hybrid is nearly indistinguishable from other conventional cars we’ve driven.

From the outside, the badges are the only features that differentiate the car from a normal four-door, five-passenger Honda Civic.

Inside, the only difference is in the instrument cluster.

On the right-hand side, a dial shows whether the battery is discharging or charging, and the charge level of the battery, as well as engine temperature and fuel level. At the bottom, a lighted bar gives a continuous read-out of gas mileage. On the left, a small “autostop” light comes on when the engine turns off at stop signs.

Yes, that’s right; when you bring the car to a stop, as long as your foot is on the brake, the gasoline engine shuts down completely. Idling at stop signs is one of the major contributors to automobile emissions.

This shut-down feature is one of the reasons this little sedan has such an enviable emissions rating.

When the light turns green and you take your foot off the brake, the electric motor simultaneously starts you moving into traffic and starts the gasoline engine.

There’s a slight but perceptible pause as the car starts up, but it’s not at all disconcerting or problematical.

Should you use the acceleration assistance aggressively, the battery charge can run down. In that case, the electric assistance feature stops working, but it’s only a small inconvenience. The engine stop feature won’t work and acceleration is a little anemic until the battery is recharged.

I found that it took only 15 or 20 minutes normal driving to bring the charge back up to maximum.

Aside from a funny sensation the first few times the engine shut down when we stopped, my wife, Genie, and I didn’t experience any differences between the Hybrid and any standard compact car. In fact, we both were pleased with the zippy handling and responsiveness that the Hybrid shares with standard Civic sedans.

The quiet engine and lack of vibration also were quite noticeable.

Another impressive aspect of this car is that it requires no scheduled tuneups for 110,000 miles.

In addition to this cost savings, for the next year at least, purchasing the Hybrid qualifies owners for a $2,000 federal tax deduction.

To keep the Hybrid’s price at a very reasonable $20,010 (including destination and handling), Honda had to cut a few corners.

Seats are comfortable and supportive, but the interior is spartan, with trim and upholstery available only in an unattractive beige color. Honda also saved costs with its audio system, which had an irritating tinny sound but could easily be replaced with an aftermarket system subsidized by the money from the tax refund.

Rumor has it that at this price, Honda is selling the Hybrid at a loss as a means to meet its California fleet emissions and mileage requirements.

Nevertheless, we can hope that as demand builds for this model, Honda will be able to spread its development costs over a larger production base so it can show a profit.

As far as your own wallet is concerned, one of our friends calculated that with his 40-mile daily commute, if he traded in his SUV, he could save enough money in gasoline alone every month to soon pay for a Hybrid.

Many industry observers believe that gas-electric hybrids are the wave of the future. With the Honda Civic Hybrid, we’ve driven the future, and it works.

Anderson is editor and publisher of British Car Magazine, published bimonthly and distributed internationally from offices in Los Altos (949-9680; www.britishcar.com).