Maybe I've been watching too many comic book movies recently but I've been obsessed with the idea of combining two good things and making one great thing. Take for example Cristiano Ronaldo, the world's best footballer according to any football poll you read, or FIFA for that matter. Yes he's brilliant at scoring goals and outfoxing defenders but stick him in defence and he'd whimper more than a dog left out in the rain. So really he's the best attacking footballer and with this rationale, his Manchester United team mate Rio Ferdinand is arguably the best defender in the world. Combine the two and then yes I'd agree you'd have the world's best footballer. It's the same with engines. The traditional internal combustion engine has revolutionised travel and its range has allowed the world to become much smaller. The problem is that it's also made the ozone layer much smaller too and so we're told to reduce our carbon footprint or fry. The electric engine therefore is the answer to our prayers except for one major flaw - it has such a limited range of miles you'd be better off travelling on a horse. Lo and behold Honda must've been watching the same films as me because their mad scientists have come up with the Civic Hybrid, which combines both combustion and electric engines.
Before we explore whether this Honda Civic is actually any good, let's have a brief lesson on how the whole hybrid thing works. The car uses electric and petrol engines simultaneously for the majority of your driving which on it's own helps to reduce emissions. The really clever bit however is that when you decelerate, rather than the power from the engines going to waste, the electric engine becomes a generator and the power is used to charge the batteries - so no plugging into the mains socket is required. It has a few more tricks up its sleeve too. When you are stopped in traffic or at a red light, the petrol engine cuts out completely, only re-engaging when your foot is taken off the brake pedal.
The result of all this is that you have the equivalent of a 1.6 litre saloon that returns 60mpg compared to an average 40mpg from its petrol rivals. Performance is far better than you'd expect too, with the combination of a 93bhp 1.4 litre engine boosted by the 20bhp of the electric one meaning you'd be hard pressed to notice any performance difference from a standard 1.6 litre petrol car. As outlined earlier, you'll certainly notice the increase in fuel economy and your wallet will benefit further still from the car being exempt from the London congestion charge and more importantly costing a mere £40 per year in road tax, compared to the £198 I used to pay for my 1.6.
Ok so we've established the engine(s) run well and running costs will be minimal but what's the rest of the car like? Starting with the styling, my initial reaction was simply to shrug my shoulders. That's a bit harsh because coming from the standpoint of someone that usually reviews cars with more curves and beauty than a supermodel; I was always going to be negatively biased about the Civic's styling. I'll admit it looks far better in the flesh than on paper which sounds a) implausible and b) a cop out, but despite that being a physical impossibility it really does. It's also far better looking than Honda's main rival the Toyota Prius because it doesn't attempt to look space age and end up looking horribly dated. The main issue I have is that whilst it's not ugly, it's a mish mash of old Civic styling around the back and sides, with the front end of the new one. Because it doesn't commit either way it looks undecided.
The current Civic range is one of the best in its class for driving experience and the Hybrid doesn't let the side down. I did tend to find that even blowing on the brake pedal was cause for me to suffer whiplash but I'd rather that than ending up in the back of someone. As with the underpinnings, the interior is of the same high standards too, with the materials used rivalling that of Honda's German rivals. The styling is ironically far better than the outside too, with neon blue lights adorning the speedometer and although all the buttons and gizmos have always fallen easily to hand in Hondas, the Civic does it with a bit more flair than older models.
There's no doubting Honda's commitment to its hybrid cars and their green credentials (press packs were even made out of recycled elephant dung). The company expect to shift 1,000 units each year whilst they look to slowly catch the Prius. The question is, will you be one of the buyers?
Mark Creese is a writer and a car enthusiast. here he discusses the Honda Civic Hybrid.
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