I would beg to differ on both counts.

According the Honda website, the cars are identical in overall size.
They have exactly the same passenger compartment measurements. The
trunk is 2 cu ft larger in the Civic than the Hybrid which I assume is
because of the batteries). Don't know what you mean by "more
substantial" so I can't comment on that.

EPA mileage estimates for the Hybrid are 46/51 MT; the MT Civic is
rated at 32/38. That's about 44% higher city and 34% higher highway
mileage. That sounds pretty significant to me.


On Thu, 8 Jan 2004 10:26:49 -0800, "CaptainKrunch"
<nothing@nobody.com> wrote:

>Personally I don't see the fascination with these hybrid cars. I mean what
>really are you saving anyway? They don't get that much better mileage than
>a standard Honda Civic which is bigger and a more substantial car. They
>both use gas. And at the end of 100,000 miles or so, if you buy a hybrid,
>you are having to spend several thousand dollars to buy 1000 lbs or so of
>batteries to replace the old ones in the hybrid. You also don't have to
>dispose of these batteries which are considered hazardous material. I
>forgot to mention that the cost of the hybrid is higher than the Civic even
>with a tax deduction.
>
>Strictly from an environmental standpoint I don't think these things are
>helping the environment at all and in fact may be hurting it. Honda
>vehicles in general already have extremely low emissions.
>
>CaptainKrunch
>
>
>
>"Gary Gorbet" <ggorbet@houston.rr.com> wrote in message
>news:070120042110075950%ggorbet@houston.rr.com. ..
>> I have a 2003 Civic Hybrid. It's got about 3500 miles on it now. I have
>> *loved* driving this car - quiet, smooth and peppy. But I must say that
>> I'm somewhat disappointed in the mileage I'm getting. It's averaging a
>> little better than 39 MPG. The EPA estimate is just under 50 MPG. I
>> know EPA is always high, but I would have thought I'd have gotten
>> closer than 10 MPG under.
>>
>> It is true that most of my driving is the 20 minute trip to and from
>> work in stop and go traffic. I think I've done a pretty good job of
>> modifying my driving habits to the hybrid. I'm not sure what I could do
>> to maximize mileage, any more that what I've been doing.
>>
>> What I'd like to hear is the experience of other Hybrid owners. Is my
>> mileage reasonable for the kind of driving I do? Does it get better
>> after the break-in period?
>