Honda Car Forum

Hi;

We are considering buying a 2008 civic. Could you please tell me the
gas mileage you get for city driving? My wife drives mostly around
town and is hoping for about 30 mpg. The sticker EPA Estimate reads
25, so I will probably get something else if that is all it gets. I
was told the EPA estimates have changed and it will probably get
better than that, but guess who told me that...yeah ...the salesman:-)

We are looking at the LX model with a 4 cylinder 1.8 engine.

Thanks for any knowledge.
Pat

On May 9, 7:12*pm, komobu <curra...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Hi;
>
> We are considering buying a 2008 civic. Could you please tell me the
> gas mileage you get for city driving? My wife drives mostly around
> town and is hoping for about 30 mpg. The sticker EPA Estimate reads
> 25, so I will probably get something else if that is all it gets. I
> was told the EPA estimates have changed and it will probably get
> better than that, but guess who told me that...yeah ...the salesman:-)
>
> We are looking at the LX model with a 4 cylinder 1.8 engine.
>
> Thanks for any knowledge.
> Pat

I don't have one but alot will depend on driving style (jack rabbit
starts, low tire pressure etc.) really eat up gas (MPG)

2000 Civic hatch wrote:
> On May 9, 7:12 pm, komobu <curra...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> Hi;
>>
>> We are considering buying a 2008 civic. Could you please tell me the
>> gas mileage you get for city driving? My wife drives mostly around
>> town and is hoping for about 30 mpg. The sticker EPA Estimate reads
>> 25, so I will probably get something else if that is all it gets. I
>> was told the EPA estimates have changed and it will probably get
>> better than that, but guess who told me that...yeah ...the salesman:-)
>>
>> We are looking at the LX model with a 4 cylinder 1.8 engine.
>>
>> Thanks for any knowledge.
>> Pat
>
> I don't have one but alot will depend on driving style (jack rabbit
> starts, low tire pressure etc.) really eat up gas (MPG)

Low tire pressure isn't really driving style.

However, where one drives in the city makes a big difference, too. I
suspect that cars get better mileage around downtown Allentown PA than
downtown New York. And of course, Jack Rabbit starts do make a big
difference.

You might consider the Honda Civic Hybrid. It is only about $1300 more
than the Honda Civic Si and gets 40 mph city and 45 mph highway.

Jeff

Jeff wrote:
> 2000 Civic hatch wrote:
>> On May 9, 7:12 pm, komobu <curra...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> Hi;
>>>
>>> We are considering buying a 2008 civic. Could you please tell me the
>>> gas mileage you get for city driving? My wife drives mostly around
>>> town and is hoping for about 30 mpg. The sticker EPA Estimate reads
>>> 25, so I will probably get something else if that is all it gets. I
>>> was told the EPA estimates have changed and it will probably get
>>> better than that, but guess who told me that...yeah ...the salesman:-)
>>>
>>> We are looking at the LX model with a 4 cylinder 1.8 engine.
>>>
>>> Thanks for any knowledge.
>>> Pat
>>
>> I don't have one but alot will depend on driving style (jack rabbit
>> starts, low tire pressure etc.) really eat up gas (MPG)
>
> Low tire pressure isn't really driving style.
>
> However, where one drives in the city makes a big difference, too. I
> suspect that cars get better mileage around downtown Allentown PA than
> downtown New York. And of course, Jack Rabbit starts do make a big
> difference.
>
> You might consider the Honda Civic Hybrid. It is only about $1300 more
> than the Honda Civic Si and gets 40 mph city and 45 mph highway.
>
> Jeff

The new EPA fuel economy estimates are pretty close to what owner's are
getting. Check out the government sponsored web site at
fueleconomy.gov. From what I've read, few cars get 30 mpg in town.

Don R wrote:
> Jeff wrote:
>> 2000 Civic hatch wrote:
>>> On May 9, 7:12 pm, komobu <curra...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> Hi;
>>>>
>>>> We are considering buying a 2008 civic. Could you please tell me the
>>>> gas mileage you get for city driving? My wife drives mostly around
>>>> town and is hoping for about 30 mpg. The sticker EPA Estimate reads
>>>> 25, so I will probably get something else if that is all it gets. I
>>>> was told the EPA estimates have changed and it will probably get
>>>> better than that, but guess who told me that...yeah ...the salesman:-)
>>>>
>>>> We are looking at the LX model with a 4 cylinder 1.8 engine.
>>>>
>>>> Thanks for any knowledge.
>>>> Pat
>>>
>>> I don't have one but alot will depend on driving style (jack rabbit
>>> starts, low tire pressure etc.) really eat up gas (MPG)
>>
>> Low tire pressure isn't really driving style.
>>
>> However, where one drives in the city makes a big difference, too. I
>> suspect that cars get better mileage around downtown Allentown PA than
>> downtown New York. And of course, Jack Rabbit starts do make a big
>> difference.
>>
>> You might consider the Honda Civic Hybrid. It is only about $1300 more
>> than the Honda Civic Si and gets 40 mph city and 45 mph highway.
>>
>> Jeff
>
> The new EPA fuel economy estimates are pretty close to what owner's are
> getting. Check out the government sponsored web site at
> fueleconomy.gov. From what I've read, few cars get 30 mpg in town.

Except Escape, Prius, Civic and other hybrids.

Oops, sorry. The Prius and Civic hybrids don't get 30 mpg. They get 40.

Jeff

Jeff wrote:
> Don R wrote:
>> Jeff wrote:
>>> 2000 Civic hatch wrote:
>>>> On May 9, 7:12 pm, komobu <curra...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>> Hi;
>>>>>
>>>>> We are considering buying a 2008 civic. Could you please tell me the
>>>>> gas mileage you get for city driving? My wife drives mostly around
>>>>> town and is hoping for about 30 mpg. The sticker EPA Estimate reads
>>>>> 25, so I will probably get something else if that is all it gets. I
>>>>> was told the EPA estimates have changed and it will probably get
>>>>> better than that, but guess who told me that...yeah ...the salesman:-)
>>>>>
>>>>> We are looking at the LX model with a 4 cylinder 1.8 engine.
>>>>>
>>>>> Thanks for any knowledge.
>>>>> Pat
>>>>
>>>> I don't have one but alot will depend on driving style (jack rabbit
>>>> starts, low tire pressure etc.) really eat up gas (MPG)
>>>
>>> Low tire pressure isn't really driving style.
>>>
>>> However, where one drives in the city makes a big difference, too. I
>>> suspect that cars get better mileage around downtown Allentown PA
>>> than downtown New York. And of course, Jack Rabbit starts do make a
>>> big difference.
>>>
>>> You might consider the Honda Civic Hybrid. It is only about $1300
>>> more than the Honda Civic Si and gets 40 mph city and 45 mph highway.
>>>
>>> Jeff
>>
>> The new EPA fuel economy estimates are pretty close to what owner's
>> are getting. Check out the government sponsored web site at
>> fueleconomy.gov. From what I've read, few cars get 30 mpg in town.
>
> Except Escape, Prius, Civic and other hybrids.
>
> Oops, sorry. The Prius and Civic hybrids don't get 30 mpg. They get 40.
>
> Jeff

The smart fortwo gets 33 in city. Of course many or most of the hybrids
get 40 mpg in the city. As you probably already know, their mileage is
better in city than on the highway.

On a personal note, my 1975 Honda Civic, bough new during the last gas
crunch, got 30 mpg no matter where I drove it. Went looking for a
Toyota Prius last weekend and the dealer didn't even have a demo to test
drive. It's good to see that people are getting serious about saving
gas.

Don R wrote:
> Jeff wrote:
>> Don R wrote:
>>> Jeff wrote:
>>>> 2000 Civic hatch wrote:
>>>>> On May 9, 7:12 pm, komobu <curra...@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>> Hi;
>>>>>>
>>>>>> We are considering buying a 2008 civic. Could you please tell me the
>>>>>> gas mileage you get for city driving? My wife drives mostly around
>>>>>> town and is hoping for about 30 mpg. The sticker EPA Estimate reads
>>>>>> 25, so I will probably get something else if that is all it gets. I
>>>>>> was told the EPA estimates have changed and it will probably get
>>>>>> better than that, but guess who told me that...yeah ...the
>>>>>> salesman:-)
>>>>>>
>>>>>> We are looking at the LX model with a 4 cylinder 1.8 engine.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Thanks for any knowledge.
>>>>>> Pat
>>>>>
>>>>> I don't have one but alot will depend on driving style (jack rabbit
>>>>> starts, low tire pressure etc.) really eat up gas (MPG)
>>>>
>>>> Low tire pressure isn't really driving style.
>>>>
>>>> However, where one drives in the city makes a big difference, too. I
>>>> suspect that cars get better mileage around downtown Allentown PA
>>>> than downtown New York. And of course, Jack Rabbit starts do make a
>>>> big difference.
>>>>
>>>> You might consider the Honda Civic Hybrid. It is only about $1300
>>>> more than the Honda Civic Si and gets 40 mph city and 45 mph highway.
>>>>
>>>> Jeff
>>>
>>> The new EPA fuel economy estimates are pretty close to what owner's
>>> are getting. Check out the government sponsored web site at
>>> fueleconomy.gov. From what I've read, few cars get 30 mpg in town.
>>
>> Except Escape, Prius, Civic and other hybrids.
>>
>> Oops, sorry. The Prius and Civic hybrids don't get 30 mpg. They get 40.
>>
>> Jeff
>
> The smart fortwo gets 33 in city. Of course many or most of the hybrids
> get 40 mpg in the city. As you probably already know, their mileage is
> better in city than on the highway.

Actually, I know it depends on the model. The Honda Civic Hybrid is
rated at 40 MPG city, 45 MPG highway.

> On a personal note, my 1975 Honda Civic, bough new during the last gas
> crunch, got 30 mpg no matter where I drove it. Went looking for a
> Toyota Prius last weekend and the dealer didn't even have a demo to test
> drive. It's good to see that people are getting serious about saving gas.

They're not getting serious about saving gas. They are getting serious
about saving money.

Jeff

In article <4825b408$0$30507$4c368faf@roadrunner.com>,
Don R <don@nowhere.com> wrote:

> > Oops, sorry. The Prius and Civic hybrids don't get 30 mpg. They get 40.
> >
> > Jeff
>
> The smart fortwo gets 33 in city.

Yeah. And unless you live in a old European town or village where
parking space is at a premium or the roads date back to the 1500s when
they were horse tracks and have never been expanded, the smart fortwo
makes little sense.

Which means it makes little sense here in the US.

$15,500 for a smart fortwo equipped similarly to a base Prius, which is
$21,500. The smart gets 33mpg in city, the Prius gets 45mpg in city.

It's not a great feature comparison; for example, there's no auto trans
available in the smart. That's a negative. And more importantly, the
Prius can carry 4-5 people while getting that same 45mpg.

And you can use the Prius for road trips. The smart? On a highway
trip? Yeah, right.

At $4/gallon for gas, the 33mpg smart costs 12.12 cents/mile in gas.
The 45mpg Prius fuel cost is 8.9 cents. Call it a 3 cent difference.
At $5/gallon for gas, it goes to a 4 cent difference. And so on.

So: the Prius has a lower fuel cost per mile, carries more people, has
an automatic trans (that's really very simple and sweet and MUCH more
reliable than a traditional hydraulic auto trans), and can go on the
highway for long trips.

Hmmmm.

So the smart fortwo, here in the US, is just a big, expensive scooter.
I guess if you have the cash for a spare two seat scooter and have the
garage space for an occasional toy, that's fine.

Crowded cities like New York and San Francisco would do well to create
an infrastructure that accommodates smart cars--smaller and cheaper
parking spaces, lower registration fees, whatever--that would let people
choose a smart (or similar) as the car they own for in and around town,
leaving the road trips to larger rentals.

But outside the crowded cities, for things like saving fuel and lowering
emissions, the smart doesn't make any sense when the Prius is out there.
Even if it's just you and no one else, the Prius saves more fuel and
emits less pollution per mile--and it gives you one car that does this
both in town and on the highway, letting you own one car that gives you
the flexibility of both in town and on the road use, not to mention the
flexibility of taking another couple out to dinner with you.

I mean, come on--how does the smart save fuel and emissions if more than
two of you are going someplace? The third person has to drive his own
car, using even more fuel and emitting even more pollution? What does
THAT do to the EFFECTIVE fuel mileage for the smart? (We make fun of
the "California car pool" for a reason...)

In article <4825b408$0$30507$4c368faf@roadrunner.com>,
Don R <don@nowhere.com> wrote:

> Of course many or most of the hybrids
> get 40 mpg in the city. As you probably already know, their mileage is
> better in city than on the highway.

Nope.

Driving the Prius the same way I've driven every car for the last 30
years, with the climate control set to keep ME comfortable, the Prius
gives 45mpg in the city and around 50mpg on the highway.

Colder weather will see lower numbers, but colder weather will also
cause other cars to see lower numbers, too--presumably by the same
percentage.

The thought originally was that the savings from a hybrid drivetrain
would be in the city, and that may be for the Honda's drivetrain, but it
certainly isn't for the Prius. The Prius is like every other car--get
it on the highway, set the cruise control, and see better mileage than
you see in the city.

In article <4825b408$0$30507$4c368faf@roadrunner.com>,
Don R <don@nowhere.com> wrote:

> On a personal note, my 1975 Honda Civic, bough new during the last gas
> crunch, got 30 mpg no matter where I drove it.

Yep.

I had a bunch of 79 Civics. Great cars. Manual choke worked great.
And you couldn't kill the engines. Know when it's time to add oil?
When you take a hard right turn and the light flickers on the dash. Oil
changes? Naw, the car does that itself. Just add as needed.

The front frame member, though, now that was another matter. At least
Honda owned up to it and replaced it free of charge, even years later.
THEY understood that was cheaper than paying for the lawsuits and
getting a bad rep.

Same with the gas tanks that rusted underneath the metal straps.