Honda Car Forum

hi, i am currently looking for a new car.i know it will be a hybrid.my
question is are you happy with your hybrid? what do you like/dislike about
it?I'd like to hear your experiences with them.thanks, Nick

In article <EpidnSVM9bBb6arcRVn-hA@adelphia.com>,
"nickd" <nickdepo@adelphia.net> wrote:

> hi, i am currently looking for a new car.i know it will be a hybrid.

Wait a minute: why will it be a hybrid?

The *only* reason to buy a hybrid today is to make a statement about
your politics. You do not save money--in fact, you spend much more just
for the privilege of having a hybrid--and you save very little gas.

So what are you trying to accomplish? Maybe there's a better way to get
there.

"Elmo P. Shagnasty" <elmop@nastydesigns.com> wrote in message
news:elmop-A9F331.16430402092004@text.usenetserver.com...
>
> Wait a minute: why will it be a hybrid?
>
> The *only* reason to buy a hybrid today is to make a statement about
> your politics. You do not save money--in fact, you spend much more just
> for the privilege of having a hybrid--and you save very little gas.
>
> So what are you trying to accomplish? Maybe there's a better way to get
> there.

I have to agree. The hybrids are not giving their owners fantastic fuel
mileage. In fact, a diesel powered vehicle gives superior mileage, with less
parts to maintain.

--
Brian

http://www.cakesbydarlene.ca

http://www.accesswave.ca/~orion

Elmo P. Shagnasty wrote:
> In article <EpidnSVM9bBb6arcRVn-hA@adelphia.com>,
> "nickd" <nickdepo@adelphia.net> wrote:
>>hi, i am currently looking for a new car.i know it will be a hybrid.
>
> Wait a minute: why will it be a hybrid?
>
> The *only* reason to buy a hybrid today is to make a statement about
> your politics. You do not save money--in fact, you spend much more just
> for the privilege of having a hybrid--and you save very little gas.
>
> So what are you trying to accomplish? Maybe there's a better way to get
> there.
>

Some people want to buy a SUV, some want to buy a hybrid. If that's what
they want, then good for them.

Hybrids get about 55 mpg. My regular civic gets 35 mpg. Assuming 12,000
miles driven annually, over 10 years, hybrids will consume 2,182
gallons. My civic will consume 3,429 gallons. That's a difference of
1,247 gallons. Multiply that by 20,000 people, for example, and that's a
lot of gas saved.

Why question people's buying decisions? What are you trying to
accomplish? Nick directed his question to hybrid owners asking for their
insight. Your post was not insightful.

jajabinks wrote:
> Elmo P. Shagnasty wrote:
>
>> In article <EpidnSVM9bBb6arcRVn-hA@adelphia.com>,
>> "nickd" <nickdepo@adelphia.net> wrote:
>
> >>hi, i am currently looking for a new car.i know it will be a hybrid.
>
>>
>> Wait a minute: why will it be a hybrid?
>>
>> The *only* reason to buy a hybrid today is to make a statement about
>> your politics. You do not save money--in fact, you spend much more
>> just for the privilege of having a hybrid--and you save very little gas.
>>
>> So what are you trying to accomplish? Maybe there's a better way to
>> get there.
>>
>
> Some people want to buy a SUV, some want to buy a hybrid. If that's what
> they want, then good for them.
>
> Hybrids get about 55 mpg. My regular civic gets 35 mpg. Assuming 12,000
> miles driven annually, over 10 years, hybrids will consume 2,182
> gallons. My civic will consume 3,429 gallons. That's a difference of
> 1,247 gallons. Multiply that by 20,000 people, for example, and that's a
> lot of gas saved.
>
> Why question people's buying decisions? What are you trying to
> accomplish? Nick directed his question to hybrid owners asking for their
> insight. Your post was not insightful.

Actually, read Brian's post. Compared to a modern diesel car, a hybrid
consumes about as much fuel. I may be wrong, but when time will come to
dispose of the batteries, any ecological advantage a hybrid may have had
over a diesel will be negated.

A friend's Golf TDI consumes 5.5l/100km (43mpg). If you would compare
that to a hybrid, the gas savings would not be as considerable. And the
VW diesel engines are not the best in the world at the moment, because
several European manufacturers have more fuel efficient and more
powerful diesel engines.

The only drawback is that those cars are not available in N America. But
Canada is going to switch to sufphur free gas and diesel fuel in 2006/7.
That date will be the moment when more manufacturers are going to
introduce diesels on the Canadian market.

Cosmin

Cosmin N. wrote:
> jajabinks wrote:
>
>> Elmo P. Shagnasty wrote:
>>
>>> In article <EpidnSVM9bBb6arcRVn-hA@adelphia.com>,
>>> "nickd" <nickdepo@adelphia.net> wrote:
>>
>>
>> >>hi, i am currently looking for a new car.i know it will be a hybrid.
>>
>>>
>>> Wait a minute: why will it be a hybrid?
>>>
>>> The *only* reason to buy a hybrid today is to make a statement about
>>> your politics. You do not save money--in fact, you spend much more
>>> just for the privilege of having a hybrid--and you save very little gas.
>>>
>>> So what are you trying to accomplish? Maybe there's a better way to
>>> get there.
>>>
>>
>> Some people want to buy a SUV, some want to buy a hybrid. If that's
>> what they want, then good for them.
>>
>> Hybrids get about 55 mpg. My regular civic gets 35 mpg. Assuming
>> 12,000 miles driven annually, over 10 years, hybrids will consume
>> 2,182 gallons. My civic will consume 3,429 gallons. That's a
>> difference of 1,247 gallons. Multiply that by 20,000 people, for
>> example, and that's a lot of gas saved.
>>
>> Why question people's buying decisions? What are you trying to
>> accomplish? Nick directed his question to hybrid owners asking for
>> their insight. Your post was not insightful.
>
>
> Actually, read Brian's post. Compared to a modern diesel car, a hybrid
> consumes about as much fuel. I may be wrong, but when time will come to
> dispose of the batteries, any ecological advantage a hybrid may have had
> over a diesel will be negated.
>
> A friend's Golf TDI consumes 5.5l/100km (43mpg). If you would compare
> that to a hybrid, the gas savings would not be as considerable. And the
> VW diesel engines are not the best in the world at the moment, because
> several European manufacturers have more fuel efficient and more
> powerful diesel engines.
>
> The only drawback is that those cars are not available in N America. But
> Canada is going to switch to sufphur free gas and diesel fuel in 2006/7.
> That date will be the moment when more manufacturers are going to
> introduce diesels on the Canadian market.
>
> Cosmin

I agree that diesel cars have an ecological advantage over hybrids, and
have lower cost of ownership. They key, as you also mentioned, is that
diesel is unfortunately not widely available in the United States--the
oil consumption capitol of the world. We can only compare to what's
currently available for sale in the U.S. A comparison of a regular civic
vs. civic hybrid vs. civic diesel (yeah right) is a pipe dream for now.

jajabinks wrote:
<snip>
>
> I agree that diesel cars have an ecological advantage over hybrids, and
> have lower cost of ownership. They key, as you also mentioned, is that
> diesel is unfortunately not widely available in the United States--the
> oil consumption capitol of the world. We can only compare to what's
> currently available for sale in the U.S. A comparison of a regular civic
> vs. civic hybrid vs. civic diesel (yeah right) is a pipe dream for now.

istr isuzu being players in the eurodiesel engine market. aren't honda
& isuzu partners? wouldn't that be a pathway towards a diesel civic?

jim beam wrote:
| jajabinks wrote:
| <snip>
||
|| I agree that diesel cars have an ecological advantage over hybrids,
|| and have lower cost of ownership. They key, as you also mentioned,
|| is that diesel is unfortunately not widely available in the United
|| States--the oil consumption capitol of the world. We can only
|| compare to what's currently available for sale in the U.S. A
|| comparison of a regular civic vs. civic hybrid vs. civic diesel
|| (yeah right) is a pipe dream for now.
|
| istr isuzu being players in the eurodiesel engine market. aren't
| honda & isuzu partners? wouldn't that be a pathway towards a diesel
| civic?

You better check out the UK site of Honda, then... http://www.honda.co.uk
To save you some digging, here's a 3 door Civic with 1.7L turbo-diesel:
http://tinyurl.com/67f53 (make sure the drop-down box says 1.7 CTDi)

(before you get way too excited about the mileage, remember that it's not US
gallons that they're quoting... if I'm not wrong, you'll have to multiply
them by 0.83267248, which would give you 37.3 mpg (US) in town, 53.5 mpg
(US) outside of the town, and 47.0 mpg (US) mixed usage.

Now, to combine that with a hybrid... store brake energy to make the car get
back up to speed again after a stop, and your in-town figure would increase
drastically...

Also, check out the diesel Accord, and if you think this diesel crap is for
buses and trucks and lowly 3 door accords, check out the BMW diesel cars -
http://tinyurl.com/5cldh for example. Did you ever think a heavy 5 series
beamer with a 3 liter V6 engine would have a mileage > 40 mpg? No? Think
again:
city: 24.8 mpg (US)
highway: 42.8 mpg (US)
combined: 34.1 mpg (US)

Tell you, gas needs to become a bit more expensive before this wave catches
on... but it'd be good for all of us (except those running oil companies)

In article <P8SZc.2466$Vl5.629@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.n et>,
jajabinks <user@example.net> wrote:

> Hybrids get about 55 mpg. My regular civic gets 35 mpg. Assuming 12,000
> miles driven annually, over 10 years, hybrids will consume 2,182
> gallons. My civic will consume 3,429 gallons. That's a difference of
> 1,247 gallons. Multiply that by 20,000 people, for example, and that's a
> lot of gas saved.

But it's no money saved, since the hybrid will cost much more up front
than that 1,247 gallons of gas costs.

In article <P8SZc.2466$Vl5.629@newsread2.news.atl.earthlink.n et>,
jajabinks <user@example.net> wrote:

> Why question people's buying decisions? What are you trying to
> accomplish?

He didn't specify what help he was looking for; it's common for people
not to have thought about things in a big picture way, and it's helpful
for them to explain their real goals and get input.