Apparently Honda is changing the Civic to make it more Prius like. Maybe making it a full hybrid and not a mild hybrid like it is now. AUTO INDUSTRY REPORT: Civic Hybrid upgrading June 17, 2005 Honda Motor Co., the world's second-biggest maker of gasoline-electric autos, is redesigning its Civic Hybrid and raising the small car's fuel economy to try to win U.S. sales from Toyota Motor Corp.'s Prius.... http://www.freep.com/money/autonews/irep17...7e_20050617.htm More evidence that we have passed the tipping point.
Well the current HCH has 93hp which is competitive to the Classic's 98hp. Perhaps they'll up the engine size to 1.5 instead of the current 1.3? Also, if you looked at some of the spyshots, the Civic has the same small front triangular windows as the Prius indicating a raked windshield. It'll be interesting to see if they put the hybrid system into the hatchback.
Pity there were no details. Wonder if this is a marketing response from Honda re: poor sales compared to the Prius, or that they're really doing something about it.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius\";p=\"99482)</div> the Classic has 114 hp. At least the way I was taught math. 70 HP ICE and 44 HP MG
Just my thoughts for what there worth. The answer to is Honda really doing something to their HCH the answer is (Yes.) I now own a 2005 Honda Civic EX SE Sedan and have owned a bunch more over the yrs. of all types and I can tell you Honda is changing the "2006" HCH but exactly what they are changing apparently few people know at this time. Honda is for what ever reason not letting the (Facts) out early on the changes to the HCH. Thats a lot of words to really not add any additional info. (Sorry.) The Honda dealer is next door to the dealer I work for so you might say I stay in close touch on the Honda vehicles. Terry BTW I'm watching very-very closely the 2006 Prius and 2006 HCH, I'm buying one or the other once I see what the changes are for 2006:
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(prius04\";p=\"99478)</div> They better make the damn thing with a lot more room for the driver. I couldn't get into a CIVIC Hybrid :cussing: but can fit quite nicely into a Prius 8) .
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(mehrenst\";p=\"99515)</div> They better make the damn thing with a lot more room for the driver. I couldn't get into a CIVIC Hybrid :cussing: but can fit quite nicely into a Prius 8) .[/b][/quote] You are correct on the drivers fitment in the HCH because I owned one and you cannot compare it in the interior space (Period.) The two other things that I found out was the "Real-World" gas mileage was not really all that great in town/city traffic driving and I could not keep the batteries charged in town/city driving using the batteries for additional power. So I traded it back in and went back to a normal gas vehicle. As I have just posted in the above thread I am waiting to see what changes are going to be made to the 2006 Prius and the 2006 HCH and then at that point make a purchasing decision. As I see it now Honda is going to have to really make some mighty big changes to get even close to the current Prius much less if the Prius is updated further for 2006. Just my thoughts. Terry
Frank, I thought you can't add the power of both, otherwise wouldn't the current one have 143hp (76 + 67). Also note, the new HCH will be the first normal car built with a hybrid in mind. So far, all the regular-based hybrid vehicles had to have their system fit the current vehicle's dimension and layout.
well if you have only one power supply that's your total, so I just add them up just like the dealer does. Yes I know that you can never have that as a total to the wheel but it's still the total HP that the car has.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Frank Hudon\";p=\"99621)</div> That's still not right. Honda lists the net power of the V6/IMA system, not gross. If they were to list gross, I think they'd be pushing 280.
Well Honda better fix the internal space problem. No fold-down rear-seats already reduces the cargo-carrying capacity. Adding insult to it is putting the batteries on the back of the seats reducing trunk space too! This is primarily whey I picked the Prius over it. Never got over the ultility of transporting huge amount of items in my Civic HX in my college moving days. If the new HCH looks better, full-hybrid, 4-wheel double-wishbone suspension (F1 style), lithium-batts, hatch, still gets 40+mpg.. then the Prius would have some serious competition.
The only way to realize significant advantage in mpg in a Civic or Accord hybrid is if you do almost all of your driving on long interstate trips. Toyota had the courage and foresight to design the Prius as a hybrid. Honda is trying to squeeze a hybrid into a conventional envelope - like trying to inject an extra yolk into an egg - and it obviously isn't working too well.
The first spy pictures of it sure do make it look a lot more like the Prius - looks like they're going for aerodynamics. http://hybridscoop.com/2006hchpics
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Frank Hudon\";p=\"99703)</div> Right, exactly what I said, thanks. Honda lists the ICE and the ICE + IMA. If they were to combine the two (ie, add ICE HP + IMA HP) it'd be much higher.
Honda lists the IMA at 16 hp and the net at 15 hp so go figure. 1 hp gross to net loss that doesn't work either. Kw would be the better system but the automakers mix ISO, DIN and SAE to suite their needs/wants.
