There is currently a drive from Chicago to San Francisco with a Civic diesel competing against a Toyota Prius for ultimate MPG. It can be seen at clean MPG.

http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=9121

 

The race also includes a Honda Civic hybrid but this begs the question, is the diesel Honda iCDTi now sold in the USA?

According to Honda and http://www.fueleconomy.gov/, Honda does not sell a diesel in the USA. <GRINS>

Bob Wilson

 

After reading through 3 pages of posts, the iCDTi is slightly ahead in the mpg category but the cost of diesel is dooming it on total cost for the trip. Wow - they are getting great mileage in both cars.

 

So how is the Honda Civic Hybrid doing?

Bob Wilson

 

Bob, this attempt includes the Prius and Civic iCDTi only.

The HCH-II and HCH-I had their turn in the first attempt (a couple of weeks ago).

If you check the thread at CleanMPG you'll see how the two HCH's did.
Let us say that these two attempts have the very best pilots (hypermilers) the community can offer and they'll get the best possible from each car. I can't wait to see the results for the second attempt (underway now).

Cheers;

MSantos

 

Where did the Civic iCDTi come from?

Understand that I have no interest in the race since near as I can tell, neither you nor I can buy one at the local Honda dealer. It might as well be a race between a Prius and this excellent vehicle:


You can read up more about this excellent, hyper mileage vehicle at:
http://smv.berkeley.edu/features/2007/20070414.html

Bob Wilson

 

The Civic iCDTi was provided by "Honeywell" and has been driven around NA by many in the automotive press. This is actually the second time Wayne got hold of it. The first resulted in a great review of the model and its abilities.

Anyway, it is rumored that Honda may just sneak one of these FE monsters into our market soon. I would wager that Canadians may see it first if Honda has their way... so while you cannot yet buy one, it is definitely not smoke-ware and its presence may help paint a picture of a not so improbable future.
Roughly speaking the iCDTi costs a little less than an HCH-II.

Cheers;

MSantos

 

No problem, this works for me.

Bob Wilson

 

I admire the mileage of the Civic i-CTDI but I also love the styling of the 5 door hatch. We saw quite a few while visiting Europe last year and hope Honda brings it to the States soon.

 

Gas currently costs $3.10/gal. Diesel costs $3.70/gal.

So any diesel car MUST get 20% better mpg than a gas/electric hybrid JUST to match the cost efficiency. In other words, for a diesel to compete with a Prius, it has to average 55 mpg just to match the cost of the Prius @ 46 mpg.

And that assumes EQUAL purchase prices.
.