No offense taken, I should've used a smiley.

Don't be such a prude!

 

You can not add a hitch to the HCHII as the CVT transmission is not rated to pull anything. As far as trunk space it is a very usable 10.4 ft3. In fact it had something like .2 ft3 less than the Toyota Camary hybrid, but is much more usable due to the fact that there is no blower fan or humps in the way and is also taller than the Camary hybrid. I easily packed the trunk up vertically with just about everything you would need to put in there. The fact that the interior has plenty of space for a family of 3 or 4 (it is actually the same as the 90-93 accord), the trunk has more usable space than the Camary hybrid, it costs $6,000 less and gets 13+ mpg better made the decision easy for us.

 

Actually, those can be two separate issues, as a hitch can be used for a bike rack, or a hitch-mounted cargo carrier. You just can't pull a trailer with it - that part is *very* true.

I installed a 1.25" Draw-tite hitch on my car myself a few weeks back, in order to hook up a bike rack when needed, and a cargo carrier if the day ever comes where I need to carry something larger and a truck rental isn't feasible. For those interested, the model # for the hitch is 24763 - I got mine for $94 plus shipping, although I see they've raised the price to about $101 as I write this.

The aero drag caused by bikes or cargo mounted on the roof of a car is much greater than if they're carried behind it.

To the original poster - if you often need to carry more file boxes than what can fit in the trunk and back / front seating areas, a hitch-mounted carrier can help you in this regard, and won't take more than 1-2 mpg off your fuel economy. Putting those same items on the roof will take at least 4-5mpg off, and you have weight limits on the roof to worry about, if you're carrying heavy file boxes.

As a test, bring a couple of boxes to the dealership, and position them in the trunk - see what you're in for. And the next time you go to your preferred dealer, tell them you want to go on the 401 with the car. Period. Don't buy a car you haven't driven in your 'normal' environment. Be prepared to tell them you're ready to buy, however, since that will be your 3rd test drive - dealers hate 'looky-loos', as they call people who ask for test-drive after test-drive on multiple visits, but never actually buy a car.

Total carry rating for the '06 Civic hybrid is 600 lbs, and that includes you, the driver, as well as your passengers if any.

The LX / EX, with its larger engine and manual / auto tranny, is rated for 1000 lbs, I believe, and it can actually pull a small trailer. But never hook a trailer of any sort to the hybrid, if you get a hitch. The ratings above are set somewhat conservatively, so don't expect failure of the CVT at 601lbs. However, don't go too much over that - more than 700lbs, and you'd be playing with fire. People have carried their families of four and luggage across country with no ill-effecs, so don't sweat it *too* much.

Finally...Honda tends to rate towing capacities somewhat conservatively - as an example, the US-market Element is rated at 1500lb tow capacity. But in other markets, the vehicle is given a significantly higher rating - up to 2800lb, if I remember correctly. Same vehicle, same drivetrain - but it's given a higher tow rating in the non-US market. The CVT in the hybrid is much more delicate, however, so use discretion in how much you try and have it carry. I just mention this as an example of how conservative the rating of "600 lbs", as per Honda, might be.

 

Sorry - I forgot to address the fuel consumption / environmental questions.

The car will generate similar (but slightly less) emissions for the same volume of gasoline burned. Note that that's not "same miles driven" - so if you're not suddenly inclined to drive *more* than you already do (the temporary giddiness of a new car aside), then you'll emit roughly 30% less emissions on the consumption side alone, as that's how much less fuel you'll be using to travel a given distance. The hybrid meters out fuel at a 22:1 air/fuel ratio, while the non-hybrid Civic uses about a 14:1 ratio (similar to most cars).

On the evaporative end, the hybrid is cleaner as well, as the previous poster alluded to. I've heard it said on more than one occasion, and by different people, that the Civic emits air out of its tailpipe cleaner than the air that went into its intake. However, I can't quantify that at this time (yet). Suffice to say...it's a very, very clean car (the additional bonus of driving one of these cars). The only thing cleaner would be an all-electric or fuel cell vehicle.

 

Thanks for the feedback everyone! I'm going to get a quote on an LX and a Hybrid, and if the price difference between the two remains about the same, then I'll take a longer test drive and make up my mind. (Unfortunately, if I can get a decent discount on an LX but not the Hybrid, then I think that will decide the matter for me).

One more follow-up question:

Are you sure about that? I can't find those ratings anywhere on the Honda website, and even for being conservative, 600 lbs sounds low (myself and 3 of my friends would top 800 lbs, and that's without cargo or sticking anyone with the middle seat!). 1000 lbs, I think I could believe...

Edit: I found the Consumer Reports' article on the '06 Civic, and it does have that 1000 lbs towing figure for the standard model (hybrid "not recommended for towing"). It also has a max load figure of 850 lbs (passengers + cargo) for both models. That makes more sense to me: 4 adults and a minimum of baggage, or 2 adults, 2 kids, and a bunch of stuff. Hopefully those are conservative #'s


As an aside, I think this is the type of graph I want to construct:
(Note: I took an educated guess about the figures based on one trip in my 97 Accord 4-cyl, and some HCH figures I found here. The Civic Gas figures are completely fabricated to show what I was concerned about, rather than reality... the curves would be inverted if the figures were mileage/MPG)

 

According to my owners manual, the cargo capacity of the HCH is 850lbs, not 600.

 

After checking pg. 158 of the owner's manual (which is why you couldn't find it on Honda's site)...I stand corrected. Load limit is, indeed, 850 lbs (including driver / passengers). Interestingly, when converted to kg, they give 385kg for the US model - and then list 395kg separately for the Canadian model. So for some reason, you can carry an extra 10 kilos / 20 lbs ?

My apologies for the error - I was typing from memory, and didn't bother to check / confirm before I posted it as fact.

Thinking on it, I may have had the '600' figure in my mind from previously subtracting my own approximate weight. Or my capacity to memorize every single statistic of the car is not what it used to be
Funny that I'd get the non-hybrid tow rating right, though.

 

Potato,
I'm not sure how to insert a web site in this message - BUT if you go to http://fueleconomy.gov you can find information on mileage and total air pollution. The 2006 Civic gets a 6/10 overall the 2006 Civic Hybrid gets a 9.5/10. It's a very informative site. I live in a cold climate and have had my '06 Civic Hybrid for 7 months. I've watched my lifetime mpg go from the low 40's to over 50 mpg . I do drive very slow and use most of the tips from this website. Good luck in your decision.
Regards,

 

It's because in Canada, you don't have to worry about the weight of that "missing" trunk release on the remote!

How much weight are you planning to put in this vehicle? If you are climbing hills (or worse), you may want to seriously consider the cargo capacity issue.

I find the HCH2 the near-perfect vehicle for commuting. I would not think it perfect for taking a family of 5 on a camping trip, though. Too much weight could really impact the acceleration capabilities of this car, and stress the CVT also. Not to scare you away at all, bit the HCH2 is certainly not a work-truck.

If you're hauling a lot of weight around often, I'd try doing JUST THAT on my EXTENSIVE test-drive before making a decision.

The HCH2 appears to be a great little car, in all respects, for its intended purpose. I love mine

 

The CVT alone is worth the extra few grand. Like most automatics, I find the 5 spd gas civic downshifts and over revs when you kick down the accelerator. The only automatic that I can tolerate is the CVT or a regular auto attached to 300 or more ponies. The CVT is really cool. It's like taking off in jet when you get on it, it keep pulling with steady revs.

Sometimes if I'm in a hurry to get home and have a lot of miles to cover I'll cruise at high speed and eat the cost of the increased fuel consumption. I still get 42-44 MPG while doing 75-80 MPH. The HCH can haul a$$ if you need it to. Out of curiosity sake, I brought it up to 95-100 a few times. Rock solid even at those speeds although it may float around a bit if there's gusty crosswinds.

Back to the purpose of buying a HCH. Regardless of what speed you drive or what kind of MPG you try to squeeze from the thing you'll visit the pump less than you would driving most other cars, it costs less to fill, you'll pollute less and enjoy the hell out of driving it.

I've owned quite a few new cars and thought I would pull my hair out behind the wheel of a hybrid. That of course was before test driving the HCH. I went to the hybrid because I grew disgusted with the ever increasing cost of fuel. My primary mode of transportation was a 03' Chevy Avalanche that cost $70.00+ to fill and needed to be filled at least twice as often as the HCH. The extra space was nice but not an absolute necessity so I made the switch.

Drove the Prius but decided against it because the test vehicle died in the dealers parking lot a few times. I hit the gas and it didn't move even though the car was supposedly "on". I liked the extra room afforded by the hatch and the fold down seats but wasn't thrilled with the idea of getting hit by a tractor trailer in an intersection because I couldn't tell if my car was actually running.