Honda has posted information on the 2006 HAH on their website http://automobiles.honda.com/

Strikingly, the mileage rating for the 2006 HAH is 25/34, down from the 2005's 29/37!

Does anyone know why the mileage is down or why anyone would even buy this car since a 4 cylinder Accord is rated at 24/34 and the 2007 Camry is rated at 43/37?

 

Maybe their ratings are more realistic? No clue. But for a V6 at 25/34, that's still pretty good. If going for fuel economy, then it probably isn't worth it. The 4 cylinder Accord should suffice, plus with more trunk room.

We were planning to get the 06 Accord, but with the Camry Hybrid coming out so soon, we're most likely going to wait it comes out and then decide.

 

There were more than cosmetic changes made to the vehicle:
1) 50-state PZEV rating, though this does not affect FE on any other model I've seen.
2) sunroof & 50# heavier, but negligible effect on FE
3) more oil..5.3 vs 4.5- not sure what that's about?

...optimistically hoping... maybe Honda applied the new proposed EPA FE testing regime, if that's legal to do yet.

At any rate, lower EPA #s will just make it easier for new onwners to bust into hypermiler status...

I still maintain that the HAH is an endangered species in its current format. I hihgly recommend that if one can wait until the summer, then wait and see what the Camry does. Or wait until 07 and the Fusion comes along, but that's a lot of waiting.

Gimme my FFV I4 asap!!

 

CAMRY???? That ugly thing. Every time I ride in a Camry I get dizzy the suspension is so soft. Not to mention it looks like a Buick or something like that

 

I'm not a fan of the Camry either. The Fusion is growing on me, though. Anyone else think it's strange to hear the Fusion commercials talk about a car that, "not only uses energy, but creates it?" The first few times I heard that, I thought they were alluding to the Fusion being a hybrid. **** marketing people...

 

Well, the 05 came in with higher combined MPG than EVERY SINGLE car built by the big3. (Actually it tied with the Neon, I think, and one of the stripped-down Malibus).

The 06 is sort of sitting in the pack now, although its a pack of anemic 4-bangers. And the FEH beats it now- shame!!!!

I guess one could take solace that their new 06 is still in the very top percentage of FE cars overall. And that new car smell. PZEV is significant, too.

Onwards and upwards to better things...bigger picture. Better stuff is coming down the pipe. By 2010 we'll all be in 2nd-gen systems, hopefully FFV-enabled.

 

When the PZEV Civic Hybrid came out, the PZEV was available in CA (and maybe other places?) and the ULEV was still the only model elsewhere. The PZEV had slightly lower EPA mpg figures.

I'm speculating, but this MAY be what happened with the Accord. And it MAY also be the reason for the delay in the intro of the 06 model. Honda may have done their own mpg testing and were not satisified with the large drop in mileage from the ULEV version. So, they spent a few months working on it, maybe without success. This sounds believable to me. (I haven't seen any better explanations). If the mpg difference is REAL, then I think the 05 is the year to have, even without the sunroof, VSA, and exterior restyle.

I don't think that Honda has tried to convert to the next generation of EPA testing. I doubt they would even be allowed to do that yet. The EPA apparently only lets them use the current testing procedures. If they were going to use the next gen. testing, in order to be more realistic with real-world figures, I would think they would have used it on the 06 Civic Hybrid also, and maybe all their cars. Plus they'd make it clear in advertising (and/or website) that they have done so, because people will still try to compare figures to those of other car makers, and Honda would appear to be at a disadvantage.

 

Agreed. You may have hit some groundtruth with the reason for the delay? And they certainly would have pointed out eh new testing method if it were used. I was purely speculating.

I didn't realize the PZEV HCH had lower#s. I had just quickly skimmed a short list of non-hybrid PZEV vehicles from the EPA site, and didn't note any deltas. Assumed it was generally true...guess not.

I might fo drive one and see if the difference is real.

 

I looked up the mpg difference in the Civic ULEV vs. PZEV. The drop was only one mpg city, with either transmission. Manual trans highway mpg was the same. CVT was 1 mpg HIGHER with the PZEV on the highway.


So, overall, not a lot of difference in the Civic. That doesn't confirm whether switching to PZEV was a cause of the mpg drop in the Accord, of course.

 

Sheesh. Typically Honda lack of color choices.

I saw where the charge and assist meters are located. Where is the instant MPG?

P.S. I think they delayed introduction because they couldn't sell the crop of '05s they still had on the lots. When I bought my '06 HCH in January, I saw at least one '05 they were trying to sell.