I don't use A/C in my HCH, ever (ok, only when coasting downhill).

 

And I believe you get 70 MPG in a Civic Hybrid

 

I think the EPA numbers are pretty accurate for normal driving. That's what I get when I am not using fanatical hyper-miling driving techniques. As for my gas milieage, it was documented by BBC World (I think you can see the video on you tube) and HBO included other footage in a documentary called "Too hot not to handle". For that matter, I routinely took photos of my dashboard readout for miles and mpg and posted them here, you can see for yourself.

I stopped posting here in 2006 because I bought another car that I drove regularly, and I let my office staff drive the Honda Civic Hybrid for errands and then my son used that car, and they didn't drive with the same determination for getting high mileage.

 

I speak for no one but me, but we now have 83000 miles on a 2005 Honda Civic. Total miles divided by total gallons is about 43.1, despite 10% alcohol in the gas becoming the current eco-fad (.6 ratio of alcohol to gas as a motor fuel, for a net 4% decrease in the value per gallon of our 10% alcohol vs 100% gas at the pump).

 

If you were all telling the truth Honda would not be about the settle out of court a class action lawsuit for fluffing the numbers. I believe anyone who is getting 40 + MPG never uses AC, drives on flat freeways and removed the back seat and passenger seat. To many of us do not come close to these numbers. Any car can be 10 % off, but 25 to 30, clearly Honda is not being strait. Honda claims 49 mpg city for 07 Civic, no one is getting these numbers or could achieve theses numbers without hypermiling, no AC and removing all but the drivers seat.

 

I'm sure it depends on where and how you drive, but we live in Williamsburg Va, use the AC a lot in the summer and in the rain, and use the heater in the winter. Our typical driving is a mix of highway/city, and we still have a very few places where you can go 45mph for a mile or two at a stretch without having to stop. We don't do anything special for mileage, and my wife, the history major, gets better mileage than me, the engineer.

But I can't imagine why I would lie to you. It's silly to suggest that I have the slightest relationship to any court case.

My car is rated at 48mpg. 10% alcohol in the gas, all by itself, costs you 2mpg versus the good old days (I haven't reported a tank of gas on this site in quite awhile; our government got the bright idea to burn our food supply as a motor fuel since this car was new in 2005). I do inflate my tires to the max sidewall pressure because it makes the tires last longer and it makes the mileage better. Our freeways are indeed fairly flat, but nothing has been removed from the vehicle. I can get 40mpg driving level interstate highways at 75mph (better, of course, at slower speeds).

In fact, I don't think I have ever had a full tank of gas come in below 40mph.

 

I believe that some people are so afraid of global warming that they get on this site and others and embellish. 40 MPG on the interstate with no AC, you can do that in a regular non-hybrid civic. I would love to say that the purchase of my Civic hybrid was not a complete waste of money, I cannot lie. I cannot even achieve better then 32 mpg with much effort around the city. I have taken my car to the dealer twice, they claim my car is fine and the manufacture overstated what the hybrid will do in real world conditions and that 32 MPG Is normal. in my opinion the Honda Civic hybrid is all hype and only a few people in optimal environments come any where close the the rated MPG. Honda Should be fined by the US for a complete misrepresentation and should have to purchase back any civic that will not meet 80% of the claimed milage, per my window sticker I should be getting 49 mpg in the city.

 

But I DO use AC, and I live in a place where it gets hot. There's no question, though, our best mileage is in the spring and fall, and mileage is adversely affected by headlights, fans, windshield wipers, and the AC. This is also true about any of the other vehicles we might otherwise be driving, of course.

Lasvegas, I gotta ask some dumb questions: Does your driving pattern have a lot of idle time or anything else unusual? You are driving in the "D" position, right? How much alcohol is in the gas you're using? How many miles have you driven your hybrid?

 

It's seems like the slightest incline kills the mpg the transmission seems to not upshift properly. Also the AC is so weak wemtook my coworkers Ford 250 gets about 10 Mpg because the Civic AC is so weak.

 

You should take your car in to the dealership to check for refrigerant leaks. My HCH had very poor AC performance and wouldn't cool the car unless I sped up the RPMs by driving "S". The dealership did a check and found a fitting on the AC system to be loose. Replaced the fitting, refilled refrigerant and it's back to normal.

If your AC system is always cranking on max because of a refrigerant leak then that would definitely affect your gas mileage.