Hi All!

I'm from Phoenix, AZ, and although it's not in my budget currently, my 93 Honda Accord is approaching the end of it's lifespan and I would like my next car to be a hybrid. I've been reading a lot of the posts on this website and people seem to be rather interested in changing their driving style to maximize mileage with all of the different hybrids here. Are there any hybrid owners who drive agressively and fast (safely, of course) and wish to remain speedy? Around phoenix I usually drive 80-90 MPH because I work at a hospital and get called in for emergencies often. Although I want to pollute less, I need pickup and performance, and I'm not really interested in giving up speed because for me it is important. Do these vehicles have the capacity to accelerate and perform well with agressive driving? I realize mileage would take a hit, but if I don't care to change my driving style are these cars worth it? Would one still get better mileage than driving an equivalent ICE the same way? I'd be interested in hearing your opinions. I apologize if someone else has already asked this, I'm new to this forum. Thanks for any input.

 

I thought I would give your question a shot. I have just owned my Hybrid Civic (HCH) since August. I feel like I have changed my driving style some, but I think I have been slowing down the last few years anyway.

In my opinion, if you are not concerned about the gas mileage, but getting to work quickly is a concern, then I would go with a conventional vehicle. The Hybrids have good get up and go, but they do not compare to a gas engine only car. As some will probably post behind me, the ICE cars actually meet the same pollution levels as the hybrids, just the gas mileage is not a concern.

Then again if you want the best of both worlds, the HAH would be a good car. It is faster than the ICE Accord and gets better gas mileage, if driven a little easier. But at $30K a 4-cylinder Accord looks very inviting.

Billy

 

Billy has good advice,
But please let me add that up until I bought my HCH in Jan '04 I was among the worst for speed and extremely agressive driving.

Right away I learned the efficiency potential of this car and decided to maximize it.

No matter what you drive, high speed/agressive driving = poor MPG.

It may seem at first that driving for efficiency takes a much longer time to get there, but even the extreme measures I take I'm looking at about 10 extra minutes over 46 miles. That's including traffic, stop signs & lights and 5:00 Atlanta traffic.

 

I find the most intersting thing is that I'm not racing to red lights any more. Once you get the idea of how long lights take to change and stuff you end up coasting 1/4 mile to the light and have it turn green and trafic moving by the time you get there. So instead of wasting a minute or so at a light you gain higher milage because you are coasting and not using your engine. (does that make sense?) I find my 40minute comute isn't any longer when I drive conservatively.

 

Welcome to GreenHybrid, Drew.

Currently, the only hybrid with the power you're talking about is the Accord Hybrid, but again it isn't cheap. You'll get better mileage with that than you will with a conventional Accord. What is your motivation for better fuel economy? If it's cost, buying a hybrid is not [yet] quite the right choice. If it's convenience, well, perhaps.

Note that there are tons of members who have registered to use the mileage database, but don't post regularly in the forums. These people are more likely to drive in a similar fashion as yourself, as they don't hang around to chat about their driving technique

 

What kind of 0-60 times are you looking for?
A quick google search shows 10.1 second 0-60 and a 17.6 quarter mile for a 1993 Accord LX. This is much slower than the 6.7 0-60 time that the Accord Hybrid turns in.
Here's the info for the rest of the hybrids.

Accord 6.7 seconds
Prius II 10.2
Insight 10.7
Civic 12.1
Prius I 12.4

You may want to try renting a hybrid in your area if possible and see if it fits your acceleration needs.

 

Thanks for the replies. That's all good food for thought. Getting even more picky, I think my next car should be an AWD or 4WD suv type, which means I'd be looking at FEH, Lexus Hybrid, or Highlander hybrid (Is Honda planning an MDX hybrid? Any other companies got one in the works?). That said, my main motivation is not cost. My main motivations are: 1) I'm a tree hugger at heart 2) anything to end dependence on foreign oil 3) Want to stop polluting the atmosphere 4) decreased emissions over many vehicles 5) secretly desire an suv but feel too guilty buying an ICE and wrecking the panet with bad emissions and poor gas mileage. Unfortunately, my job requires frequent light speed jaunts to the hospital. My current Accord EX from 1993 is a 4 cylinder model that feels like molasses and has terrible brakes. It sure is reliable, but reliably mediocre at that. I get about 23 MPG at this point with my driving style. Any further thoughts on hybrids? I'd really like to be part of the trend telling the auto companies to look into alternative energy sources. I'm a fairly political person and hate my reliance on fossil fuels. I probably won't be buying for 1-2 years becasue of my finances, but I'm starting to look becasue this growing hybrid market is becoming a viable option it seems. Thanks again for any opinions.

 

Lexus Hybrid looks sweet, but it has an 11K premium over the equivalent ICE. Unless there are a lot of extra features on it besides just the hybrid powertrain, I'd be wary. Accord Hybrid is 3K more than the equivalent, but I think it only gets better mileage if you don't use its full performance.

2006 Civic Hybrid is supposed to have better mileage/performance than the current model. It *might* be a contender, but I doubt it will have more than 120hp.

I think that in the coming years we will be seeing hybrid powertrains on just about everything. Hybrid sports cars, etc....

 

Ceilidh,
The Ford/Mercury Mariner SUV will be introduced later this fall. And since you mention that you are about two years away from buying, there may be even more unexpected choices by that time.