It's the time for Green Car!
The gas-engine Honda Civic comes in a number of trims, as well as a performance Si trim and the two-door coupe, but the 2009 Civic Hybrid is only offered as a four-door sedan. The exterior has been slightly refreshed and new interior features have been added for 2009.
Hybrids are seen as anti-establishment symbols, the anti-status status symbol. But there has been some discontent with these feel-good cars as owners have found they're not getting the advertised mileage. So if you're on the verge of being overcome by the environmentally correct need to get behind the wheel of a hybrid, be advised that they don't all work in the same way. You'll need to curb some of your speedy habits and learn some new driving skills to achieve their fuel-economy claims.
Although the Civic can't move away from a stop using only the electric motor, Honda says there is one situation where its hybrid can run on just electricity—at about 15 to 20 mph when cruising on a flat surface at a steady speed with a fully charged, or nearly so, battery pack. Since the electric motor and the gas engine rotate inseparably, the Civic must cut off fuel to the engine and use its variable-valve-timing system to close the engine's valves and make it easier for the electric motor to do its job.
The final benefit of a hybrid is that the gas engine shuts off when you come to a full stop, thereby saving fuel. In the first Civic hybrid, if the air conditioning was on and the econ button was not engaged, the engine wouldn't shut down.
