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Old 07-08-2011, 06:36 PM   #280 (permalink)
California98Civic
Cyborg ECU
 
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Join Date: Mar 2011
Location: Coastal Southern California
Posts: 6,299

Black and Green - '98 Honda Civic DX Coupe
Team Honda
90 day: 66.42 mpg (US)

Black and Red - '00 Nashbar Custom built eBike
90 day: 3671.43 mpg (US)
Thanks: 2,373
Thanked 2,172 Times in 1,469 Posts
Quote:
Originally Posted by endurance View Post
Saw my first CR-Z in the parking lot at work today. Green with envy. Now there's a car I could have fun with AND get 50+mpg without even trying.
I saw one of these on the road and thought: good looking Honda. So thanks for the heads up. I didn't know it was a hybrid until I looked it up just now on the Honda site. I'm disappointed with my favorite automaker. Even in "econ" mode this hybrid only beats the EPA fuel economy rating of my 1998 all-gasoline Civic by 3 or 4 MPG. Even before becoming a rabid hypermiler I matched the CR-Z fuel economy all the time in my daily driving. So the car is more toxic to build, costs more, and burns almost as much fuel. I'm sure you are correct and that you can get remarkable hypermiling out of it, but I can do that in my current ride without handing the savings $$ over to Honda in a retail premium, plus car-loan interest. Ouch! I know it has lots of gadgets in it, but something about this picture is a little depressing. Is that all that the hybrid technology will bring us? From the eco(logical) and eco(nomy) standpoint we need to do better.

I drove across those Colorado mountains a couple times in a 1974 Oldsmobile (with the Rocket 350 V8 block of Jerry Lee Lewis fame). Man that's a beautiful world... enjoy.
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See my car's mod & maintenance thread and my electric bicycle's thread for ongoing projects. I will rebuild Black and Green over decades as parts die, until it becomes a different car of roughly the same shape and color. My minimum fuel economy goal is 55 mpg while averaging posted speed limits. I generally top 60 mpg. See also my Honda manual transmission specs thread.




Last edited by California98Civic; 07-08-2011 at 06:49 PM..
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