70mpg @ 50mph in a 4 door sedan

[Ecky]

It was ~55F today and on the way home from my dad's cataract surgery in my new-to-me Civic Hybrid, I slowly crept up toward 70mpg on the zero net elevation change 20-mile drive between the hospital and his house. The FCD briefly showed 70.0, but after climbing the short hill to his house, I pulled into his driveway with a final average of 68.8mpg.

I expect it would've been over 100mpg in my Insight, but it's not ready for the road yet, and besides, these two cars are not really fighting in the same weight class.

The Civic currently has only a lower grille block, and is running on non-LRR winter tires. Can't wait to see what it gets when the weather warms up and I have new tires on it.





I've driven that route many, many times in my in-laws' 2014 Prius, and have never quite managed 70.

I've seen running, highish mileage versions of this car with weak or dying batteries going for as little as $800. I don't know that I'd recommend it to a relative, but there's certainly a lot of potential for the price for an ecomodder.

[elhigh]

That's really, really good.

My '03 HCH (also manual) has never done that well, but there is NO level ground on my trip and the wife burns anywhere from 10 to 30 miles per day, and she does NO hypermiling whatsoever. She doesn't even use regen braking. I get a flat IMA battery some days.

Congrats man, those are great numbers.

[He-man]

Thats awesome man. My wife and i have three 2 seater cars and i feel like we would benefit from a 4 door so i may need to look into one of these. Do you feel this could tow a small trailer fairly well?

[Ecky]

This is my first 4 seater, after having a string of 2 seaters.

I've pulled over a thousand pounds behind my G1 Insight through the Appalachians. The Civic Hybrid weighs more but has more total power, and will probably will do just as well for towing. At least, the 5MT - I wouldn't tow behind a CVT, since they're pretty fragile to begin with.

Be careful of weak hybrid batteries in southern cars - heat is killer to them, and Civic Hybrids didn't come with the same battery warranty the G1 Insights did. It's possible to drive one with a dead hybrid battery, but it will be a slug to drive. Refurbishment or replacement isn't terribly expensive, but it's a possible hidden cost in these vehicles.

OTOH, you might find an otherwise healthy HCH1 with a dead battery selling for cheap, which you can have refurbished for as little as $500.

[oldtamiyaphile]

Originally Posted by elhigh

My '03 HCH (also manual) .

The HCH was only sold here in Auto, any idea if a manual conversion would be practical?