New 2008 Civic MPG

Hi;

We are considering buying a 2008 civic. Could you please tell me the
gas mileage you get for city driving? My wife drives mostly around
town and is hoping for about 30 mpg. The sticker EPA Estimate reads
25, so I will probably get something else if that is all it gets. I
was told the EPA estimates have changed and it will probably get
better than that, but guess who told me that...yeah ...the salesman

We are looking at the LX model with a 4 cylinder 1.8 engine.

Thanks for any knowledge.
Pat

 

I don't have one but alot will depend on driving style (jack rabbit
starts, low tire pressure etc.) really eat up gas (MPG)

 

Low tire pressure isn't really driving style.

However, where one drives in the city makes a big difference, too. I
suspect that cars get better mileage around downtown Allentown PA than
downtown New York. And of course, Jack Rabbit starts do make a big
difference.

You might consider the Honda Civic Hybrid. It is only about $1300 more
than the Honda Civic Si and gets 40 mph city and 45 mph highway.

Jeff

 

The new EPA fuel economy estimates are pretty close to what owner's are
getting. Check out the government sponsored web site at
fueleconomy.gov. From what I've read, few cars get 30 mpg in town.

 

Except Escape, Prius, Civic and other hybrids.

Oops, sorry. The Prius and Civic hybrids don't get 30 mpg. They get 40.

Jeff

 

The smart fortwo gets 33 in city. Of course many or most of the hybrids
get 40 mpg in the city. As you probably already know, their mileage is
better in city than on the highway.

On a personal note, my 1975 Honda Civic, bough new during the last gas
crunch, got 30 mpg no matter where I drove it. Went looking for a
Toyota Prius last weekend and the dealer didn't even have a demo to test
drive. It's good to see that people are getting serious about saving
gas.

 

Actually, I know it depends on the model. The Honda Civic Hybrid is
rated at 40 MPG city, 45 MPG highway.

They're not getting serious about saving gas. They are getting serious
about saving money.

Jeff

 

The smart fortwo gets 33 in city.[/QUOTE]

Yeah. And unless you live in a old European town or village where
parking space is at a premium or the roads date back to the 1500s when
they were horse tracks and have never been expanded, the smart fortwo
makes little sense.

Which means it makes little sense here in the US.

$15,500 for a smart fortwo equipped similarly to a base Prius, which is
$21,500. The smart gets 33mpg in city, the Prius gets 45mpg in city.

It's not a great feature comparison; for example, there's no auto trans
available in the smart. That's a negative. And more importantly, the
Prius can carry 4-5 people while getting that same 45mpg.

And you can use the Prius for road trips. The smart? On a highway
trip? Yeah, right.

At $4/gallon for gas, the 33mpg smart costs 12.12 cents/mile in gas.
The 45mpg Prius fuel cost is 8.9 cents. Call it a 3 cent difference.
At $5/gallon for gas, it goes to a 4 cent difference. And so on.

So: the Prius has a lower fuel cost per mile, carries more people, has
an automatic trans (that's really very simple and sweet and MUCH more
reliable than a traditional hydraulic auto trans), and can go on the
highway for long trips.

Hmmmm.

So the smart fortwo, here in the US, is just a big, expensive scooter.
I guess if you have the cash for a spare two seat scooter and have the
garage space for an occasional toy, that's fine.

Crowded cities like New York and San Francisco would do well to create
an infrastructure that accommodates smart cars--smaller and cheaper
parking spaces, lower registration fees, whatever--that would let people
choose a smart (or similar) as the car they own for in and around town,
leaving the road trips to larger rentals.

But outside the crowded cities, for things like saving fuel and lowering
emissions, the smart doesn't make any sense when the Prius is out there.
Even if it's just you and no one else, the Prius saves more fuel and
emits less pollution per mile--and it gives you one car that does this
both in town and on the highway, letting you own one car that gives you
the flexibility of both in town and on the road use, not to mention the
flexibility of taking another couple out to dinner with you.

I mean, come on--how does the smart save fuel and emissions if more than
two of you are going someplace? The third person has to drive his own
car, using even more fuel and emitting even more pollution? What does
THAT do to the EFFECTIVE fuel mileage for the smart? (We make fun of
the "California car pool" for a reason...)

 

Nope.

Driving the Prius the same way I've driven every car for the last 30
years, with the climate control set to keep ME comfortable, the Prius
gives 45mpg in the city and around 50mpg on the highway.

Colder weather will see lower numbers, but colder weather will also
cause other cars to see lower numbers, too--presumably by the same
percentage.

The thought originally was that the savings from a hybrid drivetrain
would be in the city, and that may be for the Honda's drivetrain, but it
certainly isn't for the Prius. The Prius is like every other car--get
it on the highway, set the cruise control, and see better mileage than
you see in the city.

 

Yep.

I had a bunch of 79 Civics. Great cars. Manual choke worked great.
And you couldn't kill the engines. Know when it's time to add oil?
When you take a hard right turn and the light flickers on the dash. Oil
changes? Naw, the car does that itself. Just add as needed.

The front frame member, though, now that was another matter. At least
Honda owned up to it and replaced it free of charge, even years later.
THEY understood that was cheaper than paying for the lawsuits and
getting a bad rep.

Same with the gas tanks that rusted underneath the metal straps.

 

It may be by a higher percentage. I believe the Prius has to have its
motor running more because the batteries don't store energy as well when
they are cold (the voltage is lower) and the engine has to be on to give
heat.

While you are correct that many (but not all) hybrid cars and trucks
still have better highway mileage, more fuel is saved in the city. If a
car gets 20 city/ 30 highway without a hybrid system and 30/35 with a
hybrid system, the car will save 17 gallons of gas every thousand miles
driven in the city, but only about 3 gallons every 1000 miles driven on
the highway.

Some hybrids still get better city mileage than highway mileage, like
the Ford Escape and Mazda Tribute. Of course, these are trucks, not cars.

Jeff

 

My first Honda was a '76 Civic CVCC that I bought from a friend who
bought it new. It had 88K on the odometer when I got it and it survived
until it hit 160K a few years later in '87 when the rust was truly
becoming a safety issue.

It got a solid 30mpg around town and could do about 35mpg on the highway.

When I put my "reconditioned" '82 Gen 2 Civic on the road, I have been
getting a consistent 40mpg in mixed driving. I do notice a slight
increase when I dropped my average speed to 60mph as opposed to 70mph
and a little more.

If I were to put the original engine back in, I expect that I would get
closer to the range that Honda claimed for the FE models, (42 city and
55 highway). I base this on a friend's experience who bought an '82 FE,
loaded it up with personal possessions and headed to California. He
average around 50 mpg.

So, as long as my little beater keeps on tickin'... I'm gonna avoid the
banker that rides in so many back seats..

<G>

JT

 

Waiving the right to remain silent, "Elmo P. Shagnasty"

They DO NOT offer air conditioners. During our 5 months of above 90 degree
temperatures here, they'd be useless.

A Toyota Corolla 1.8 automatic with AC gets 26 mpg/35 mpg, costs about the
same, and will easily seat four adults.

 

If you want good city mileage the Civic Hybrid or Prius is the way to go,
here is a link to the civic hybrid mileage data base

http://www.greenhybrid.com/compare/mileage/honda-civicii.html

you can get the Prius data by clicking on the prius along the top bar.
I prefer the Honda Civic to the Prius, it feels more like a real car not a
video game, has a better driving position & more headroom. The difference
between the EX & Hybrid is very small as I believe there is still a 1050 tax
incentive. You do loose the sunroof but gain a nicer 2 tone interior,
automatic a/c, remote trunk release, and smooth as silk CVT transmission.

With the Civic hybrid, you are also gaining a smartway plus car which is the
cleanest car (I believe) on the road right now per the EPA.
My current lifetime mileage (1 year) in a Civic Hybrid 95% city driving is
42.2, the Civic LX auto. I drove while my car was in the body shop for a
month got about 23mpg in the same conditions.

As far as those that suggest driving an old beater till the wheels fall off,
you are not asking that question, you are asking what new car do I want to
buy.....keep in mind that he Honda has high safety ratings as well, with
front, side curtain and side airbags....yes, I know you are the safest
driver in the world, but not necessarily everyone is, we have to protect
ourselves from them and there is no way to prevent someone from t-boning you
while you are going through your green light......I would rather be in a new
Civic or Prius with all those unnecessary airbags any day.

 

Waiving the right to remain silent, Grumpy AuContraire

My first Honda was an AN600, bought new in 1971. $1,300 out-the-door, and
one of the first 200 Honda cars ever imported into the USA.

http://flickr.com/photos/larrythefrog/477777904/

It got an easy 40mpg, closer to 50mpg downhill, with a strong tail wind. ;-)

 

My dad's Pontiac Bonneville gets 70 mpg going downhill, according to the
computer display.

And it does well going uphill, if it being towed by a tow truck. ;-)

Jeff

 

Mmmmm, I would doubt that.

 

They DO NOT offer air conditioners. During our 5 months of above 90 degree
temperatures here, they'd be useless.[/QUOTE]

Ah, I forgot.

Indeed. So you can have 33mpg with no AC, or 45mpg WITH AC.

Fascinating. And yet, people still buy them.

 

We are considering buying a 2008 civic. Could you please tell me the

My wife's 2005 civic EX coupe with 5 speed gets 26-28 mpg
in town (she hotrods it) and 35+ on the road.

Lynn

 

Waiving the right to remain silent, "Elmo P. Shagnasty"

Ah, I forgot.

Indeed. So you can have 33mpg with no AC, or 45mpg WITH AC.

Fascinating. And yet, people still buy them.[/QUOTE]

Most people don't really need AC.