Undercover 2009 Honda Civic hybrid's a winner

ByABC News
August 28, 2009, 9:34 AM

— -- Honda's Civic hybrid is a good alternative for those who don't need Toyota Prius' distinctive styling to advertise their fuel-saving heroics.

Civic hybrid's a four-door, gas-electric sedan that looks about the same as gasoline-only Civics. Prius, a hatchback, is hybrid-only and unlike anything else Toyota sells.

Apparently most hybrid buyers need to make sure the neighbors know, because Prius outsold Civic hybrid 5-to-1 last year.

The battery pack and some other elements of the electric-drive system got upgrades to make charging more efficient, but that made no difference in fuel economy or drivability.

Most important, stability control is standard. Also, because Honda wants to position this as a premium Civic, it is available with fancier options, such as heated leather seats.

Honda and Toyota use different gas-electric hybrid systems. Honda relies mainly on a small, efficient gasoline engine. A small electric motor, cleverly packaged between the engine and transmission, kicks in when more power's needed. Toyota and the similar Ford system default to electric power as often as possible.

Honda's hybrid gets better highway mileage, like gasoline-only cars; Toyota-type systems excel in town where they rely more on electric power.

The Honda system eliminates the annoying shimmies present in other systems when their gasoline engines restart and come online while the car's underway. Axing those shudders is a big relief.

Like gasoline Civics, the hybrid test car had a sturdy, tight feel, as if it were modeled after a sport sedan. It didn't have the slip-slidey feel you can get when trying to push a Prius briskly through corners. Thus, the Civic was more fun to drive in the normal-to-brisk end of the scale.