wrote:
> The car accelerates wonderfully with the battery assist...much better
> than my conventional Civic, which in turn accelerates well. There is no

I have a 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid and a 2005 Ford Escape Hybrid.
Dec 2004 Car & Driver has a comment about the acceleration tests that show
the Hybrid as being slower than the non-Hybrid in 0-60 tests.
Because the car is so computer controlled, it is difficult to make a
drag strip launch, yielding slow test times, but in normal driving the
hybrid is faster and smoother than the non-hybrid. This corresponds to my
experience and that of a co-worker with a standard LX automatic.

> I thought the mileage should have been better. A few thoughts on that.
> One, the entire trip was in wet windy weather. The headlights,

I find that the A/C, either to cool the car, or automatically turned on
with the defroster, knocks 2-3mpg off the mileage.

> One other thought. While cruising down the Thruway at 70, I expected
> the battery assist to take over periodically. It didn't except for when

At a steady 70 mph cruise on level ground, you are just driving a
car with a tiny engine. No hybrid magic.

I have seen 100 mile stretches of 80 mph cruise with A/C at 42mpg.
I have seen 20 mile stretches at 45mph at 65mpg.

2003 Civic Hybrid SULEV CVT automatic. San Jose, CA to Benicia, CA.
60mph cruise control, 59.0 miles, 59.0 mpg.
70mph cruise control, 59.0 miles, 52.0 mpg.
http://www.rahul.net/dold/clarence/Honda_Mileage.htm

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Clarence A Dold - Hidden Valley (Lake County) CA USA 38.8-122.5