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com Comparison Hybrid vehicles contain some fairly new technology that has co nsiderable promise. The purpose of hybrid technology is to provide vehi cles with performance similar to what were accustomed to with powerful i nternal combustion engines, but that use less gasoline and pollute less. In order to encourage public acceptance of these more efficient vehicl es and to underwrite the higher developmental costs to the manufacturers selling cars in this segment, the US Congress has passed legislation allowing a $2,000 tax break to buyers of these vehicles. Hybrids sell a t a somewhat higher price than similarly equipped traditionally powered vehicles in the same class. The hybrid technology uses a combination of a small gas engine augmented by an electric motor. The gas engine is the primary power source but wh en more power is needed to respond to a driver demand for acceleration o r when carrying a load or climbing an incline, the electric motor seamle ssly and automatically engages to boost power. Hybrids contain batterie s to store electricity and as the vehicle decelerates, brakes, and even while driving, the batteries are recharging. Unlike pure electric cars, you dont plug the vehicle in or anything of that sort. For day-to-day operations they function just like any other compact sedan except they u se less fuel and they emit almost no pollutants. Both Toyota and Honda have done a superb job of making their hybrids norm al feeling and they drive like other small sedans. It was a sleek lookin g 2 seat all aluminum car that really introduced the technology to us. Toyota then delivered the Prius, which was a normal car, it being a comp act sedan with seating for 5, four doors and a CVT (automatic like) tran smission. Now we have the latest Honda offering, their popular Civic sedan that has be en hybridized and also comes with a CVT transmission. Exterior Styling The original hybrid, the Insight, was totally distinctiv e by its modernistic styling and lime green paint job. Interestingly, w ith the introduction of later models, the manufacturers are going to gre at lengths to make their hybrids blend in rather than stand out. They s eem to have determined that buyers are willing to have the technology bu t not with lots of fanfare. Consequently, the Prius was more normal loo king and the Civic Hybrids just blend in with the other hundreds of thou sands of Civics on the road. A slightly modified grille, taillights and a rear badge are about the only markers on the vehicle. Styling is a subjective issue but an unofficial poll of casual observers of both vehicles favored the Civics looks and I tend to agree. Though b asically the same size, the Civic looked more substantial and complete i n its styling. Advantage Honda Interior Styling Another one of the subjective evaluation areas deals wit h interior styling. The Toyotas interior is narrower and taller than th e Hondas. It feels very roomy and spacious yet actually is smaller acco rding to EPA figures. To help with the feeling of spaciousness, the flo or area is clear and the gearshift lever is on the dashboard. Also the gauges are center mounted to add to the feeling of innovation of the veh icle. Unfortunately, the center gauges are also associated with subcomp act smaller vehicles and dont help the styling scores. The Honda has a traditional Civic interior with a floor shifter, cup hold ers and even a fold down armrest on the drivers seat. The gauges are al so in the typical position in front of the driver and are an entertainin g indigo blue glowing color. Though not elegant, in typical Honda style it is correct, nice looking and tasteful. Though the Toyota has a multifunction display screen in the center of the instrument panel and an available navigation system, which the Honda do es not offer, the styling favors the Honda. Advantage Honda Interior Comfort & Convenience Because of the taller interior in the Toyo ta, and the seats positioned at a near neutral height, entry and exit wa s easier than in the Honda. Once inside however, the Hondas seating pos ition was more comfortable and the interior ergonomics were better. The gearshift lever placed on the floor was easier to operate yet consumed more passenger space. Toyotas dash mounted gearshift lever is a bit vag ue in its operation, there being a delay in the digital gear indicator o n the dash compared with the actual position of the lever, so you tend t o search for the correct position. The positioning of the gauges in front of the driver in the Honda was pre ferred over the center placement of gauges in the Toyota. The additiona l availability of a navigation system in the Toyota was nice if you were willing to pay the extra $1,900 to get it. The trunks were both quite well laid out with the Toyotas being a bit larger. The interior volume of the Honda was almost 3 cubic feet bigger however. When it came down to it and humans were allowed to sit in either car, people would gravita te toward the Honda more than the Toyota. Advantage Honda Powertrain Though both use hybrid technology and their approaches are bas ically similar, the exact interpretation of how the technology is delive red varies a fair amount. The Toyota uses a 4 cylinder 15 liter gas en gine producing 70 horsepower, supplemented by a 44 horsepower electric m otor. The Honda uses a 13 liter 4 cylinder gas engine producing 85 hor sepower, supplemented by a 13 horsepower electric motor. The Toyota gas engine is SULEV rated, the best available from a low emiss ions standpoint, and the Honda is an ULEV the next level below that. The Honda offers its normal vehicle warranty on its hybrid but Toyota goe s the extra mile offering an 8 year 100,000 mile warranty on all electri cal componentry associated with the hybrid technology. The Toyota more willingly uses electrical intervention in the driving pro cess than the Honda. At times, the vehicle operates completely on the e lectric motor and sometimes will shut the gas engine off when you come t o a stop. As soon as you touch the gas pedal, it instantaneously starts and drives off. All other things being equal, the lower emissions and the longer warranty on the Toyota are compelling. Advantage Toyota Performance From the first driving impressions, the Toyota feels much lig hter and the Honda heavier. In reality they are about the same, weighin g in at approximately 2,700 pounds. Interestingly, the Honda Hybrid is only about 200 pounds heavier than the regular gas engined Civic sedan, yet it feels much more substantial in its ride characteristics. Both hybrids have the latest electronically controlled CVT gearless trans missions and they are very well suited to hybrid power plants. Both the Toyota and the Honda use small displacement, high-speed, low torque, 4 cylinder gas engines. The mating of the gas and electric is seamless as the electric motors engage on demand without alerting the driver to the ir activities. In each car, there is a readout that tells you that the electric motor is engaged and is adding power. Though entertaining at f irst, I can see that over time, after the novelty of the display wears o ff, the driver would cease paying attention to it. The Toyota tends to engage the electric motor earlier and relies on it ex clusively more often. Though the Honda has a mode where the gas engine will go into auto-stop mode while stopped at a light, I only observed it doing it once. The power of an engine is rated both in terms of horsepower and torque, w ith horsepower tending to be the measure that gets all the attention. T orque is the amount of twisting power an engine can put on a shaft and H orsepower is the amount of work an engine can perform. With more torque , you need fewer RPMs to move a vehicle down the road, assuming the gear ing is correct. Gas engines produce the peak torque, maximum push power , as they speed up. Electric motors are the exact opposite to gas engin es, as they have tons of torque or twisting power and virtually all of i t is available from zero RPMs, at the first spin of the motor. The gas engine in the Toyota has only 82 foot-pounds of torque at a high 4,200 R PMs but th...
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