The 2007 Honda Civic GX, fell into my hands for two wonderful weeks and I had a chance to really experiment with stretching every last whiff of natural gas (as opposed to every last drop of gasoline). I filled it five times and got an average of 35 mpg over about 700 miles. With the price of natural gas at $3.15 a gallon, this seemed like a real bargain. For the record, the best tank I got was 41.2 mpg and the worst was 31.4 mpg.
My two weeks in the GX didn't evoke any new impressions. There were moments when the power was definitely missing such as when I climb an onramp to the freeway and needed to go from about 45 mph to 70 mph with all manner of vehicles hurtling up my tailpipe. But that one moment is largely erased by low cost fuel, life time car pool stickers and the Honda refinement present in the GX.
One thing that irritates me is how people just don't get this car. Is it a once-a-year family vacation vehicle? No. Is it a once-a-month canyon carver? Absolutely not. Is it a break-the-bank exotic? Forget it. It's an everyday commuter vehicle plain and simple. And it does that beautifully.
Philip Reed, Edmunds.com Senior Consumer Advice Editor @ 19,683 miles
carmizvi says:
07:56 PM, 07/20/08
Thanks for putting this vehicle into the perspective that it deserves, Phil. If more people bought cars based on rational instead of emotional criteria, we'd have a lot more vehicles like this on the road.
Something tells me we're rapidly approaching a time in history when this reality will no longer be an individual choice based on purchasing power.
Hmm...must go contemplate the future of humanity.
karjunkie says:
06:45 AM, 07/21/08
Impressive results! Shame that the government doesn't listen to T. Boone Pickens and initiate a program to make natural gas more readily available outside of a few small areas where it is currently available. If we had natural gas stations here in So. Fla. I would seriously consider this vehicle as a commuter.
vacagrande says:
06:56 AM, 07/21/08
A car like that makes perfect sense for the right kind of commute - I rented a plain-Jane gasoline 2008 Civic LX for the weekend to do 1,000 miles of stright, boring interstate driving. After all was said and done, the car averaged 37 mpg and the gas savings over my car paid for the rental, not to mention keeping the miles off my car. Sure, it wasn't a pulse-quickening thrill ride, but I don't need my BMW to drive arrow-straight for a thousand miles on the interstate. If I had a different commute I'd definitely be in a different car, much more like the Civic.
felonious says:
08:25 AM, 07/21/08
I hate to be pedantic, but... I believe it's spelled "whiff", unless you are intending to create your own unit of measure for CNG. :) Also, I believe you meant "MPH" instead of "MPG" when writing about accelerating.
Good write-up though!
drhorrible says:
02:46 PM, 07/21/08
Did you mean to say " climb an onramp to the freeway and needed to go from about 45 mpg to 70 mpg"? Did you mean to say "45 mph to 70 mph"?
If you can get 70 mpg, WoW!
texases says:
08:16 PM, 07/21/08
I must be missing something - I can get the same mileage with a much-better performing gasoline Civic, and not pay thousands for a slow-fueling unit in the garage, and I can buy gas anywhere, and it costs less to buy...now the CNG is cheaper/gallon, largely because of lack of taxes, something that should be solved at some point. I see no good reason to get a GX.
Philip Reed says:
11:36 PM, 07/21/08
Like I said, lower fuel costs and lifetime car pool lane stickers.
txmatt1 says:
08:26 AM, 07/22/08
Don't forget lower emissions from CNG vehicles and fuel sourced from the US/North America (lots in Texas) and not Saudi Arabia, Russia, or Iran. Domestic production further reduces the total emissions because you're not shipping crude all over the world on dirty diesel supertankers.