Long-Term Road Tests

So after spending last weekend in our Mini E and jumping into our 2007 Honda Civic GX last night, I think I'm able to develop a quasi-educated opinion about our two green cars. As you already know the Honda is our natural gas long-termer, the Mini E our electric car.

Honda Civic GX

Pros:

• Even though it has a small trunk at least you can carry three passengers.
• Awesome fuel range.
• Can fill at home with Phill
• Ours has a single occupant car-pool lane sticker. Woo!
  

Cons:

• The limited availability of natural gas fueling stations makes it tricky for planning long road trips.
• Not fun to drive but at all.

Mini E

Pros:

• Still retains some of its gokartness.
• I find it easy to drive in stop-and-go traffic once I got used to taking my foot of the accelerator to slow down, etc.
• No gas required.
• Can charge it at home even without a specially installed wall charger.

Cons:

• With only two seats and a tiny trunk, you can't haul much around.
• Takes a lonnnng time to recharge.
• Very limited driving range means you have to carefully plan your trips or take none at all.
• Would have to be your second car.

Which one do I prefer?

Continue reading 2007 Honda Civic GX vs. 2009 Mini E: Which Do You Prefer?.

Categories: 2007 Honda Civic GX,2009 Mini E

Below are the fuel economy numbers for October 2009. We've listed the best, worst and overall average tanks.

As usual, a couple of cars are out on the road or unavailable at the time of this writing. I'll continue to add them as they come in and let you know in the comments.

After the jump you can see the list sorted by best average MPG.

Continue reading Big List of Fuel Economy: October 2009 .

Categories: 2007 Honda Civic GX,2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution GSR,2008 Pontiac G8 GT,2009 Audi A4 Avant,2009 Audi S5,2009 BMW 750i,2009 BMW M3,2009 Dodge Challenger R/T,2009 Dodge Ram 1500,2009 Ford Flex Limited,2009 Honda Fit Sport,2009 Hyundai Genesis V6,2009 Infiniti FX50 AWD,2009 Mazda 6 i Grand Touring,2009 Nissan 370Z Touring,2009 Nissan GT-R,2009 Suzuki SX4,2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS,2010 Honda Insight EX,2010 Mazdaspeed 3,2010 Volvo XC60 T6 AWD

Besides the lower emissions our Civic GX enjoys, there's an added bonus -- the refueling experience is much cleaner compared to gasoline-powered cars. There are no liquids spilling at the pump and no ruined shoes. Also, the nozzle is easier to maneuver than the heavier, California-compliant gasoline ones. First-time fillers may feel a bit apprehensive with the different procedure, but it soon becomes as routine as with any other car. It's also convenient that CNG pumps feature a readout that displays how much more you have to fill. Yes, sometimes it'll take longer to refuel, but maybe that'll change someday.

Mark Takahashi, Associate Editor @ 34,960 miles

Categories: 2007 Honda Civic GX

Below are the fuel economy numbers for September 2009. We've listed the best, worst and overall average tanks.

As always, a couple of cars are out on the road or unavailable at the time of this writing. I'll continue to add them as they come in and let you know in the comments.

After the jump you can see the list sorted by best average MPG.

Continue reading Big List of Fuel Economy: September 2009.

Categories: 2007 Honda Civic GX,2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution GSR,2008 Pontiac G8 GT,2009 Audi A4 Avant,2009 Audi S5,2009 BMW 750i,2009 BMW M3,2009 Dodge Challenger R/T,2009 Dodge Ram 1500,2009 Ford Flex Limited,2009 Honda Fit Sport,2009 Hyundai Genesis V6,2009 Infiniti FX50 AWD,2009 Mazda 6 i Grand Touring,2009 Nissan 370Z Touring,2009 Nissan GT-R,2009 Suzuki SX4,2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS,2010 Honda Insight EX

Hopped in the long-term Civic GX this morning and noticed that the floormat was scooched up over the base of the pedal.

I wouldn't normally have noticed - it wasn't much of a scooch - but I'd just written a piece about that massive Toyota safety campaign and pending recall for scrunched-up floor mats that were jamming gas pedals, so the subject was on my mind. 

Continue reading 2007 Honda Civic GX: No Rug Burn Here.

Categories: 2007 Honda Civic GX

Below are the fuel economy numbers for August 2009. We've listed the best, worst and overall average tanks.

As always, a couple of cars are out on the road or unavailable at the time of this writing. I'll continue to add them as they come in and let you know in the comments.

After the jump you can see the list sorted by best average MPG.

Continue reading Big List of Fuel Economy: August 2009.

Categories: 2007 Honda Civic GX,2008 BMW 135i,2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution GSR,2008 Pontiac G8 GT,2009 Audi A4 Avant,2009 Audi S5,2009 BMW M3,2009 Dodge Challenger R/T,2009 Dodge Ram 1500,2009 Ford Flex Limited,2009 Honda Fit Sport,2009 Hyundai Genesis V6,2009 Infiniti FX50 AWD,2009 Mazda 6 i Grand Touring,2009 Nissan 370Z Touring,2009 Nissan GT-R,2009 Suzuki SX4,2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI,2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS,2010 Honda Insight EX

Below are the fuel economy numbers for July 2009. We've listed the best, worst and overall average tanks.

As always, a few cars are out on the road or unavailable at the time of this writing. I'll continue to add them as they come in and let you know in the comments.

After the jump you can see the list sorted by best average MPG.

Continue reading Big List of Fuel Economy: July 2009.

Categories: 2007 Honda Civic GX,2008 BMW 135i,2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution GSR,2008 Pontiac G8 GT,2008 Smart Fortwo Passion Coupe,2009 Audi A4 Avant,2009 Audi S5,2009 BMW M3,2009 Dodge Challenger R/T,2009 Dodge Ram 1500,2009 Ford Flex Limited,2009 Honda Fit Sport,2009 Infiniti FX50 AWD,2009 Nissan 370Z Touring,2009 Nissan GT-R,2009 Suzuki SX4,2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI,2010 Honda Insight EX

There's not much new to say about the Civic GX - it still runs like a top, albeit one that's a bit slow to wind up; hasn't given us any trouble and except for a little body work after a fender-bender hasn't been in the shop other than for oil changes and one brake job (a problem with Civics).

The first major service isn't scheduled until 100,000 miles - that's about 67,000 miles from now - and I've every reason to believe it will get there just fine.

Not sure about its home fueling companion, though.

Our Phill is about 25 percent through its apparently artificial lifespan of 6,000 hours.

The installer pointed this out to me when he hung the unit on the garage wall: FuelMaker programmed the software to shut the system down at 6,000 hours to ensure that nothing bad would happen - and, probably, to make a little more money as the approved route was to ship it back to FuelMaker for a $2,000 rebuild.

Continue reading 2007 Honda Civic GX: Keeps on Ticking, But Phill Won't.

Categories: 2007 Honda Civic GX

We've been left in an info vacuum about the future of the Phill home natural gas fueling device for our 2007 Honda Civic GX since FuelMaker Corp., the company that used to make and service it, when belly up.

Its assets and technology were purchased earlier this year by Fuel Systems Solutions, the California-based company that also owns Impco Technologies, one of the world's largest manufacturers of OEM and aftermarket natural gas conversion systems.

Several requests for information from Fuel Systems spokespeople since then have been met with silence, leaving s to wonder if we now owned a museum piece.  Having a GX and no Phill is like having bread but no butter.

But now, as a Phill owner (we bought one for the GX early last year), we've received an update from one of the company's distributors.

"You'll be pleased to know," the missive states (and we are, we definitely are), "that Fuel Systems...will continue to offer service and repairs for the FuelMaker HRA (Phill)."

Continue reading 2007 Honda Civic GX: Phill is Back!.

Categories: 2007 Honda Civic GX

Yep, that's me chilling out while the Civic GX gets filled up with clean natural gas at our local station. With only a quarter tank remaining, it took 24 minutes before I finally gave up and stopped the pump. Before explaining that, lets go back a bit.

Continue reading 2009 Honda Civic GX: An Afternoon at the Pump.

Categories: 2007 Honda Civic GX

Say what you want about the Honda Civic, but there's no denying the vehicle's range. You want a cheap A to B sedan? No problem. An inexpensive, fun, little coupe? Got it. A Hybrid? Sure. One that runs on Natural Gas?  Okay. A hot rod? Yup.

Basically there's a Civic for everybody and everything. And so I thought it would be fun to compare the track test numbers of the Civic's two extremes, our long-term Civic GX, which drinks (or is it inhales?) compressed natural gas and the Civic Si, which is known for eating American musclecars.

Both are front-wheel drive and powered by four-cylinders and both cost about $25,000, but the GX is powered by a 113 hp 1.8-liter engine while the Si is packing a 197 hp 2.0-liter. Oh, and the GX uses a 5-speed automatic transmission. The Si of course get six-speed manual.

Continue reading Honda Civic: The Two Extremes.

Categories: 2007 Honda Civic GX

It's been two months since I last drove our Honda Civic GX, and unlike most of my colleagues, I'm actually looking forward to getting back behind the wheel.

I've enjoyed the natural gas-fueled Civic ever since I started using it back in October of 2007 for most of my daily commuting between my home in Orange and Edmunds' offices in Santa Monica - not because it's a particularly exciting car to drive but because it is the ideal Southern California long-distance commuter car.

It comes with a single occupant car-pool lane sticker, which cuts about an hour a day from my 100 mile-plus round trip; it's saved hundreds of dollars on fuel and, with a Phill home fueling unit in my garage (thank you, boss!) I don't have to worry about where my next tank will come from.

And consider this: Fuel consumption has averaged 32.8 mpg over the last 19,000 miles, and the average cost of fillingl its tank from the home natural gas pump is a mere $1.22 per gasoline gallon-equivalent.  That's for both the natural gas and the electricity to compress and pump it.

Continue reading 2007 Honda Civic GX: At $1.22 a Gallon, What's Not to Like?.

Categories: 2007 Honda Civic GX

Below are the fuel economy numbers for June 2009. We've listed the best, worst and overall average tanks.

As always, we were missing a few cars that were out of town or unavailable at the time of this writing. I'll continue to add them as they come in and let you know in the comments.

After the jump you can see the list sorted by best average MPG.

Continue reading Big List of Fuel Economy - June 2009.

Categories: 2002 BMW M3,2007 Honda Civic GX,2008 BMW 135i,2008 Ford Focus SES Coupe,2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution GSR,2008 Smart Fortwo Passion Coupe,2009 Audi A4 Avant,2009 Audi S5,2009 BMW 750i,2009 BMW M3,2009 Ford Flex Limited,2009 Honda Fit Sport,2009 Hyundai Genesis V6,2009 Infiniti FX50 AWD,2009 Mazda 6 i Grand Touring,2009 Nissan 370Z Touring,2009 Nissan GT-R,2009 Suzuki SX4,2009 Volkswagen Jetta TDI

With the Civic GX on the eve of being Car of the Week, I did some digging to see what the price of Phill units were. I checked our original blog post on the subject, but wondered if a year on the market had lowered their price. Turns out that FuelMaker, the company that produced the Phill home refueling station, went belly up in April. It was purchased by Fuel Systems Solutions Inc., a major manufacturer of systems for converting gasoline vehicles to natural gas. About 14,000 Phill units were sold by FuelMaker, including our own, and those will continue to be insured under warranty by the new company owner.

Yet, should you be a new Civic GX owner in search of a Phill unit, good luck. Honda told Edmunds Green Car Advisor that it no longer has any relation with Phill and doesn't know if it will continue to be sold by Fuel Systems Solutions. Indeed, google "Phill" and the top search item is this FuelMaker page, which essentially says the company has been sold. The Honda Civic GX refueling page isn't any more helpful.

There does appear to be one Web site selling the Phill for $5,165, minus the $1,000 tax credit. But unlike our Phill purchased directly from FuelMaker (for $3,000 including the credit and installation), PlumbersStock.com directs you to a local technician who will install the thing for god knows how much.

This is a major development because the Phill is such an intrinsic part of the GX's desirability. Without it, you're left driving a car that takes forever to refuel at a scarce number of natural gas stations. But more on that tomorrow.

James Riswick, Automotive Editor @ 32,665 miles

Categories: 2007 Honda Civic GX

My last experience in our 2007 Honda Civic GX was mostly on the freeway. Aside from the fact that it feels like the whole car is holding its breath as it accelerates, the CNG-fueled, 1.8-liter inline-four provides adequate motivation for commuting -- and with none of the odd sensations you get in a hybrid with blended gasoline-engine and electric power sources.

The GX also rides pretty much like any other (non-Si) Civic, though I think it would be better if we got rid of the low-rolling-resistance P195/65R15 89H tires -- perhaps that will be soon given our long-termer's mileage. Still, freeway travel in a Civic GX feels more secure and relaxing than it does in a second-generation Prius or our long-term Smart Fortwo, either of which is liable to wander all over the road. I can see why people use the GX for high-mileage commuting in greater LA.

But if I owned our natural-gas Honda, I'd mostly use it to run errands within 10-15 miles of my home. Like most fuel misers, it's most pleasant during low-speed stop-and-go driving, even if it this doesn't give it the opportunity to operate at maximum efficiency.

As someone commented on Mark's entry, the lack of a current vendor for the Phill home refueling unit makes a Civic GX purchase far less desirable today than it was two years ago. (Honda's sale of Fuel Maker's assets to Fuel Systems Solutions is now final, and FSS says it will restart Phill production but hasn't yet as far as we know.)

I rent a 1940s-era apartment, though, so I couldn't ever have a Phill anyway. I do have the random luck to live in the Republic of Santa Monica within a half-mile of a natural gas refueling station. So owning a Honda Civic GX could conceivably work for me. But I think I'd rather just get a Fit.

Erin Riches, Senior Editor @ 32,375 miles

Categories: 2007 Honda Civic GX