Honda Civic - Everyone's choice, from youngsters to aged ones. And Hybrid is perfect add-on to it & now reduction in its price is like "Sone pe Suhaaga". Yes, its true. Government has reduced taxes by around 60% on Hybrid technology and this has resulted in reduction of whopping 8 Lacs from Civic Hybrid's price tag, resulting its price to be around 13.25 Lacs(Ex-showroom,Delhi). With this good news, there is a bad news also i.e. Honda has already booked cars fir this reduced price till 31st March 2009 and is not offering more bookings for now. Really sad news. Honda shouldn't do like that.
At the heart of this car lies a 1.3-litre i-VTEC-enabled 94bhp four-cylinder engine. It uses a relatively simple Single Over Head Camshaft (SOHC) that opens and closes eight valves, and has two spark plugs per cylinder. It is supplemented by a system that Honda calls the Integrated Motor Assist (IMA). It is a 20bhp ultra-thin brushless DC motor sandwiched between the petrol engine's flywheel and the Continuously Variable Trasmission (CVT).Apart from providing motive power, the IMA also acts as a generator that charges the battery when you lift off the throttle, when you brake and at other times in driving cycle. An Intelligent Power Unit (IPU) stores electric power in a rather compact Nickel Metal Hydride battery pack that is mounted behind the rear seats and control the flow of electricity to and from the elcetric motor.
Left of the tachometer, is a set of gauges that tell you how much charge is left in the battery, the levels of assist from the electric motor and the amount of power you are regenerating. Engine starts with a barely noticeable shudder, and quickly settles into a very quiet, Honda-like idle.The electric motor provides maximum torque from zero rpm & the throttle response is almost instant. It takes 13.45 secs to get to 100kph from rest, but Civic's driveability is retained, which is proved while accelerating from 20-80kph, which is almost same as that of Civic AT.
On the inside, the changes are even fewer. Apart from the battery meter, this Civic gets steering-mounted audio controls and same safety features such as SRS Airbags, ABS etc.Interior space remains identical to the regular Civic, but boot capacity is down from 405 to 294 litres, because battery packs sits behind the rear seats. Civic Hybrid's ride is slightly stiffer than that of a regular one.
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