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This guy is probably a lead foot that races to every light just to slam on the brakes. I can get 55-60 mpg in my Honda Insight, when my girlfriend drives it she gets 35 mpg. Driving technique is a huge part of getting great mileage with a hybrid.

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I agree, Earl - my wife doesn't get nearly the mileage out of our Camry Hybrid than I do, and her driving style is not really that different than mine. I'm just a little bit smoother, I guess. I also have experimented with taking different routes that work better for the hybrid.

Perhaps Mr. True would let me drive his car. I'd check the tire pressures and clean out the trunk first. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

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I think it would be hard to find wrong-doing here on the part of Honda. The EPA does the tests, and I don't know of any laws prohibiting a car manufacturer from designing their cars to do as best as possible on the tests.

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He's probably lugging his piano around in the Civic. I have an 06 NON-Hybrid Civic and I'm averaging 35mpg with an average speed of 70mph on the highway.

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Actually If I remember correctly, car manufacturers are forbidden to advertise anything other than the EPA numbers.

This case should be thrown out in a second. Its the EPA's fault, not Honda's.

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The bigger issue is the public expects big gains in hybrid MPG but that isn't going to happen with parallel hybrids, only serial plugins. This is all just paving the way for the Volt and similar cars to crush the parallel hybrid market.

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I've had my Civic Hybrid since August of '06 and it has consistently averaged 42.5 mpg in combined driving, dead on with the new EPA estimates (and that's in San Francisco WITH hills). I think the old 49 mpg city was completely impossible to achieve in anything even remotely resembling real world driving. However, the 51 mpg highway was not unreasonable if you limit your speed to 55-60 mph. At a more typical 70-75 mph, the new estimate of 45 mpg is totally reasonable and easily achievable.

I could see the guy getting that low of gas mileage if he only drives in the city, has a total lead foot, and he drives trips of less than 2-3 miles. It typically takes the car 15 minutes or so to warm up and even start using the gas saving features (like auto-stop and regenerative braking). I don't think his lawsuit has a leg to stand on.

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Honda should lend him a non-hybrid Civic for a couple months and make him see that mileage drop to 25MPG so he can see that hybrids DO improve mileage in comparison to non-hybrid, but you'll do terrible with either if you drive it like you stole it.

With all the points made in the comments, it does sound like he's driving mostly < 5 mile trips, on hills, with a loaded car, low tire pressure, and a lead foot. He probably lives 3 miles from work with a big hill in between.

I agree that series hybrids (electric with range extender) will be more efficient for short trips, stop-and-go, etc. than parallel hybrids, but efficiency will always suffer if you drive it like you stole it.

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32? Driving like a complete jerk and being as agressive as possible I find it nearly impossible to get less than 40mpgs in my HCH.

However with my normal driving habits I routinely get 50+. Yes I have learned a bit from the hybrid... less agressive starts, more awareness of lights and traffic off in the distance (coasting opportunities), etc. and yet these are really nothing more than we were taught back in drivers-ed decades ago.

And I also have heard that the manufactures have to advertise the EPA numbers by law. Toyota wanted to advertise slightly lower numbers to more accurately reflect what they felt their Prius was getting but had to stick with the EPA #.

Step 1, check the car out with a thorough dealer inspection. If everything is fine then Step 2, have other people drive it. If (when) MPGs goes up, guy loses. Case dismissed.

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What ever happened to loser pays? Oh, that's right. It would stop too many frivolous lawsuits, so the self-serving attorney’s in congress killed it. Always look and see if your favorite political candidate is an attorney. If he is, vote for someone (anyone) else.

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It's the money grubbing shysters that get rich on class action lawsuits, and they file hundreds of frivolous suits, figuring if only one in a hundred succeeds it still means millions in their pockets.

This lawsuit is totally frivolous and without merit. All Hondas lawyers have to do is ask Mr. True how often he checks the tire pressure, what the tire air pressure should be, then trot out witnesses that have managed to get or exceed the EPA numbers, and it's all over.

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What does suing honda do? The EPA numbers are by the EPA not honda. And didn't honda reduce the civic hybrid's original EPA (this is before the new system), becuase it was too high (like the prius) and honda didn't want people to be disappointed like they were with the prius's #s?

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I recently took a trip through the Idaho mountains in my 1992 Honda Civic hatchback. It's a non-hybrid, 16 valve Si hatchback model with a 5 speed, not their fuel sipping Vx model. I averaged 42 mpg, and on two legs of the trip I got just over 50 mpg(!) For the record the EPA estimates for this car are 29/36 - I still have the sticker. The only mods are minor, like synthetic oil and hot spark plugs. This trip was with the A/C on most of the time. Speeds were moderate - between 50 and 65, but several mountain passes were crossed in the process and I wasn't holding up traffic by any means. In normal city driving I get low 30s, unless the A/C is run heavily (like it has been the past few days) where it can drop to 30-ish. I would say driving style has a lot to do with mpg no matter what you drive. Mr. True being a musician should understand that driving a car can be like playing a musical instrument and it can go well or badly depending on the musician. His lawsuit is as frivolous as me buying a guitar and suing the maker because I when I play it doesn't sound like Eddie Van Halen.

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I tend to disagree that car companies like Toyota and Honda cheat on the EPA test to inflate the numbers.

On my 2005 Prius, so far lifetime, I'm averaging just under 49.0 MPG. This is maybe a bit low for the old EPA rating of 55 MPG, but under the new rating, 48 city, 46 combined, 45 hwy, i beat all three handily.

I think this is all frivolous. There are dozens of factors that affect fuel economy, and judging by the stories here, even the most fuel sipping vehicle on the road can be made into a hog with the wrong driver behind the wheel.

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Yes, he doesn't say how fast he drives for one.
Does he cruise at 60 or 90 mph.
Does he race corvettes?

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Well, I don't see there is any problem with Honda. I owned a hybrid honda civic and i often achived 42.1mpg or above. I totally agree with the driving habits mentioned. Running on freeway with cruising mode should save you a lot of fuel.

Yeah, maybe he is carrying his piano around...bla bla bla

I'm totally confident of Hondas technology until today.

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All in how you drive. I manage avg 25mpg in my 4.2L I6 Chevy Trailblazer, and in my g/f's 2007 VW Rabbit 2.5L With an Auto, thats rated at 29mpg highway, I get well over 32mpg highway, and over 27 city.

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I think he should sue and hopefully win in spite of what all you bleeding hearts say. Japanese cars are so over-hyped. the left wingers have convinced the American public that japan cars are the only thing worth considering when car shopping. What a joke. I bought a brand new Buick LaCrosse for less than what they wanted for a Honda civic similarly equipped. And the Buick tops 30 mpg with a/c operating. A much safer more comfortable and BETTER car.. wake up amuricans... earl pitts

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I own an 06 Honda Accord V-6, and even *I* can get up to 32mph on the freeway. This guy either has a lemon, or he's gotta brush up on his math. 32mph on the freeway in a small light hybrid sounds like bunk.

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Hmm. Make that MPG.

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