benny

The hybrid Camry is also faster than the regular gas 4. About 25 more horsepower. And with the hybrids, those extra horses are right there the moment you put the pedal down. No need to get the rpms up with an electric assist.

David1

The Honda was not made for fuel economy. It was made to show that you could have better performance and as a bonus, some extra mpg. This is what lexus is doing and is marketing it as such. People did not get the Accord because they did not understand the intention of the car and Honda's typical poor marketing of specialty vehicals. Hybrids made for fuel economy suck. wait for all the diesels that will be out in the next 10 months and the gas hybrid will fade away and you will be stuck with mothballed technology.


I don't think we will see an Accord hybrid again. Honda has moved on to fuel cells and diesel.

kumainu

[QUOTE=benny,Aug 6 2007, 05:00 PM] "hahahahahahaha

Just thought I would get you used to it!

kumainu

It may not be faster. According to the brochure I have, it weighs considerably more than the regular 4-cyl., about 400lbs. more, which negates the power advantage. Doesn't really matter though, gas mileage is what I'm after with the car.

rockville

Benny,

I agree with you on the Accord hybrid. It didn't do much for mileage. It did help acceleration but reportedly at the expense of handling the extra weight on the nose.

Really, I just don't like the new Camry. The one I drove was a lame car, especially for Toyota. The interior fit was not impressive and the handling was lacking. I road in a loaded V6 model and thought it's highway ride was that horrid float Buick stuff from years past. Having had a first and second gen Camry I'm sorry to see where the car has ended up. The Accord has grown and I'm not thrilled with its handling either but at least it's not bad and has a very nice interior.

JonBoy

The Hybrid Accord has VCM (Variable Cylinder Management) along with the electric motor so you do get pretty good highway mileage (some people have reported high 30s). In the city, you'll still struggle to get mid-20s, though.

The Camry makes more sense if you're looking for gas mileage since it'll get high-20s (or even low-30s) there and high 30s to low 40s on the highway. The Accord makes more sense if you're looking for performance AND do a lot of highway driving, but if you're mostly in the city, the Camry rules.

Personally, I'd wait a month and buy a newly designed Accord V6 with VCM (but no hybrid system). You get power and great highway mileage with decent in-town mileage, plus better build quality and looks.

kumainu

Yeah, the new Accord will be improved upon the current model, but without a hybrid system, I doubt it will ever match the Camry's 40/38 (city/hwy) mpg rating. JonBoy, you're a little off on the Camry's gas mileage. In the city, owners like me wouldn't have a problem achieving 40mpg while very close to 40mpg on the highway too, not high-20s to low-30s as you've stated. I've talked to a couple of Camry hybrid owners and they said they averaged exactly what the EPA said.

Last night, I made them an offer of $25,500 but they said "No can do." I'll jump to $26K and see what they'll say. Honda dealership hasn't gotten back to me yet.

JonBoy

From what I've seen on the boards, if you live in a congested city, low-30s is about as good as it gets. If you have a more open drive, you can get the mileage you're talking about.

I'm assuming most people live in pretty congested areas, but I also don't own a Camry Hybrid so I'd bow to their experience.

MDXLuvr

Get a VW diesel or else just find a 4 cyl camry with a manual. That would be cheaper and probably give you decent MPG. You would probably save $5k just on the price.

JonBoy

Don't get a VW - it's unreliable.

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