Hybrid Cars achieves 68.7 mpg in 2012 Honda Civic Hybrid

Apr 25th 2011 at 7:44AM

2012 Honda Civic Hybrid – Click above for high-res image gallery

The 2012 Honda Civic Hybrid is officially rated at 44/44/44 city/highway/combined, but the folks over at Hybrid Cars have squeezed 68.7 mpg out of their test unit.

By using some hypermiling techniques on a ten-mile course consisting of country lanes, some light highway motoring and with a handful of stoplights along the route, Hybrid Cars achieved what it calls the "upper limit" of what any 2012 Civic Hybrid driver should expect in terms of fuel economy. At an impressive 68.7 mpg, the Civic Hybrid is certainly a fuel-sipping vehicle if driven using some gas-saving techniques, but the real fuel economy tests will come when everyday Joes slot in behind the wheel and pilot Honda's hybrid sedan under more "normal" driving conditions. Until then, let's just say that the fuel economy rating of the 2012 Civic Hybrid slightly improves upon the 40/43/41 numbers sported by the 2011 model.