flyer351, why are you so obsessed with gas mileage? I mean it's not like a Mustang GT gets 5 mpg or something. 24 mpg is better than most SUVs the soccer moms are driving around in. To me, a few less MPG is worth it to have the style, peformance and comfort of a Mustang GT.

Your wife has a vehicle for hauling the kids around, right? I suggest keeping the Mustang.

 

thanks for contributing.....

 

Well you already made the decision, but you can always change your mind 6 months down the road and trade the hybrid in on another Mustang. I'm really quite curious if you can stand driving that car for that long. Once the newness and the novelty of having a hybrid wear off I bet you'll really miss being able to blow around the idiots on the road, or lay a patch pulling away from a light, or kick the rear end out around a corner, or blip the throttle at the kid with the fart can... I know I would. I'm not trying to be a jerk, I hope your happy with your choice, but I'm dying to know how long you keep that car.

 

It takes a certain amount of awareness and self control to do what you need to do, when you need to do it. Not everyone needs a sports car at every point in their lives. Hats off to you Flyer351 for recognizing that your needs have changed, and then following through with what you needed to do to accomadate those changes, no matter how 'painful' it was.

There will be other Mustangs, but I'll bet in your line of work there's plenty of things you do that supply that adrenaline rush while you're waiting. THANKS.

 

just buy a beater. dont waste ur money on a stupid hybrid. the owners think they r special because they have key fobs, a start button, and less emissions...well guess what they r not helping global warming its gonna happen anyway...sooo buy a beater, keep ur mustang...buy an older blazer or a jeep...a nice 4 wheel drive 4 cyl truck. not a dinky little tin can hybrid honda that u will save barely any money on gas every year

 

They were unnecessary and he has been warned.

 

How the heck do you sell a Jeep and buy a Mustang GT to achieve superior fuel mileage?? WTF were you smoking??

 

And on this topic, I mean we're talking two separate ends of the spectrum here. The totally cool, much desired Mustang GT and the propeller-head hybrid with the $7,000 batteries. Let me tell ya, $7,000 buys an AWFUL lot of gas. I dunno. You have to do what you have to but I would weigh this decision very carefully.

 

Crash tests are good with all the airbags only against another Civic. Japanese platforms are not as 'new' as people they say they are.

 

I've learned something living in Europe this past year. Mileage comes first. Then practicality. Then fun. Then Power. I've currently got a 2004 Mazda RX-8 Cosmo and despite the fun of a fast RWD car, I, and my wallet, have decided that a new Focus would make much more sense. In fact, I'm going tomorrow to test drive one and hopefully work out some kind of trade-in deal after only having the RX-8 for 5 months. I can have just as much fun in a 4 cyl Focus as I can in a RWD sports car. Don't worry about missing the Mustang. If you pick the right sensible car, you can be practical while still having a good time driving.

That being said, Hondas are great cars. Never break down on you so long term costs should probably be pretty good as well. As someone else mentioned, you can also look at the Malibu hybrid IF you just HAVE to have an American car. It's getting great reviews from many sources. But, the Civic gets 45mpg highway while the Malibu only gets 32. Don't worry about what country a car is from anymore because in this global economy, most cars are a hodge-podge of parts from many different countries anyway. There are Toyotas made in America, Fords made in Mexico, cats living with dogs, etc. According to usstuff.com the 05 V6 Mustang had a French transmission and a German engine.

You also shouldn't worry about any battery problems. Honda has an 8 year/80,000 mile warranty on the batteries. Not sure about Chevy as I couldn't find their hybrid warranty info.

Also look into other non-hybrid 4-cyl cars as well. The Focus is nice (not as nice as ours ) and gets around 35 mpg.

On a side note here's what my focus will look like,



except in darker blue.



Sorry. Anyway good luck with your choice.

EDIT: Sorry, just noticed the date and that you already bought your car. Congratulations. Sounds like the MPGs are already nearly twice as good as you were getting.

 

My wife has a butt ugly white 2001 Prius with 60K plus miles. She rountinely gets 45-47 mpg in town. That puts my Focus, at 26-27, to shame and our GT at 17 mpg just too far back. Driving a fast car in traffic can be frustrating. I want to drice on the open road in a Mustang - Arizona and New Mexico have posted speed limit of 80 on interstates. Here, it's not uncommon to see 65 as the limit.
Gota make sense and gota have fun.

 

Remember, this is a Conservative, Republican, family values site. Even the thought of sleeping with a woman - even your wife - suggests sex, or the possibility of sex.

 

In my opinion hybrids are waste of money. I recently read an article about Chevy Tahoe hybrid. Buyers would have to own Tahoe hybrid for 15 years in order to save money. Tahoe hybrid gets better mileage, but it's also more expensive than regular 5.3L Tahoe.

 

I was just playin around....jeesh....the real mental picture I got was the "not anyone in here" part....that was the margianaly disturbing part to me....yet funny I thought.

 

Finally! I'm not alone! More along those lines, if you think a hybrid mustang would necessarily mean shaming the mustang name:
Electric Mustang
Sure its expensive, but can anyone say "2000lbs-ft at 0rpm"? Oh yeah, and they have a Shelby Cobra to offer as well.
Obviously an extreme example, but just a showcase of what electric motors and upcoming batteries can pull off. Just give some time for the technology to come down in cost, my guess is we'll be seeing a performance oriented mustang with at least a partially electric drive train within 10 to 15 years. woohoo!

Way to go on the sensible decision. Anyone on this board obviously has a passion for all things mustang, so we all know it can't be that easy to give one up. I'm guessing by now you've already traded it off and got the civic. Too bad, as you said, that Ford wasn't a bit quicker in getting the Fusion hybrid to market, as I'm sure you woulda given that a hard look (as would I if I was buying a car). The Escape Hybrid is great, but Ford's really gotta hurry up and expand their hybrid line up. Some people just don't need a small SUV and would rather have a regular sedan with even better mileage, simple as that.

A quick question, does the Civic hybrid have a pass through from the cab into the trunk? I know the Accord gave that up for the batteries or something, which is a shame.

 

thats pretty sweet, but how good does it sound?

 

Well... considering I get a kick out of the sound of the <20hp electric motors winding up to speed in the <$15K electric commuter cars I work on here in the UK, I'm guessing that electric mustang might make some pretty cool sounds when it hits the road later this year. I know I know, I'm just in love with a V8 growl as the next guy, but electric motors can make some pretty exhilarating noises themselves. It won't be the same, but it'll be something new and interesting. That V8 growl will just go down as one of those beautiful nostalgic memories from the good ol' days that you'll still get to hear on special occasions.

 

meh...y'all can keep your hybrids and Civics. There are ways to mitigate the rising cost of fuel and still have a muscle car.

1. Bicycle to work. Thats' what I'm doing. I make it a point to live close enough to work (~7miles) to make that a possibility.

2. Take the bus, or train. Public transit is almost a dirty word in this day and age. On rainy days, that's what I do.

Riding my bike saves me $200-$300 a month from parking and fuel costs, not to mention the health benefits. I know it may not be a practical option for everyone, but worth considering.

Granted, I don't have a Mustang at the moment, but when I get another one, I'm going to continue riding my bike and save the Mustang for evenings and weekends.

 

What an enormous waste of money buying a hybrid. Especially if you are going for better highway mileage. As was said it's the biggest sham. Pay $10,000-14,000 more for a compact car when the base model pretty much matches its mileage, and betters its trunk, and costs much less to repair down the road.

 

Hybrids have a long return on investment.

My 1996 Civic HX has averaged 42.3 MPG for over 171,000 miles and it has more interior room than my GT. Prior to that, my 1987 CRX HF averaged 55.4 for 209,000 miles. Honda knows how to build high MPG cars that aren't hybrids.

Has anyone looked at the gear ratios being run in some of the these front-wheel drive cars. The Fusion could get better gas mileage with it's I-4 engine if it wasn't running a 4.39. The V6 gets a 3.46 (info from Vehix.com).

I wonder what kind of gas mileage a Fusion I-4 with the 3.55 or 3.31 would get ?