Car and Driver publishes full Clarity PHEV review

Discussion in 'Clarity' started by PHEV Newbie, Jun 30, 2018.

To remove this ad click here.

  1. PHEV Newbie

    PHEV Newbie Well-Known Member

    Happy reading:
    https://www.caranddriver.com/reviews/2018-honda-clarity-plug-in-hybrid-test-review

    Just a few tidbits. The Clarity beat the Volt handily in both EV range and hybrid mileage. At 46 mpg, it was just a bit less than the Prius Prime (which had a terrible EV range compared the Clarity). Another takeaway is replacing those low friction Michelin Energy Saver tires with performance A/S tires will make your Clarity a very different car (but you'll pay for it in fuel efficiency).
     
    Last edited: Jun 30, 2018
  2. To remove this ad click here.

  3. Viking79

    Viking79 Well-Known Member

    I thought the real world high speed range test was interesting too, though things like weather need to be factored in. I also thought it was interesting it got nearly what the smaller Prius did for mpg at 75 mph. Really impressive.

    They should probably leave out some of the technical details on the transmission that they didn't seem to get quite right. People won't actually care about those.

    Would be nice to see some mention of tax credits since those are a point of confusion for non EV owners, and it is actually less expensive than Accord Hybrid if a person is eligible for the credits.
     
    VTSAX, PHEV Newbie and ClarityDoc like this.
  4. Sandroad

    Sandroad Well-Known Member

    Was there a reference to different tires in this article?
     
  5. PHEV Newbie

    PHEV Newbie Well-Known Member

    I read someplace that Teslas are most efficient at 23 mph and then energy efficiency goes down for every speed increment increased after that. I've certainly noticed that I get a much better EV range in town than I do on the Freeway.

    Good point on the tax credits. That always seems to be left out in the write ups.
     
  6. PHEV Newbie

    PHEV Newbie Well-Known Member

    Sorry, that was just an extrapolation on their discussion of handling. They noted that the suspension and steering is typical Honda (i.e., good handling) so the mention of the green tires, known to be negatively impact handling and braking distance, suggests that stickier tires would better utilize Honda's tuning of the suspension. Hopefully someone will swap tires soon and report on the difference.
     
  7. To remove this ad click here.

  8. bobcubsfan

    bobcubsfan Active Member

    Curious that NO reviewer has experienced the ICE issue, or at least, has failed to report it.
     
    Last edited: Jun 30, 2018
    Domenick and ClarityDoc like this.
  9. I'm about to swap out my tires for Continental Extreme Contact DWS 06 - Discount Tire has a sale, they will lower the price $50 on top of the $75 prepaid card I get from the sale, plus if I get their credit card I get another $50 off plus 6 months no interest to pay. So I'm saving $175 altogether. I have used these before, they get very good wet traction, which is needed in this part of the country, and good snow traction for an all season tire. I'll report back after I've driven on them a bit. The real test will be once the rain starts later in the year. Hopefully I can sell the Michelins on Craig's List for a decent price, not sure what I will ask for them, they cost over $200 each new it appears. If I could get $100 each that would be good probably.
     
  10. PHEV Newbie

    PHEV Newbie Well-Known Member

    Looking forward to hear about your experience. When you do list the Michelins for sale, you should mention it on this forum. They're actually excellent green tires so there's probably a lot of Clarity owners who would be glad to buy them.
     
    Domenick likes this.
  11. bfd

    bfd Active Member

    From my previous experience making that exact change on a Prius PHEV, yes, it made a big difference in handling and about a 15% reduction in EV range. Kind of hard to extrapolate that to the Clarity, though. It's a much heavier car.
     
  12. To remove this ad click here.

  13. Sandroad

    Sandroad Well-Known Member

    Wow, that's a monster decrease! If it held the same for the Clarity, for me it would mean going from about 60 mpc to about 51 mpc. When the Tire Rack tests for mpg differences in tires, it's almost always small single digit deltas----maybe like 1% to 4%. Those Continentals must be real squishy?
     
  14. Ken7

    Ken7 Active Member

    Bob, are you talking about the noise? The Car & Driver review mentioned this for the low points of the car:
    “Drones when the internal-combustion engine is running, not particularly swift, pricier than the Accord hybrid.”
     
  15. bobcubsfan

    bobcubsfan Active Member

    No, Ken, I mean the ICE issue. No reviewer has mentioned that the ICE comes online randomly.
     
  16. Ken7

    Ken7 Active Member

    Ah, got it. We never had this issue in over 7500 miles of driving.
     
  17. dstrauss

    dstrauss Well-Known Member

    I've only seen that a couple of times, generally after 4-6 weeks of EV only driving. In my case, I have to assume it is intentional despite being random.
     
  18. Carro con enchufe

    Carro con enchufe Active Member

    Going back to the OP....

    I think the review is off. I would venture to say that most clarity PHEV buyers are not torn between a standard hybrid (such as the accord) and the clarity. We’re torn between other PHEVs and/or BEVs such as the Bolt or Model 3. So comparing to the Accord is just a strawman argument.
     
    Gearhead, dstrauss, Viking79 and 3 others like this.
  19. PHEV Newbie

    PHEV Newbie Well-Known Member

    You're absolutely correct given the posts in this forum. The usual times hybrids come up is when a poster is interested in the Clarity but has no charging options at home. Otherwise, the discussion is about other PHEVs and BEVs (sometimes even the fuel cells!).
     
  20. Viking79

    Viking79 Well-Known Member

    Exactly, my requirements included it having a plug and be able to hold 5 people relatively comfortably and be less than $40k before incentives. This limited my selection to literally two vehicles. The Pacifica Hybrid and the Clarity. The Accord Hybrid wasn't even on my radar (although I was aware of it). The PacHy was closer to $48k how we wanted it equipped and wife wanted to get away from a Minivan. Plus, we do drive a lot of gas miles still and the Clarity was much better MPG without charge.

    There was too much wait for Model 3 LR and price was a bit too high and service inconvenient where we live or it would have been on the list as well (but we travel to areas without superchargers at times so might have been difficult).
     
  21. LAF

    LAF Active Member

    he did complain of the droning ICE, which I never hear on the highway. it never comes on for me around town. I hope they can fix yours.
     
  22. altfuelcarguy

    altfuelcarguy Member

    Those holiday sales at Discount Tire are very good deals. BUT--I'd advise against switching to any other brand of tire. If you want more performance (and don't mind losing some range) get a Michelin Pilot HX MXM4, which is OEM on luxury performance cars like BMWs. I've bought many tires over the years and any time I stray from Michelins I have problems. The current set of Continentals I bought for our Prius has caused the car to pull mysteriously, sometimes left, sometimes right, and sometimes not at all. After many trips back to the store, and many swaps of the four tires to various positions on the car, we were finally able to isolate one bad tire, which, I am told, has a manufacturing defect called conicity. Continental, like many other tire companies, makes lots of its tires in old US factories, in this case a former General Tire plant, and quality suffers. Michelin is the only tire company I know of that has successfully maintained its quality control even when making tires in the U.S. If you get a good set from another brand, you're lucky. Fortunately, Discount and Continental are easy to deal with if you do have a defect--just go back within 60 days and they'll give you a refund.
     
    Rob_v1 likes this.
  23. Sandroad

    Sandroad Well-Known Member

    Just to keep a few reviews in this thread, here is yet another one!

     
    Texas22Step and PHEV Newbie like this.

Share This Page