Honda Civic IMA Hybrid (2003 – 2005) Review
Honda Civic IMA Hybrid (2003 – 2005) At A Glance
A petrol-electric hybrid that accommodates five people and luggage. Smooth, quiet and relaxing to drive.
Servicing can be expensive.
Unlike the Prius, ithe Civic IMA doesn't look or feel like a car of the future. Even though it has the flat floorpan body of a current Civic, it's styled like the previous generation Civic saloon. And it's manual. Apart from the regenerate/assist display on the dash and a battery charge indicator there's nothing inside the Honda IMA that makes you feel you're not in a normal car.
Turn the key, though, and the engine starts eerily quietly. Not like the Prius in which the engine doesn't start at all. Just a quiet engine. Yet if you rev it you get a rorty VTEC roar which tells you it's alive and well. Then off you go. Feels very flat and gutless at first. And you watch the dials a bit too much as you refill the battery. But it feels like a normal car.
Reviews for Honda Civic IMA Hybrid (2003 – 2005)'s top 3 rivals
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Honda Civic IMA Hybrid (2003 – 2005) handling and engines
It actually takes about five days of driving to get in tune with the Civic IMA. At first you think you've got to drive slowly to make the thing work. Then gradually, by watching the mpg indicator, you find out that's not completely necessary. Since it's geared at about 27mph per 1,000 rpm in 5th, it's quite long legged. And whenever the 76PS of the 1,339cc VTEC engine isn't enough, a prod of the accelerator engages an extra 14PS of electric motorvation which doesn't exactly kick you in the back like a burst of Nitrous Oxide but can help you get past a truck and out of the way of the BMW behind you.
What Honda has done is fit an regenerative electric motor in between the engine from the Jazz and the transmission. They call it Integrated Motor Assist (hence the IMA badge). It works the same way as the Dynastart did on Isetta bubble cars. Put a charge through it and it turns the engine (you could drive an Isetta on the Dynastart). Then, once the engine is running and turning the electric motor it becomes a generator, and in the Honda's case stores up power in a massive battery.
It's a bit more clever than that, though. If you lift off when decelerating or descending a hill, or if you brake, the VTEC system closes the valves in four of the engine's combustion chambers so there's less resistance and more regeneration of power via the Integrated Motor Assist.
Not rocket science. But it works. It's smooth, quiet, relaxing to drive and easily does 45 mpg. That's what the dashboard indicator told me and a brim to brim confirmed 45.3, which is even better.
More so when you consider that the Civic IMA is a proper 5 seater with plenty of head and legroom even in the centre rear. And to make it a bit special Honda has covered the seats with black leather. Handling isn't anything to write home about, though the weight of the batteries helps keep it flatter than a normal Civic. Gearshift is excellent. Comfort is good and cabin noise low.
It's pricey, admittedly. But Honda tells me that the few which have crept onto the second hand market have held their value remarkably well, with £12,000 - £15,000 being asked and got. It also had the benefits of being London Congestion Charge exempt, with very low VED and only 12% BIK for company car drivers.
And hybrids seem to be multiplying. When I came out of the Classic auction at Blackbushe on Saturday, what should have parked itself next to me but a Mk 1 Toyota Prius?
Model History
March 2003
Logical development of the Insight in the Japanese/American Civic 4-door body, offering 5 seats and plenty of luggage capacity in same bodyshell as Thai Honda Civic 4-door.
Power unit is the 1,339cc i-DSI chain cam engine from the Jazz uprated to 92bhp and 115lb ft torque. This is married to a 10kW electric motor. The combination gives torque equivalent to a 1.6 litre engine, 104mph top speed, 0-60 in around 14 seconds and 57.6mpg combined.
5-speed manual rather than auto. Big advantage in London was that it was exempt from Congestion Tax.
January 2004
Launched at price of £15,013, with a £1,000 Powershift grant confirmed until March/ Further advantages include: Group 8 insurance, £70 VED, 12% BIK tax. Has standard 3 year 90,000 mile Honda warranty. plus a special 8 year 100,000 mile guarantee on the hybrid powertrain, including the niclkle metal hydride battery pack.
What to watch out for
High cost of engine servicing. Valve/cam clearances cannot be checked without removing the exhaust manifold, adding £80 to the cost of a service. 2nd annual service can cost £430 including a new set of front pads.
11-05-2011:DO NOT JUMP START. Hybrids should be trickled charged, not jump started (bulletin from Toyota how to do it correctly). If a recovery agent connects jump leads directly to either hybrid battery and than to his battery the sudden charge can damage circuits with in the hybrid system (not necessarily the ECU). It seems that not all recovery companies are familiar with the correct jump start process . Damage can be caused which will not be apparent at the time.
03-04-2017:Owner of 13 year old 115,000 mile Honda Civic IMA reports it has been basically reliable and an enjoyable car to own, but recently I've been struck down by the braking system. Had 2 new calipers which weren't too bad as they're the same as most other Civics. However afterwards the handbrake wouldn't hold. Handbrake cables are specific to the IMA and aren't available from Honda or anywhere else in the UK, managed to get some for £100 from Germany. However following this the brake pedal bite was very low, so a master cylinder was required. Again, specific to the IMA, and not available in the UK for less than £500. Ordering from abroad isn't too bad thanks to ebay, amazon etc. (These parts are freely available for the Honda Civic saloon on which the IMA is based, which was sold in RHD form in Japan, Australia and Thailand.)
