{"id":50203,"date":"2025-11-24T12:31:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-24T12:31:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/50203\/"},"modified":"2025-11-24T12:31:11","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T12:31:11","slug":"we-put-50-city-mpg-to-the-test-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/50203\/","title":{"rendered":"We Put 50 City MPG to the Test!"},"content":{"rendered":"

The biggest draw of a hybrid is improved fuel economy over gas cars, especially in cities, where stop-and-go driving achieves better returns than highway driving. To put the 2025 Honda Civic Hybrid<\/a> sedan\u2019s EPA city rating of 50 mpg to the test, we took it into the heart of the most urban and populous city in the United States: New York.<\/p>\n

But rather than sit in random gridlock to prove a point, we headed in with a specific route in mind: drive the entire length of Broadway as it traverses the city\u2014in this case, through the boroughs of the Bronx and Manhattan.<\/p>\n

Fifty mpg was the target, and it was one I was keen to beat.<\/p>\n

\"Broadway<\/a><\/p>\n

Getty Images\/Zamek\/VIEWpress<\/p>\n

Give My Regards to Broadway <\/p>\n

You might not know this, but beyond Midtown\u2019s famed Theater District, Broadway actually stretches from its Bowling Green origin at the tip of Lower Manhattan all the way up through the island, the Bronx, and into Westchester County. After a point in Sleepy Hollow, the road becomes Albany Post Road and runs to the state capital.<\/p>\n

As the oldest north-south road in the city, clearly predating the grid pattern, it should come as no surprise that Broadway\u2019s roots are Native American, established long before any European colonizers appeared.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a thoroughfare, Broadway can be traced back to the Native American Wickquasgeck Trail that was carved through the bush of Mannahatta,\u201d Michelle Young wrote in her 2015 book Broadway, using the Lenape name for the island<\/a>. \u201cIt became one of the two main streets formed during the settlement of the Dutch West India Company. Known at the time as de Heere Straat, or \u2018Gentlemen\u2019s Street,\u2019 Broadway originated at Fort Amsterdam and followed a natural ridge of land that led northwards through the fields and farms of New Amsterdam.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"New<\/a><\/p>\n

The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Picture Collection, The New York Public Library. (1840 – 1870). Nieuw Nederlandt.<\/p>\n

Primarily, New York City was colonized from the south, so it would have been historically accurate to run this route northbound, starting at Bowling Green. But seeing as modern-day Broadway exclusively runs southbound starting at Columbus Circle, we instead started at the top of the Bronx in an attempt to drive as much of it as we could while keeping things within the city\u2019s five boroughs.<\/p>\n

The Bronx to Lower Manhattan <\/p>\n

Westchester County shares an uneven land border<\/a> with the Bronx, so after a gas station top-up in Yonkers, our red Civic cruised south along the western edge of Van Cortlandt Park in the Bronx before crossing the Harlem River via the Broadway Bridge onto Manhattan.<\/p>\n

At the corner of 204th Street stands the Dyckman House, a Dutch Colonial\u2013style farmhouse that was built sometime around 1784 and the oldest farmhouse remaining in Manhattan. Contrasting starkly against the surrounding urbanism, it serves as a reminder that New York City was once rolling hills and farmland. At one point, the Dyckman farm spanned roughly 250 acres.<\/p>\n

\"5<\/a><\/p>\n

MotorTrend\u2019s 2025 Honda Civic Hybrid parked in front of the 1784 Dyckman House in Inwood.<\/p>\n

I have long suspected but was thrilled to confirm the Civic Hybrid is one of the best city cars currently for sale. Not only does the electric low-end power help it scoot away from frequent red lights with ease, but waiting for them to turn green is actually a serene experience because there\u2019s no cabin vibration from the engine idling.<\/p>\n

Plus, the car’s short length means it\u2019s easy to place and a dream to maneuver. It would almost make the perfect New York City taxi if it had just a little more rear legroom\u2014and the Toyota Camry didn\u2019t already have the market on lock.<\/p>\n

From West 176th to 116th Streets, Broadway takes you past more choice landmarks. The United Palace theater, built in 1930, was specifically designed for screening movies to coincide with the golden age of Hollywood. It occupies an entire block in Washington Heights and is one of the most lavish in the city\u2019s history.<\/p>\n

\"United<\/a><\/p>\n

A general view of the exterior of the United Palace Theater in New York City. (Photo by Ben Hider\/Getty Images) <\/p>\n

\"10<\/a><\/p>\n

Restored facade of the Malcolm X and Dr. Betty Shabazz Memorial and Educational Center that depicts a statue of Neptune. <\/p>\n

At 165th Street, you pass the Shabazz Center across the road\u2019s median strip, which houses the former Audubon Ballroom and is the site of the Malcom X assassination. In Morningside Heights between 120th and 116th stands Barnard College, one of the original Seven Sisters all-women’s colleges, established in response to Columbia University\u2019s refusal to admit female students until 1983.<\/p>\n

Broadway begins to curve east past 78th Street. After passing The Ansonia, a breathtaking condominium building built around 1900 in the Beaux-Arts style, we hooked around for a quick hot dog at the original (and city\u2019s last remaining) Gray\u2019s Papaya at Broadway and 72nd Street.<\/p>\n

\"14<\/a><\/p>\n

The Ansonia, as viewed from street level on Broadway. <\/p>\n

\"15<\/a><\/p>\n

Anthony Bourdain once called the 72nd Street Gray\u2019s Papaya his second home. <\/p>\n

\"16<\/a><\/p>\n

The Gray\u2019s Papaya Recession Special: two franks and a medium tropical drink, $7.50 plus tax. <\/p>\n

We pulled over in front of the Broadway Theater at the corner of 53rd Street to admire one of the few Broadway theaters physically on Broadway the street\u2014and to steel ourselves for the next 30 or so blocks of our journey.<\/p>\n

\"20<\/a><\/p>\n

Of the 41 active Broadway theaters, only a very small handful of them are actually located on Broadway itself. <\/p>\n

Compared to the relatively carefree drive down from the Bronx, this is where the majority of the traffic is. There\u2019s enough gridlock to test even the calmest driver\u2019s patience, and in the little Civic, it was sometimes hard to see around the massive, double-parked box trucks that provide New Yorkers with their last-mile deliveries. Thankfully, you can\u2019t make a right on red anywhere in the five boroughs unless explicitly stated, so the gridlock isn\u2019t worse.<\/p>\n

\"25<\/a><\/p>\n

Heading into Times Square.<\/p>\n

Any New Yorker will agree: We go out of our way to avoid Times Square if we can. Forget driving. But since Broadway runs directly through this hellscape, the rules of the assignment dictated we must persist. However, portions of the road are broken up by pedestrian-only plazas (including Times Square), so we juked over to Fifth Avenue, passed the Flatiron Building at 23rd Street, and got back on Broadway at the bottom of Union Square Park.<\/p>\n

\"26<\/a><\/p>\n

Contrary to popular belief, the Flatiron Building was not the world\u2019s first skyscraper. It\u2019s also temporarily closed due to renovations to turn it from an office building into luxury condos. <\/p>\n

This is probably where the Civic\u2019s torque delivery came in the handiest. Sometimes I needed to make a split-second merge, and the powertrain\u2019s snappiness off the line got us in tidily. The car\u2019s small footprint ensured we were never\u2014never\u2014blocking the box<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Cross East Houston Street and Manhattan\u2019s famous grid system of avenues and streets ceases. This is the oldest part of the city, the area first colonized by the Dutch upon their arrival and the British after that. City Hall, the neo-Gothic styled Woolworth Building, and Trinity Church all claim snatches of land off these breathtakingly claustrophobic streets that wear near-mythical New York names\u2014Vesey, Stone, Fulton, Wall.<\/p>\n

\"29<\/a><\/p>\n

The gilded entrance of the Woolworth Building. <\/p>\n

\"30<\/a><\/p>\n

The Woolworth Building\u2019s neo-Gothic facade. <\/p>\n

\"32<\/a><\/p>\n

Think there\u2019s lost treasure, hidden by the Freemasons, beneath Trinity Church? <\/p>\n

At 1 Broadway, across from Bowling Green, the test concluded, and we parked the Civic for a photo, feeling very much like we just went backwards in time. It\u2019s wild to think about how much steel, concrete, and glass is paved over what began as a hilly, forested, and marshy island.<\/p>\n

\"33<\/a><\/p>\n

The Civic at 1 Broadway in Lower Manhattan. <\/p>\n

\"34<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cAt the foot of the [Wickquasgeck] trail was a large elm that would have denoted a sacred spot where council fires were held,\u201d Noah Sheidlower wrote on Untapped New York<\/a>. \u201cIt is clear that during the Lenape era, lower Broadway was a significant government and commercial site. Easy access to Manhattan\u2019s waterfront would have been particularly important for collecting resources, and direct access to the harbor would have given Native Americans increased protection.\u201d<\/p>\n

It was for these reasons the Dutch established Fort Amsterdam\u2014today Battery Park\u2014in the same spot in the early 1600s.<\/p>\n

\"Fort<\/a><\/p>\n

The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Print Collection, The New York Public Library. (1640\u20131904). Fort Amsterdam about 1650. <\/p>\n

Across the Green stands the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House. Today, it fittingly contains the New York branch of the National Museum of the American Indian.<\/p>\n

\"35<\/a><\/p>\n

The Civic before the National Museum of the American Indian. <\/p>\n

What Was the Final Mileage Count? <\/p>\n

All told, the trip lasted for 22.5 miles. This included Broadway\u2019s 2 miles through the Bronx and 13 or so through Manhattan, diversions to Fifth Avenue to avoid pedestrian plazas, a small detour to pick up a pie from Joe\u2019s Pizza in the Financial District, and looping back for a top-up at the Mobil at 8th Avenue and 13th Street, which happens to be the last gas station in Manhattan below 14th Street<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"43<\/a><\/p>\n

The gas station is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. <\/p>\n

Because we filled up at two different gas stations and therefore experienced two different pump shut-off valves, it was impossible to calculate our mileage based on fuel used. But the Civic\u2019s trip computer gave a final reading of 54.9 mpg for the journey\u2014thus beating the EPA\u2019s 50-mpg city fuel economy rating.<\/p>\n

Another data point to consider: The trip computer indicated our cross-country road trip<\/a> averaged 39.9 mpg, but our calculations came out to about 38 mpg. So, if we\u2019re to assume an over\/under of 1 or 1.5 mpg between the trip computer and real-world calculations, we still wound up beating that 50-mpg target.<\/p>\n

The car\u2019s left-hand battery charge display held between 50 and 20 percent the entire time, with the engine stepping in at low speeds or idle at 20 percent. Most of the stop-and-go, however, was handled in battery-only mode. A PHEV with a bigger battery probably could have done all 22.5 miles without using any fuel at all, but for those without a place to charge or who don\u2019t want to pay extra for the technology, the Civic Hybrid is a great urban solution.<\/p>\n

\"37<\/a><\/p>\n

And if you needed further proof of a hybrid\u2019s city efficiency, we later ran a 22.5-mile route on the highway with the cruise control set at 65 mph. The car returned 47.6 mpg, proving that stop-and-go is where the Civic Hybrid shines brightest. At least when it comes to efficiency, anyway.<\/p>\n

Generally, I don\u2019t recommend anyone drive in New York, as it has a convenient and affordable public transportation system. But if you take Broadway, you\u2019ll be treated to some of the city\u2019s most iconic historical lore. Be sure to pull over and admire it, but never, ever leave your car double-parked.<\/p>\n

More on Our Long-Term 2025 Honda Civic Hybrid Sedan:
\n\"028<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The biggest draw of a hybrid is improved fuel economy over gas cars, especially in cities, where stop-and-go…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":50186,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[28129,28131,9,56,63,65,64,10922,28130],"class_list":{"0":"post-50203","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-honda","9":"tag-hybrids","10":"tag-new-york","11":"tag-ny","12":"tag-nyc","13":"tag-nyc-headlines","14":"tag-nyc-news","15":"tag-road-trips","16":"tag-sedans"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50203","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=50203"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50203\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/50186"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50203"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50203"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50203"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}