Sean O'Grady: What is the price of going green?

[Honda News Feed]

Right now I am in a bit of a quandary. I'd really like to buy the long-term Honda Civic Hybrid I'm driving around in. It's got a good many things going for it, though mostly not down to its hybrid technology. There's the Honda build quality, which has stood up well to half-a-year's hard use in London and on the nation's motorways, escaping from our overrated capital city. It's easy and smooth to drive, the only irritation being the whine from the constantly variable automatic transmission, which makes hard acceleration from, say, 50 to 70mph rather wearing. It's a saloon, which I like because it makes any junk I'm carrying around that little bit more secure. It's no beauty, though.

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