Boston.com's view

So many of the vehicles I test week after week are either sleek and powerful or huge, boxy, and powerful. All of them share a common trait: They suck gasoline in a way that would never sell in huge numbers to the common driver in other parts of the world, where fuel is far more expensive than in the United States.

Consider: We pay more per gallon for bottled water from the shelves of our supermarkets than we do for gasoline.

So many of the e-mails I get are angry in tone, sometimes downright nasty, because their writers do not want me reviewing gas guzzlers — never mind that my job is to review what folks have shown, with their wallets, that they want to drive.

Thus, it will come as a surprise to some that this is my favorite car in recent years. Its name: the 2003 Honda Civic Hybrid. Its purpose: move five passengers smoothly, comfortably, and with decent power in the everyday rounds of modern driving.

While American companies whisper and hint at hybrid-electric products to come — and promise the elusive hydrogen fuel cell auto “sometime” in the future — Honda has, with the new Civic, offered already its second-generation hybrid and, most important, offered it in a car that is already well-known and popular for its reliabilty, comfort, and utility.

I first drove the Civic Hybrid last year in California, and was impressed with both the way it climbed the hills of the Sierras and the way it scooted up the entrance ramps to high-speed freeways. I couldn’t wait to see how it behaved as basic family transportation.

The verdict, after several days of commuting in and out of Boston, hauling groceries, hauling kids to and from baseball and soccer and softball games: It drives just like a Civic — with the added advantage of getting nearly 50 miles per gallon, even while fully loaded much of the time.

It is a far more utilitarian car than its predecessor, the Honda Insight, which is a two-seater with not much luggage space. Fine for a single person or a couple; of little use to a family with kids. The Civic is superior because it is spacious inside, has four wide doors for easy access, and its battery pack is smaller and more refined. Plus, it has a real trunk.

Honda’s approach to the Civic Hybrid was simple: Take a known, popular model of automobile and make the hybrid-electric engine/motor powertrain an option, much as ABS or a sunroof are options in some cars.

Honda developed a new 1.3 liter, 4-cylinder engine, gave it two spark plugs per cylinder with dual and sequential ignition, and a VTEC valvetrain for a more direct surge into the cylinders. That gasoline engine is boosted by a powerful electric motor.

The lean burn of the gasoline engine makes it ultraclean in a way a larger engine could never be; the electric motor, which boosts the gasoline engine during acceleration from stops, when accelerating to pass, or when making arduous climbs, adds power that the small gasoline engine could neve r provide (though I found the gasoline engine surprisingly powerful when running on its own).

The result is a gasoline engine that produces between 85 horsepower on its own and a combined horsepower in full Integrated Motor Assist mode of 93 horsepower. That may not sound like much in this day of 260 horsepower VWs with 8-cylinder engines, but I found it to be plenty for anyone whose basic goal is to travel comfortably, efficiently, and even at high commuter speeds.

On the highway, it cruised in the 65-70 miles per hour range running strictly on the gasoline engine. Passing, at speeds up to 85 mph, was achieved smoothly, if not dart-like, with an assist from the electric motor. It climbed most long, moderate hills without needing power assist, and got plenty of boost when it was needed for steeper, quicker climbs.

Electric-assist power steering, which helps save fuel, gave the Civic a smooth, communicative sense of steer.

A common question folks had for me almost ever where I parked the Civic Hybrid was, “How far can you go before you have to plug it in?”

I hope this question goes away soon because it means that people haven’t been paying enough attention. Hybrid gasoline/electric cars do not have to be plugged in. That’s because, in simplest terms, the electric motor that boosts the gasoline engine runs in “reverse” when the car decelerates, in effect becoming a “generator” that recharges the battery pack. You can watch, in a nifty gauge on the dash, as you either use electricity from the batteries, or recharge the batteries. There is also a gauge that shows you how many miles per gallon you are averaging at whatever pace you are setting.

It is fun to sit behind the wheel at 50 mph, delicate foot on the gas pedal, and see the gauge report that right now you are averaging 92 miles per gallon.

The front-wheel-drive Civic Hybrid comes with either a 5-speed manual transmission (as tested) or a Continuously Variable Transmission with virtually unlimited “gear” ratios. With the manual, a light on the dash advises each time you should shift up for greatest fuel mileage.

The latter is fun to play with, but you really don’t need to resort to gimmicks to get great fuel economy from this car.

And the best part is, you get to do it as though you were driving any other Civic (OK, tuners won’t be grabbing these to turn them into pocket rockets, I admit).

Headroom and legroom are spacious, front and rear. The trunk is for real (for a four-door compact). Headroom is more than adequate.

The interior is basic and functional and the seats provide decent support at the thighs, up the back, and along the sides of the torso.

I love this car for what it is and for what it says.

It is a functional, comfortable, clean, economical car, one that ought to sell in the hundreds of thousands worldwide.

It says that those companies who say they are “working on” their hybrids had better get off their duffs real soon — before the second-generation Toyota hybrid, or the third-generation Honda hybrid, hits the streets.

Nice Touch: Love the sleek, aerodynamic nose on the Civic Hybrid. A startlingly aggressive look for such a clean, simple car.

Annoyance: Why didn’t Honda put this nose on the standard new Civic? If I’m a tuner, I’m out looking for the Hybrid nose for my gasoline-powered Civic pocket rocket.

Base price: $19,000

Price as tested: $19,549

Horsepower: 85/93

Torque: 87/116 lb.-ft.

Wheelbase: 103.1 inches

Overall length: 174.8 inches

Width: 67.5 inches

Height: 56.3 inches

Curb weight: 2,661 lbs.

Seating: 5 passengers

Fuel economy: 48.9 miles per gallon

Source: Honda North America; fuel economy from Globe testing.