Honda's Other Hybrid
Honda's often forgotten hybrid is better than what most people think.
The first Honda Insight was actually North America's first mass produced hybrid, as it beat the Toyota Prius to market by 1/2 a year back in 1999. That first generation Insight was and still is the most efficient gas/hybrid car with an average 65MPG. It was a small 3 door hatchback with just 2 seats. The more recent Insight looks similar to the 9th generation Civic (current model) but was built from the ground up as a purely hybrid design. It is actually slightly smaller than the Civic in both exterior and interior dimensions, except for cargo capacity. It is slightly more fuel efficient than the Civic Hybrid but at the same time is less expensive. However, due to its similar shape and design many people would compare it to the more roomy and sophisticated modern Toyota Prius, which is also able to achieve higher MPG. Due to this, and the similar MPG from the slightly larger and more comfortable Civic Hybrid, many people did not think that the lower price of the Insight was worth it. Low sales in the later years for the Insight stopped production in 2014. It is a shame as many review sites praised how the Insight was more "fun" to drive than other hatchback hybrids on the market. The main complaints that people had seemingly outweighed these factors, and they will be addressed later in the review. But for now, lets take a look!
Different Styles:
The Honda Insight only comes as a 5 door hatchback. It only has a CVT. The single engine option is a small 1.3L 4 cylinder gas engine with a DC brush-less electric motor.
Styling and Comfort Impressions:
From a straight on view, it honestly just looks like the new Honda Civic, which is pretty high praise. From the sides and back it looks a little more like the Prius, the stereotypical hybrid shape. Not gonna lie, as a person that generally likes hatchbacks, the shape of most hybrids does not look the best. It could be worse, Honda does a good job with the little details like lights and wheels, that bring a bit of style back to the car. It would be nice to have a slightly larger wheel size as well. Depending on the colour, it can look like every other car out there, or it can look a bit futuristic, the Pearl White or blue are quite nice.
Going inside, the style is literally a mixed bag. It seems to have parts of the previous generation Honda Civic and Fit. The dash is very Civic while the front console has the Fit written all over it. Its not that bad of a combo as the two tier dash with the speed closer to your line of sight is pretty nice. The Fit's normal radio and AC controls are pretty cheap looking, but the slightly better touch screen media unit is better. The materials are of an ok quality, you can upgrade to better synthetic leather seats and shift knob and wheel, which is much needed. It has a good amount of hard plastic, but the colours and design of it all is better than other inexpensive cars in the class. The upgraded trim also has a back up camera that is very useful due to the hybrid's oddly shaped rear cutting some visibility, and its a high tech car, it should have it.
The seats are pretty comfortable up front and are made of a sporty feeling nylon material. They have good support but longer bottom cushions and adjustable lumbar support would be nice. The all grey interior is pretty boring but the two tone blue and grey is actually nice. Head and leg room are pretty good, remember, this car is smaller than a Civic. The radio and AC controls are easy to use and within a good reach.
Lets take a look:
So the front is pretty good, lets get into the back. Depending on how tall you are, it can be a nice or bad experience. Due to the sloped roof line, which aids in aerodynamics, headroom isn't the best for anyone around 6 feet tall. Legroom is also a bit of an issue if you have long ones, luckily the seat backs are soft so just dig your knees in. Two people will have enough room back there but the only way 3 would fit is if they are all kids as it is not very wide and the center seat is higher and flat compared to the other two. I say good job to Honda for making the headrests drop down flat with the seat backs so they don't intrude into your visibility out back. The Insight has either 4 or 6 small speakers that are ok, but you would feel that a car like this could have a better system.
Finally the trunk, not much to say here, its pretty good. Yes, the low sloping roof-line means that super tall and bulky items may not fit, but it has more room and height than a normal trunk and the seats fold down nice and flat for a large cargo space if needed.
Take a look:
Driving Impressions:
The Insight drives different than any other hybrid I have driven so far. It basically just feels like you are driving a small older Civic. One thing that is apparent is that Honda really tried to save some weight with the Insight for probably 2 reasons: 1, due to hybrid batteries, the cars tend to be heavier and 2, to keep the cost down compared to other hybrids. When you open and close the doors they do feel and sound relatively thin compared to most compact cars on the market today. The motor on start up does sound just as small as it really is, especially in cold weather, but it quiets down quickly.
Lets get some Honda hybrid facts out there right away. Honda's Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) is considered a "mild hybrid". This means that while it has a battery and an electric motor they are not powerful enough to move the car on their own, but rather help the small gas motors when more power is needed. The car will turn off its gas engine when stopped and will generate power whenever it is slowing down, but it can never drive in just pure electric mode. These hybrids generally will not give as high MPG compared to "full or plug-in hybrids". However, due to the more simple layout of the driving system, they tend to be less prone to failures or parts not working as there are less components and neither the gas engine or the electric motor is put under high power as they always help each other. These cars will have less costly repairs if they are needed compared to full and plug in hybrids.
Now that that is out of the way, once you turn on the car the engine does start up as well. One thing that is impressive is how quickly the heat comes on considering it is a tiny engine. If the car has been sitting for a while and its been cold, the engine will be working overtime for a bit to propel the car and to recharge the battery a bit. Due to the small engine and CVT in these situations anything but light acceleration has the engine working hard to get you to speed and it can be a bit noisy at times. It seems like there is not a huge amount of sound insulation from the engine compartment, or in that case, not much sound insulation anywhere. At higher speeds wind and road noise are definitely louder than other compacts in the class, it seems more like a subcompact. Due to the road and wind noise, and the not super clear sound system, the speakers have to be turned up decently high to get good music on the highway.
While the noises might be high, visibility is great! Large front glass, well positioned front quarter panels in front of the mirrors, large sides windows and a nice wide rear window. Yes the rear quarter panels make for a bit of a blind spot and yes the rear window does have that horizontal strip going across it, but its really not that bad. In fact, that think strip of view blocked in the back is about the perfect spot to stop high beams from shining into your face at night! Its nice they put a rear wiper on the glass but the wiper is too small and too far over meaning that only a small portion of useful viewing glass is cleared. The washer nozzle in the back is almost useless as it is too close to the roof and doesn't actually get the spray onto the window. The dashboard is a nice layout with the speed right in your line of sight and any time you use your indicators they show up in that same spot and have nice loud clicks so you really cant ever forget to turn them off.
Ok, noise and visibility are covered, now for the most important part, how it actually drives! The Honda Insight drives like a normal car. That's about it. Acceleration is decent for a car it's size and efficiency. While the gas engine on its own might not be very powerful, the low end torque provided by the additional electric motor makes it feel more powerful than what its specifications show. Turning the "Eco" mode on really holds back the power to force you to drive more efficiently. Turning and parking in tight spots is great because you know the back of your car is literally at the window and its narrow so you have plenty of room almost everywhere. With the electric motor helping, it even can pass on the highway without going over 4,000 RPM and then settling back at around 2,500 RPM. So power isn't really an issue in either the city or highway, though its no sports car. One small issue is the relatively skinny tires that come with it. They are on the small side for this size of car, 15 inch, but the larger 16 inch are much better. Anyways, the tires are too skinny to go around corners with any sort of speed before you feel it losing grip. The Insight I have been driving just had winter tires installed on it, and they feel much better, especially on wet or snowy roads than the normal all-seasons. Finally, due to the somewhat short wheelbase and narrow width, the Insight can feel a bit rough on not flat roads, adding slightly larger tires (thicker rubber) may help with this a bit.
Overall:
The Honda Insight is a pretty great little car. Yes, when compared to other hybrids and to other cars in its class it has its shortcomings, however this was designed to be a entry level hybrid car for people that just couldn't justify the higher costs and odd looks of most of them on the market. It is a decent car to look at, to be in, and to drive. If you are looking for a practical first time car that is still very good on gas, or if its a second car for a small family to do mostly city runs or the occasional short trip, it would be great. What has become apparent after driving the Insight for a few months, especially in the very cold winter that Eastern Canada was having, is that you don't really need to drive a hybrid car differently to get great fuel efficiency. Yes, the car's "Eco" mode and displays help you see and feel how you can drive most efficiently, not everyone likes to drive like that. Just based on how the car is built, you will see great gas mileage even if you don't really try. For example; in the best situations (warm, no wind) on the highway (where most cars are the most efficient) with either my old Toyota Camry or the now sold Chevy Impala, I only saw about 29MPG (8.1 L/100km). With the Insight during this cold winter (when cars use less efficient fuel and work harder) in a good mix of city and highway driving, I have seen an average of about 39MPG (6.0 L/100km). Thats pretty good seeing how with my style of driving I like to be the first one away from a stop light.
So is the Honda Insight good for you? Give it a try! Hopefully Honda will bring it, or something similar, back soon as used ones are actually hard to find, people are keeping them due to the great reliability.
Facts/ Figures:
Price New (for mid trim level): was about $22,000
FWD
Max HP: 98
Max Torque lb/ft: 123
MPG (approx*): 40 city. 43 highway. (observed this winter: 39)
Cargo room (approx*): 16 / 32 CuFt
Length: 172"
Width: 67"
Tank Size (gal): 10.6
Miles on one tank (using combined MPG figures): 434
Average used price with 60,000KM or less: $12,000
* when I say "approx" I usually am using the numbers given by the actual manufacturer or Consumer Reports, minus 1 to be a bit more realistic.
**No pictures featured are my own, they have been taken either from Google images or the manufacturer's website and their rightful owners should get any credit for them. This review featured all pictures from the manufacturer's websites ( some through Edmunds.com).
Enjoy!
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J.K.
