Comments on: ABG First Drive: Honda Insight – 50+ mpg without breathing hard!

By: Wheelywheel

Wheelywheel — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 07:49:44 +0000

Honda are building good design today huh. I like all their cars right now. And this car got a good addition on its engine.

By: Sam

Sam — Tue, 03 Feb 2009 00:30:32 +0000

Eideard, lose, loses, spelled with one ‘o’. Loose and lose are two different words, different meanings.
Aaron, I’ll stick with my Insight too. 80+mpg today in <40F weather. This one doesn’t deserve the Insight name.

By: Aaron Cake

Aaron Cake — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 19:17:28 +0000

All Honda has done is reinvent the Prius and pollute the name of the Insight. Had they called it something else I would not be intending to complain to the Honda reps at the NAIAS on Saturday. Yet they’ve taken the name of a 10 year old hybrid design that *still* is king of mileage and put it on par with the Prius. And while the Prius is a good car, there are non-hybrid choices that in many cases can get comparable mileage. There was never another car to compare the Insight to as it eclipsed all of them in terms of efficiency.

While I am happy that Honda is once again producing a from-scratch hybrid, it is clear that its only purpose is to compete with the Prius and it looks like they’ve worked that very well. Put the new “Insight” next to a Prius and I guarantee that most of the public won’t know the difference.

I do like some of the directions they have taken with the new car (gauges, more aggressive IMA, etc.), but I will always object to the name. A car that is rated to get 43 MPG is a far cry from the realistic 88 MPG highway rating on my 5 speed 2000 Insight. Now owners of the new “Insight” will look at my 9 year old real Insight and think they somehow have a superior car. Four seats may be superior to some, but for a single guy in his late 20s like me, 4 seats is nothing but a waste of space, efficiency and fun factor.

I hope Honda sells a lot of new “Insights”, but I won’t be on the list. I’ll stick with my 9 year old Insight that is still vastly superior to all other hybrids on the market.

By: contempt

contempt — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 12:52:48 +0000

#26 bobbo
>>Taxes will always be with us.

This is true, but the whole incentive to purchasing these overpriced death traps is the payoff of making it cheaper to get from point A to B. What’s the point if government is going to penalize you after you make the effort?

Paying more for less is not progress.

By: bobbo

bobbo — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 08:17:05 +0000

#25–needswashing==Every solution creates a new set of problems–it’s called “progress.”

To each point you make, I would ask: “Whats your point/alternative?”

Taxes will always be with us and will be calculated as necessary to raise the revenue desired. Is that an argument against efficient vehicles? You do know consuming oil has more issues than the tax revenue associated with them? You post as you do (eg the Carbon Tax) and then post as if you don’t (ie–its all a political scam).

Silly Post. ((Agreeing with contempt was a big clue.))

By: soundwash

soundwash — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 07:57:04 +0000

#21 hit the nail on the head..

when car fuel usage is cut in half or more by electric car use (ha! a pipe dream i know)
just what tax will they raise/create to continue to fund the highway system and pork projects?
(short answer: the guilt, er, Carbon Tax)

imo.. until they release the 4000 or so “energy patents” protected under the guise of national security..(another pipe dream)
the perfect hybrid would be modeled after a diesel-electric locomotive.

-a low RPM, high torque diesel hooked up to a generator powering direct drive DC motors.

you’d get a highly reliable, high
performance, extremely high mileage
car..no reason a design like this would get less than 80-100mpg..

screw the batteries. -the net effect would be the same. -only item needing perfecting is
keeping the fuel fluid in subzero..which really isnt an issue overall..

besides, i cant wait to hear the envirocries
20yrs from now about all the “Volt” batteries polluting the landfills..you know it’s coming..

all current hybrids imo, are nothing more than political dogma..

-s

By: Bored Duck

Bored Duck — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 05:51:20 +0000

When I hit ’submit’ after writing #16, I tried to go back and make a last edit of it before confirming identity in the ‘match characters’ verification page, and then resubmitted it…oops.

readers take note: Don’t try this at home.

By: chris

chris — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 20:28:15 +0000

Ugly car. Why would anyone try to steal the Prius bodywork. Yuck, Yuck, Yuck.

By: sargasso

sargasso — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 19:38:13 +0000

Electrical augmented power, rather than the Prius’ petrol augmented electric power. Personally, I like the Honda – it’s a better driver’s car, simpler and will probably be more reliable. Their technology can be easily adapted to existing model floorpans.

By: contempt

contempt — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 19:11:36 +0000

On the face of this a 50+ per gallon gas mileage is a good thing. We spend less for gas giving us more money for other things like say, a new laptop – sweet.

Although they pretend to encourage it, the government will soon torpedo this buying less gas nonsense. When we buy less gas politicians receive less tax revenue which means they raise taxes.

Soon you realize that you have fallen victim of the old bait and switch. You wonder why you are paying what you once did in cost per miles, but now find yourself driving around in an over-priced green tin can.

Those of us who have seen self-serving politicians in action certainly know the answer to that.

By: Bored Duck

Bored Duck — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 18:48:03 +0000

I remember checking out an Insight when they first appeared in the late 90’s (a friend was an “early-adopter”). When he told me about how the gas engine’s flywheel is integrated with the electric motor/generator (illustrated in the linked article), I imagined a Detroit power train engineer slapping his forehead and saying to himself, “Jeez now why didn’t I (we) think of that??”.

Don’t get me wrong, I love our American technology…after all, we wrote the book on automobile mass marketing, didn’t we? Maybe we’d better come around from behind and solve the battery problems, so we can still stay on board.

Also, I commute to my job every day (appr. 15mi round trip) and I often think: “Why do I have to this with a big vehicle…a 40mph golf cart would do”.

(Yeah I know, I know…as long as everyone else has one…)

By: The Warden

The Warden — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 18:44:56 +0000

Cost is slated to be under $20K.

By: Lugnutz

Lugnutz — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 18:30:09 +0000

#6 qsabe said: “I wish Ford made this car.”

Check out Ford’s Fusion Hybrid. A bit bigger than the Insight, but I think a whole lot nicer.

By: Bored Duck

Bored Duck — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 18:26:44 +0000

I remember checking out an Insight when they first appeared in the late 90’s (a friend was an “early-adopter”). When he told me about how the engine flywheel does double-duty as the electric motor/generator (illustrated in the linked article), I imagined a Detroit power train engineer slapping his forehead and saying to himself, “Jeez why didn’t I (we) think of that??”.

Also, I commute to my job every day (appr. 15mi round trip) and I often think: “Why do I have to this with a big vehicle…a 40mph golf cart would do”.

(Yeah I know, I know…as long as everyone else has one…)

By: Mister Mustard

Mister Mustard — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 18:26:44 +0000

#13 – Lyin’ Mike

>>How much does it cost?

RTFA.