I tend to prefer cars like the Civic which are more sporty in nature. However C&D is like Fox News some people think it's biased (in a big way) others not. Look at ads whenever a car is put up for a review. The car maker buys many more ads. I have found that C&D and Motor Trend are biased each in their own ways and for their own reasons. For car reviews when I really want to know about a car, I go to Edmunds and their other site Inside Line. I have found that I mostly agree with their reviews after I drive the car myself versus C&D or MT. The other magazine that I use a lot is Canadian Driver. They have very good reviews. CanadianDriver The other thing I like, being a New Englander, is to see reviews of cars when they have icicles hanging off the bumpers and road salt all over the windows. Because if you just drive in the Sun States you won't have any idea how well a car does in snow and slush, of which we get a lot in the winter. I must have a dozen sites marked for when I research a car, but all of them combined give me a better idea from various sources. I did drive an Insight II and it's far too tight in the back seat and very under powered. I could also feel the weirdness in the steering wheel which felt artifically heavy on the highway. I like Honda and if I had liked the Insight I would have bought it. Maybe my wife will buy a Hybrid Fit when they come out in a few years to replace her Fit Sport? But it will have to be better than the Insight II.
Then don't compare it to the Insight. Compare it to Fusion hybrid, Altima hybrid or Camry hybrid. Just saying.
But Toyota did lower the price of the base Prius in response to the Insight. If Toyota thinks its the competition, then so would other people.
The honda is a better car in most categories who cares, except MPG... Prius is in the close arena. Plus toyota lowered it's price but not as low as Honda. Prius in my opinion is prettier. Its all a trade off. In this market it may just come to PRICE for me.
Yes, because Toyota does not have a smaller cheaper hybrid to compete with. It is a year or two away. I don't see other comparisons between Compact vs. Mid-size, such as Insight vs. Fusion hybrid or Insight vs. Altima hybrid. They just compare Prius vs. Insight because they look so much alike.
Ok then - let's level the playing field I very nearly wet myself laughing reading this!!! Jeremy Clarkson Honda Insight 1.3 IMA SE Hybrid review | Driving - Times Online :focus:
And of course, having rave reviews of insight isn't a bad things for the potential prius buyer, no? I'd love to see a insight vs. prius war that keeps the prices of both cars competitive. At the very least, it would be some ammo at the dealer negotiation.
Oops, would that be the same Jeremy Clarkson that endlessly ridiculed a Gen II prius and also took a Gen I Prius into an open field so that he could have bubba shoot military rounds onto it? When Jeremy disses a car then you better regard his comments as a ringing endorsement strictly for the safe buy that the car actually is. Cheers; MSantos
well someone has not to like it . It good to hear different opinion sometimes, it gets you to do better next time. Although I believe Insight and Prius are not in the same class.
They may have to soon. Next year Honda Plans to release a Honda Fit Hybrid for under $15,000 in Japan. Not sure if and when a North America release comes though.
The Honda has always had more comfortable seats than Toyota. I have owned both and even ripped out the Toyota seats and but in Nissan Maxima seats. As for the steering, the 15" models are being dumped and upgraded at the end of the summer. They will have brushless motors and a better steering, the one on the V model. 1
Do you have inside information? There has been no information released indicating that the 15" models will get brushless motors &/or the turning ratio of the Prius V. Roy
I was just going to post about this and thankfully there is a thread about it. Here's what I couldn't believe... If you look at the picture of the Insight, Prius and the Metro in the background the Prius has the wheel cover on the rear wheel and the wheel cover is not even on the car on the front wheel. How the hell could they publish an article with a picture where one of the cars is missing a wheel cover? I mean if both are missing its one thing, still wrong but to have one on and one off, that's just odd...
C&D is an enthusiast magazine that values the driving experience over all other parameters. With that in mind, I agree with everything in the article said, since the Insight is marginally better handling than the Prius. However, anyone buying either car for the driving experience will be disappointed. They both suck by that standard. By the standard of what they are designed for, IMO the Prius is unmatched. Complaining about handling or acceleration in the Prius is like complaining about the towing capacity of a Lotus Elise, or arguing that a screwdriver is a more useful tool than saw. Makes no sense.
Here's a picture of the Prius from the article missing one wheel cover. I think they were biased from the beginning... How can a major magazine like Car and Driver publish a picture like this? If you saw the whole 2 page picture it has a picture of the Prius, Insight and metro... Almost like they were trying to make the Prius look 'stupid' or as bad as the metro which didn't even come with wheel hub caps! lol
