Honda Insight Differences?

it can't run the a/c when the ice is off. so the electric motor is basically a boost to allow smaller more efficient ice. it is smaller and lower quality than a pri. it was supposed to be almost as good for a lot less money, but that didn't turn out to be the case and people have shunned it in droves. there will be a few here to recomment it though. honda has already given up on it's future and is trying to remake the wheel.

 

i think you can have a/c, but the ice has to run. someone can correct me, perhaps you are correct, no a/c.

 

I test drove a slightly used Insight. Did not like it to the point of almost no longer considering hybrids at all. The transition from ICE to EVO was terrible. It acted more like it was stalling than shutting off. Also the rear visibility was not good (at least would have taken some getting used to).

 

I sat in a friend's insight, which was my first time ever in a hybrid. It choked so badly switching from motor to ice, it annoyed the hell out of me. Because it does choke so much, my friend basically does rolling stops at the stop signs so the car never comes to a full stop. It was terrible. From that point on, I thought all hybrids were like that and swore off of them.

It wasn't until I got really sick of paying for gas that I thought I'd look into a prius and see if I can deal with the choking. And lo and behold, the prius transitions very smoothly and I've been loving my prius c since! And I have to wonder, why couldn't Honda get the insight right?

 

they couldn't/wouldn't license the toyota system like ford did. they couldn't build a new system like volt for $20,000.
they didn't want to lie about mpg's like kia and hyundai? so what they came up with fell short. it's not as easy as toyota makes it look and even they didn't design it from the ground up, they found a system designed by trc a long time ago and refined it.

 

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Honda has the electric motor connected where the flywheel would be located on a typical ICE, so it is uses the electric motor more as a booster to the ICE, and isn't designed to run independently. I hear on the freeway it performs really well, and some classical modifications work on it, like cold air intake. But I haven't seen it.

 

I think the bias here for the Prius is a little much. I owned a 2010 MY Insight and it was an OK car. Since it is a series hybrid vehicle with a belt drive A/C compressor, the engine must run to cool the car. However, in typical stop and go driving it is not a big deal (you can easily force the engine to continue to run at idle). The engine started and shut off just like any Prius and the transition to and from was just as smooth as my 2010 Gen III Prius or my Prius C4. It got a life time 47 MPG which was virtually identical to that of the Prius Gen III.

 

so, why don't you own it anymore?

 

I like to buy (and drive) different cars. I kept a 2002 MY Prius for two years before trading it, and have since owned the Gen III, Insight, and the C4 (among others). The Insight had the best handling of the lot, but did not have much leg room in the rear seat. Acceleration of the Insight was not quite as good as the Gen III, but better than the C4. The 2002 Prius was the definition of slow. The C4 is nice to drive in traffic and with its tight turning circle (no 16" wheels) and short length, it is a pleasure to park.

 

My Civic Hybrid had electric A/C and I believe the Insight does too. It will cool while sitting at a light engine off.
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if that is true, they changed it.

 

The Civic Hybrid has AC that stays on (we had one), but I believe the Insight doesn't.

There's pros/cons to both the civic and insight, the big con to both is battery reliability, AND Honda's head-in-the-sand attitude.

 

My HCH didn't have A/C while auto-stopped. Also, the Insight doesn't stand a chance at being as efficient as the Prius C. The way the system works just doesn't allow for it. Highest I ever saw on my HCH was 52 mpg and that was trying VERY VERY hard. In my dad's (2006) the highest I ever got was 53mpg...also trying very hard. I get those kinds of figures in the C without trying hard. I just go and keep it in the green on the eco score display.

I would definitely caution against Honda's hybrid technology. I think it is very hard on the battery pack. Of the five people I know that have/had HCHs, all but one have replaced the battery pack, and one of my friends did it twice (luckily the second time was in the ONE YEAR warranty on the replacement). I got rid of mine because it was eating oil at the rate of 1qt/600mi and was showing early warning signs of battery degradation, after already replacing the battery once. My dad's HCH has been the best of all the ones I am close to, but it is a 2006. I don't think it will be the same for long though, hitting the deer a few weeks ago will probably take its toll quickly. Cars are never the same after decent front end damage.

On a side note, my '04 had an electric A/C compressor. I just know it never ran while auto-stopped...the ICE had to be running. Very annoying.

 

Sorry, should have qualified: 2nd gen Civic Hybrid (model year '06 onward) had AC that ran at idle stop.

The best mileage I ever got on ours was around 4.1 liters/100km, about 57 mpg. But that was on an ideal condition longish road trip on secondary highways, trying my little heart out to be frugal

 

I drove both the Honda Insight and the Gen III Prius for 20K miles each and they got identical MPG. Maybe a Prius C is better, but it won't be by much.

 

the only reason they get the same mileage is that honda was using and killing the whole battery.

 

I think there is something to this. I replaced the battery on my HCH and before I traded it in it was showing early signs of needing replaced again. I think that Honda's technology is harder on the batteries.

 

We should probably qualify this by stating the 1st gen Insight '01-06, is the mpg leader. The second gen Insight became a victim of US saftey requirements and mpg decreased.