Do you know what Honda Insight owners are talking about recently?

Toyota's Prius is the #1 selling car in Japan for months running now. "What most buyers wanted". Times are different. A decade ago, gluttonly & excess were important. A decade later, when more folks are reaping the consequences of our prior gluttony, we now think differently.

 

Actually Fuel Economy makes comparisons quite easy for hybrids sold in 2003:

	Column 1	Column 2	Column 3	Column 4
0	2003 model	user#	user MPG	seats
1	Insight manual	4	65.5	2
2	Insight automatic	2	59.8	2
3	HCH automatic	16	44.6	5
4	Prius	22	44.8	5

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There were so few Honda Insights sold in 2003, I listed both models. The HCH is the one with the most HCH user reports. Finally, the Prius came in with the single, largest number of user mileage reports for one model. The HCH had multiple models and probably a larger user count.

For grins, I went back and checked the original but now locked, GreenHybrid database:

	Column 1	Column 2	Column 3	Column 4	Column 5
0	Model	user#	MPG	50% range	seats
1	Insight manual	105	65.0	59.2-70.9	2
2	Insight CVT	34	56.1	51.4-63.0	2
3	HCH I manual	125	48.0	45.1-51.1	5
4	Prius II	1759	47.5	44.9-50.4	5
5	HCH II CVT	573	46.4	42.7-50.1	5
6	Prius I	105	45.4	43.4-49.0	5
7	HCH I CVT	496	44.6	41.4-48.2	5

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Bob Wilson

ps. Yes, you are right, the 2003 Prius "was a dog." I'll give it a talkin' to: Bad, bad dog, Prius!

 

Sorry, I was speaking of the US market, I assume the "SUV thing" was an American passion. Personally I'm still looking for the S part. Makes about as much sense as a "sport truck" to me, and I do like both trucks and sports cars, I own both, but never bought an SUV.
And I hope your right about think differently, but I don't believe it. The masses will think differently when it becomes fashionable to do so. That's what the SUV's are, fashionable.

 

This weekend I was scanning the Consumer Reports web site and read their review of the Honda Insight. Now where they discuss 'size', I find no fault. The Honda Insight is smaller than the 2010 Prius but some of the other points remain a problem:

	Column 1	Column 2	Column 3
0	value	element
1	38	CR overall mileage	MPG
2	29 / 45	CR city/highway	MPG
3	46	CR 150 mile trip	MPG
4	. . .	. . .
5	40	EPA city	MPG
6	43	EPA highway	MPG

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I'm getting the feeling that CR and the EPA do their highway testing at higher speeds than those usually used by Honda Insight owners. There may be a distinct fall-off in MPG in the 70-75 mph region that can easily be avoided by using 65-70 mph. This is something my NHW11, 2003 Prius, shares.

Also, for CR city driving, it must be beyond 'pedal to the metal.' To get 29 MPG is not impressive but depressive. The only way I could approach those values is to do a lot of 'up grade' accelerations followed by 'down grade' stops. It would have to be up and over ridges with stops at the bottoms. This would be counter-terrain driving style.

Bob Wilson

 

I saw my first Honda Insight driving on the road today. I did look at the Insight and test drove it before putting a deposit down on my Prius.

The Insight was in the right lane as I was slowly passing it. Must say, the 2010 Prius is SO much more distinctive and classy looking. And easy to see the Insight size is a notch smaller too.

So glad I chose the Prius...

 

Ditto to the post. I am glad I went with the Prius as well. Had a Honda Civic Hybrid that was so uncomfortable to me, and I am a normal sized guy. 5-10, 185. My back used to ache from the seats, and my head should have a perm mark by now from whacking my head each time getting in and out.

I thought the Insight was decent...but they certainly cheapened the inside from the Civic even more. When I drove it I could have swore it was 3 cylinders!

I was really concerned about the pick up and ride. SO glad I went back to another Prius once again. Was a 1st Gen owner and missed it that much!

I can't think anyone made a bad choice by buying this vehicle in all honesty. Sure there are quirks with all cars and learning curves for the Hybrid Synergy technology, but all in all it's damn nice car!

 

Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't the hybrid system only warranty for 3yr/50K miles for CA cars? What about batteries

 

I agree. While I''ve lost count of the Priuses (priii) driving around my neighborhood, I've only seen one lone Insight near me. Everytime I see it, I can't help but look at it and think "Someday you'll grow up and be a Prius, too!"

 

Thanks for the link.
I read the posts and found the Honda Insight group to be a very biased, mean spirited group.
When I read on this forum about other vehicles, the Prius people are generally very nice when the speak of other brands.

 

Back in post #1 the OP mentioned that the Insight has a paddle shifter, I have seen this referred to other places as well. I also believe it has a CVT. Could someone please explain how or why you would need a shifter (paddle or otherwise) with a CVT? What is there to shift?

 

Thank you Tideland, so it's kind of like "pretend shifting" so you can think your driving a "real car". Glad I have a Prius.

 

I have paddle shifters on my Acura and love them. So when I first tried an Insight I thought they would be just as good. Unfortunately, the engine is so weak to begin with that manual shifting doesn't do much for you. The engine screams when you mash the gas pedal, but the car doesn't go anywhere very quickly. Also, 7 gears is just too much. I found myself clicking 2-3 times on the freeway when I currently only have to downshift by 1 on my Acura.

Nice idea, but poor execution. I'm learning to simulate paddle downshifting on my 2010 Prius with the B gear, but it just isn't as convenient as having buttons on the steering wheel.

 

Type 2:
Automatic w/ manual mode (or semi-automatics or manumatics)
They come in lots of different names (Shifttronic, TipTronic, Sequential Manual SportShift, Geartronic).

e.g. Lexus IS250/350, Toyota Camry, Toyota Corolla XRS, 04-08 Honda Fit, all Infiniti models, all Acura models, Non "M" BMW models.

These are automatic transmissions that allow the driver to manually shift through its gears (kinda like shifting from L to 2 to 3 to D I guess lol but with a +/- instead).

Waste of money

 

I wouldn't say it's a waste of money. I have an Audi with tiptronic & love it. I get better gas mileage using the tiptronic. Secondly, being able to control the downshift is helfpul (and fun) when I need to pass slow moving cars in very short passing zones in VT. DSG wasn't available when I bought the car. I may go that route when it's time to replace it in a couple of years. It will be interesting to see where the Prius and technology goes in the meantime.

 

We have a BMW with a step mode
In regular mode it is already program to shift quickly
I usually keep in the sport mode to hell with the MPG, have the Prius for that:rockon:
Shift it manually is just not the same as using the 3rd peddle

 

I have driven both an E-46 BMW and a Corvette with the steptronic (I think Corvette has a different name for it), but the steptronic is a paddle shifter hooked to a conventional 5 or 6 speed automatic. My E-46 had a 6 speed manual which I prefer but I can see the value of wanting to hold an automatic in a certain gear because they don't always shift when you want them to.

However I was wondering what useful purpose, if any, a paddle shifter would serve when used with a CVT? The computer should keep the engine at the right speed for the conditions and throttle input, and in the case of our cars we have 3 driving modes that help determine the conditions.

I have spent quite a bit of time in the mountains on twisty windy roads with my Gen2 and Gen3 and as far as I can tell the HSD system has always done exactly what I would what it to do. If it had a paddle shifter in a Prius I wouldn't know what to do with it.

 

I would think, "Wishing they would have bought a Prius instead of this piece of crap"