First production photo of Honda Insight released

Priuschat keeps amazing me...thanks for posting Danny!:rockon:

Do we know pricing yet? or is that for when the Prius gets unveiled?

 

"Honda has spent a lot of time shrinking and simplifying its hybrid system – to save money and valuable space. It is mated to a 1.4-litre i-VTEC petrol engine from the Jazz, but with a bespoke head that’s optimised for economy. The Insight is a full hybrid, capable of running at up to 31mph on electric power alone. Honda has not yet issued any economy or emissions claims, but sources have indicated to us that around 65mpg and 100g/km of CO2 are likely figures."

????????。Japanese Green Cars

 

Are you saying it will be smaller than a civic?

 

What a disappointment. The concept vehicle looked so awesome to me.
I am disappointed in Honda. sorry guys.

I've never said this before but, IT LOOKS LIKE A #@&$ING PRIUS !!!!!!!!!!
(we already have the Prius. I thought they were going to make something different)

 

That's a Prius knock-off.

 

Well, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery!

 

Production models never look as nice as the concept. That's kind of the point. They can glam up the concepts with low profile tires and shiny large rims and blackout the windshield and put in more expensive options like HID headlights etc. I'm actually surprised it looks as much like the concept as it does. Still better looking than the Prius.

Are you basing this purely on size? What is your criteria for this claim?

 

I like it. Don't tell Toyota, but if it were available in 2007, I would have gotten it instead of my Prius. Many people generally prefer Hondas over Toyotas, usually because of Honda's better handling.

Re the Bubba Gump front - it's still there. Only difference is that they continue the hood sheet metal on the top part, instead of using the contrasting dark plastic that was in the concept car. Also, the new Mazda3 has a nearly identical Bubba Gump front.

 

The window and windshield glass has a green shade to it. Does that mean the real production version will have that shade?

 

I think this is a good offering for a slightly different market than the Prius. A little smaller than the Prius, better mpg, better handling, lower cost. Sounds like a big seller to me.

 

In my opinion, it looks better than the 2nd-gen Prius (that I have). It also looks better than the 3rd-Gen Prius based on the photos that I have seen.
The front and rear looks very different from Prius. Only the side profile resembles Prius.
If you call that a "knock-off", then, you probably haven't seen the true vehicle knock-offs from China yet....

 

The 4-door hatchback sedan is in vogue. The new Porsche Panorama has a similar look, though a bit larger. A hybrid is in the works, there, as well. Hybrids will take over the new car industry in the next couple of years. I'd like to see the American companies retrofit some of their new, unsold inventory to hybrids if possible.

 

It is a Prius fighter, so no doubt it looks like a Prius.
I do not see any differences except the LED head lights are replaced by projectors and the longitudinal grill bar is now color matched to the body. The rear side mirrors are now standard size.

If it can under sold the Prius by $3K for similar equipped amenities, it will be a big hit.

 

Granted it looks like a Prius, the shape is actually the best for efficiency. Kammback is what it's called, CRX had it, Prius, amongst others.

 

Indeed. But does it look more like Honda's original Insight, or more like Toyota's Prius? I'm going to reserve further judgement until I actually see it. All cars have a way of looking different in person. Maybe I will like it. If it get's 75mpg, it won't matter what it looks like.
Actually, the vehicles with the lowest drag coefficients on the road are sports cars. That award would probably go to the Corvette or Viper or Porsche. Through decades of racing competition, sports cars have become very aerodynamic. It wouldn't make sense to most of society if a hybrid looked like a Corvette without spoilers, but that would really be the most efficient. The Prius stands much higher offthe ground than a Corvette an has to move through more air.

 

The old kammback I remember most was Volkswagon's -- and it was actually called the Volkswagon Kaamback.

 

Actually the Prius has lower drag coefficient than the Corvette, 0.26 vs. 0.29.

I am sure Honda is aware of the prius-like shape of the insight but there is not thing they can do to make it look different. This tear-drop shaped of the Prius and new Insight is the optimized shape tested in CFD (computational fluid dynamics) models as well as in Wind tunnels.

I think the MPG is not in the low 60s, an article in the LA Times says it is in the high 40s.

But a cheaper Prius under 20K will bring a lot of people on the hybrid band wagon.