Honda:Honda Insight hybrid was an "unmitigated disaster"

I found leg space in the Gen 2 Fit (2009 -?) better than in the Gen 2 Prius. If they had a bit more travel on the seat and stability control available on Canadian Fits, I might have bought one rather than the Prius.

While the Prius is better in many important ways, the Fit is a lot cheaper and has a number of other advantages. (e.g. sight lines, bulky cargo, fun on twisty roads)

 

No, it's called the Honda Civic Hatchback:

File:2006 Honda Civic 5-door.jpg - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Been on sale here for years and fairly popular. What is wrong with the american arms of car mfgs??

 

Too bad we can't get the same cars they sell in other countries, but our emissions standards prevent the import of some of the best, this is definitely included! Sharp looking car...

 

I never looked close at the CRX in its era, but was stuck behind one in a traffic jam today.

Are you also blaming the CRX for ripping off Prius design elements nearly two decades into the future? That split rear window, with a painted panel in between, sure looked familiar.

Prius's little window near the windshield? Looks to me like an obvious evolution of the side wing window formerly (until about the 1970s) on nearly all vehicles, to fit the modern windshield slope. If only it could open too.

 

What Honda should do is find a way of hiding the extra battery so it doesn't impact on passenger/cargo volumes, and implement their IMA technology in ALL of their cars, (I mean ALL MODELS) improving all their cars' mpg by 30%, WITHOUT EXTRA CHARGE to the customers.

Don't even call them "HYBRIDS" cause they're not. Any car that cannot run on batteries only even for a few seconds should not be called a "hybrid". But the technology does improve fuel efficiency. Make it low cost by mass producing it.
Make it a standard feature, just an improvement to the power train like variable valve timing. Don't reduce the power output of the ICE, just add this IMA to every one of them.

This way their cars will sell like hot cakes and their IMA technology will not go down the drain. This will also force ALL the other car manufacurers to follow suit or else...

All of a sudden (in a few years) the whole world of cars will reduce fuel consumption by 25 - 30 %. What's not to like?

 

Several years ago, they realized that if they lift the suspension and call it a SUV, they could sell their wagons for more. I wanted a Civic hatchback, but they were discontinued around 2000 when I started looking.

That's why I don't like the new CR-V styling. It reminds me of what it truly is, a tall Civic wagon.

 

I'd like to see Honda build a full hybrid that begins to compete with the new Prius. better yet, how about Honda and Toyota join forces to build a car that is as practical as the new Prius and agile too.

 

No technical reply here, but

I think most sit in a car and if they have enough headroom say .. 'I fit!'.

I do not know 'bout ^ man. I like to fit head to toe. I sit in Accords and Jettas ... that's what proper seating is all about, except the car format is not happening with them.

anywhoo.

 

No technical reply here, but

I think most sit in a car and if they have enough headroom say .. 'I fit!'.

I do not know 'bout ^ man. I like to fit head to toe. I sit in Accords and Jettas ... that's what proper seating is all about, except the trunk format not what I'm looking for.

anywhoo.

 

Which brings the question -

Why doesn't Honda start making full hybrids? Would they have to pay licensing fees to Toyota to do so?

 

I don't like the CR-V's ugly black plastic bumps front and back and the minivan out of reach shifter is dorky.

Why they didn't just use fold flat rear seats instead of space robbing fold and tumble units boggles the mind.

 

I don't know why Honda can't improve their existing IMA technology by supplementing it with another MG to drive the rear wheels making it all wheel drive. The power train up front stays the same as integrated motor assist.

After helping to start the ICE, the MG1 of the IMA would turn into a
generator driven by the ICE, which trickle charges the batteries. Whenever full power is required, all 3 motors, ICE and the 2 MGs all supply power for burst acceleration. Rear motor turns into generator to capture braking energy.

There can even be an EV mode where the car can be driven solely by the rear MG as long as the battery charge allows. Change AC and cooling pumps to electric driven so ICE don't have to keep running at idle just to support AC.

Redesign the floor of the car so that the batteries are like flat modules stuffed between the floor and the ground, retrieved from the side of the car under the floor for maintenance.

1/4 of the floor area carries enough batteries for normal hybrid operations. It can then be upgraded with 3 times more batteries completely filling up the sub-floor slots turning it into a PHEV. Customers can buy extra battery packs incrementally and just slide them into empty slots, no other mods required.

Car control console screen can be set to control plug-in charging schedule. Plug-in cable also connects to engine block heater, with timer settings built-in to the control screen of the car. Extension power cable plugs into a receptical of the car, no cable and plug dangling while driving.

Transmission can even have the choice of 6 speed manual or CVT.
The hatch door has 2 closing positions. The high position turns the car into a stationwagon with relatively flat roofline all the way to the back. The rear window becomes sun glass. This is good for low speed city driving and can carry a lot of cargo.

At lowered position the rear hatch door slopes down just like the Prius/Insight making it very areodynamic good for highway high-speed driving. The vertical rear glass would have to be taller but slides up and down like a window glass depending on the high or low closing position of the hatch door. Now that is what I call a real CONVERTABLE, or you can call it a TRANSFORMER!

This is my insight into how Honda can improve the Insight. Now that's a good candidate for Prius competition.

HONDA, ARE YOU LISTENING?

 

Competition with the Prius, another hybrid, is less important than market penetration into the total vehicle market. We don't need to 'eat our own' as much as take chunks out of the gas market:

• Where is the serious hybrid, pickup truck?
• Where is the hybrid minivan?
• Where is the hybrid panel truck, a true utility vehicle?

Hybrids and EVs have to go mainstream and soon. But we're also seeing devolution of small cars too.

Bob Wilson

 

As if on cue, this article about Honda plans showed up:

Future products: Honda aims to build on momentum surrounding the Odyssey

Of all the Honda news, the most interesting is "the 'large car' hybrid powertrain."

The existing IMA is well sized for the 1.3 L engine but doesn't scale well for larger displacements. If Honda can improve the integration for a larger vehicle, possibly bringing some of the clever that brought Insight user mileage up, it would be a very good thing.

I am convienced the EPA rules that came out in September 2008, meant to whack the Prius, fell hardest on the Insight 'window sticker' mileage. Real users are getting Prius equivalent mileage, better than the Civic hybrid with the same internal volume as the Civic. This is an impressive engineering feat that has yet to be acknowledged in the press.

Bob Wilson

 

Not in North America. Catalysts and meeting emissions was going to be expensive, combine that with more expensive diesel fuel and Honda didn't think it would work. Diesel is essential to be a big player in Europe so the 2.2 i-CTDi (now i-DTEC) will continue over there for quite some time. And I think they're still working on a V6 diesel.