Just test drove the new Insight

OK. I have a deposit on a new 2010 Toyota Prius. My wife currently drives a 2006
Honda Civic Hybrid. Went to the Honda dealer today and test drove the 2010 Honda Insight for 30 miles.


The good:

I drove it 70% highway and 30% in town getting 51.4 MPG in eco mode. The hybrid part of the car actually works better than the HCH. The brakes feel better when coming to a stop. The green-blue back light around the mph gauge actually works to train people how to drive more efficiently. Toyota should add this feature.
The ride was firm but ok, better than the Fit. Not as good as the Civic Hybrid.
Handling was typical for a Honda, went around corners nicely.

The bad:

Back seat leg room is cramped and so is the front seat leg room, Im 6'0''
Head room is marginal in the back seat. No armrest in backseat. Crappy carpeting for passingers. Armrest is not adjustable in front seat...too low for tall people.
Dash is not a clean design, defiantly better than the Fit but two steps back from the Civic. Lots of hard plastic on dash and doors, looks OK but don’t touch it.

Conclusion:

Sticker price for an Insight Ex with Nav + dest= $ 23,770

I'm willing to pay an extra $ 1500.00 for the Toyota package III 2010 Toyota Prius with nav. Should not cost more than $ 25,270.00 with destination included.

 

First, why would I drive in NYC? They have an excellent public transportation system.

Second, If you want to be a lemming and drive noise to tail creeping a inch every time the car in front of you moves that is fine. You will use more fuel no matter what type of car you drive including a Prius. As far as being run over, people say the same thing about driving the speed limit on the highway. Somehow I've managed to do it without being run over yet.

 

I would suggest some refrain or some moderation on this thread to all parties.
It's not nice to read any more, just my opinion which is worth nothing, but I thought I should share it.

 

My thoughts exactly. I know that not every car is perfect for everyone and this thread is going a little off track. I drove the 2010 Prius at the San Francisco event and even though I've made my choice I'm still curious to read the reviews on the Insight.

 

This is my feeling as well. In stop-and-go traffic goes, people cut in occasionally, but they are the first to cut out too. Keep an eye on a distinguishable car or truck in the lane next to you, and see if there's any difference between staying on the bumper of the car in front of you or relaxing a bit and doing more coasting & easy accelerations. And if you lose two or three car positions over a few miles, what's the difference in driving time, really?

As far as stopping and starting at a red light, this is a meaningless habit that only wastes gas. I've ridden with a friend who did this, but not just creep a little at a time, he would make your head rock with his "inching" forward. I thought he was doing it as a joke at first, but realized that's just what he did. Or maybe his car's idle speed was really fast, and he couldn't adjust to not inching forward every ten seconds.

But this is a side track. The engine cutting in to creep forward is a feature of Honda's hybrid system, which doesn't allow the batteries alone to drive the car (not a "full" hybrid). It's unfortunate they couldn't make it smoother for the Insight, but for me that's not a showstopper (unless it's unsafe, but I didn't get that impression).