Getting some Insight

2010 Honda Insight

When thinking of hybrid cars, the first association most people make is: Prius.

See, this is a review about the Insight, and I started out talking about the Prius.

That’s what the Honda Insight is up against.

After test-driving the 2010 Insight for a week, it’s more than ready for a face-off with a Prius, or any other hybrid on the market, for that matter.

Let’s just get this out of the way: The Insight is rated for 40 mpg in the city and 43 mpg on the highway, as opposed to the Prius’ 51/48 mpg.

Frankly, 40/43 mpg is nothing to sneeze at. It’s more than the Ford Fusion hybrid or the Nissan Altima hybrid.

For 2010, the Insight keeps its simple Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) hybrid system.

Propulsion here comes from a tight 1.3-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine that makes 88 horsepower and 88 pound-feet of torque. The Insight has continuously variable transmission and a thin electric motor that produces another 13 hp and 58 lb-ft of torque.

The 108-volt battery pack uses nickel-metal hydride cells.

The Insight isn’t going to win any road races, but power was adequate for getting on and off the highway.

When you don’t need to go that fast, there’s enough electric power to propel the 2010 Insight at city speeds up to 30 mph with the engine off.

Overall, driving impressions were what you’d expect from a reliable Honda: Nimble handling, smart stopping and it goes where you point it.

This year’s new Insight design reminds me a lot of the early CRX hatchbacks. I like the look and think, just comparing the exterior design of hybrids on the market, the Insight would be judged the most attractive. The days of hybrids sticking out like a sore thumb in parking lots are over, and their eccentricities have been replaced with common sense features.

Now some of the most innovative and praised technological advances in the 2010 Insight were some of the more annoying facets of the car to me.

The dash reminded me of some kind of video game, as it changed colors and awarded me “green leaves” as I used more battery and less gas on my trip. Honda calls it the Eco-assist coaching system. It took a few days to get used to, but in the end, I did try to please the dash and get more leaves so I could win...er....I mean, be more environmentally friendly.

You can improve your score even more by driving in ECON mode, which seemed to make the car more sluggish and I think it cycled the air conditioning on and off.

Legroom was at a premium in the Insight. The Insight’s 100.4-inch wheelbase (compared to 106.3 for the larger Prius) equates to a lack of leg- and headroom for rear-seat passengers of above-average height.

The Insight’s standard luggage capacity is 15.9 cubic feet – a bit more than the Prius. Folding the 60/40 seats down together opens things up to 31.5 cubes.

No one remembers that it was the Insight, not the Prius, that was the first hybrid sold in North America.

That’s mainly because no one bought it because it looked too strange and only had two seats.

Sales were terrible – only 18,000 worldwide over six years.

Changing the 2010 Insight into a good-looking four-door hatchback is good business sense.

After all, Honda wants to sell 90,000 new Insights this year.

And with a base price of $23,100 for an Insight EX with a navigation system, Honda is poised to take some sales away from “the other” hybrid, similarly outfitted and priced about $5,000 more.