Eventually hybrid cars will lose their making-do image and become just part of the automotive landscape, with the make & model determining “status” in time-honored, materialistic fashion. Not all hybrids are created equal even now, though, as a $110,000 Lexus LS600hL makes abundantly clear. It takes longer to appreciate the same point in a $22,000 Insight, but it’s there. For 2010 Honda has engineered away the dynamic flaws of early hybrids while keeping their miserly fuel consumption.
First, it’s not unearthly quiet. When the four-cylinder, 1.3-liter gas engine re-starts at an intersection, it makes a proper noise and a spasm of torque shakes the car. We have internal combustion! The four-season Dunlops offer much more feel than previous “wooden” low-rolling-resistance tires. There are paddles on the steering wheel that let the driver “shift” the belt-driven, gear-less automatic transmission, which even has a Sport mode. The regenerative brakes no longer have that peculiar dead feeling that often comes with converting friction to electricity (to recharge the batteries). The electric oomph is from a ring-type motor, which virtually disappears between the gas engine and the transmission, and the battery pack lives under the rear deck, so the Insight doesn’t feel nose-heavy or sluggish. Handling-wise, an Insight won’t threaten a Boxster on a back road, but it won’t disgrace itself, either.
The Insight is a dual-mode car in more ways than one. It can be driven in ordinary fashion, oblivious to its gas-electric propulsion, or—by pushing the green ECON button—we can shift to computer-game mode. The Multi-Information Display behind the steering wheel lights up with an ECO Guide that monitors our driving. Driving green does not mean simply staying out of the revs; downshifting, with the console lever or the paddle, provides extra power with no blue penalty. And we can use the Guide without taking eyes off the road because the digital speedometer, just below the windshield, changes from friendly green to finger-wagging blue when we stray (by accelerating or decelerating too hard). The Insight may be the first mass-market “driver’s” hybrid.
The Insight even grades our performance. Drive efficiently and we earn little “trees” on the display. Normally, I score four trees on the highway and four and a half in town. But if I pay attention to the computerized coaching, I can knock off five trees, no sweat. Over 234 miles of mixed driving at an average of 33 miles per hour, I achieved 48.5 miles per gallon—and without infuriating any drivers behind me, or even feeling that life is passing me by.
Outside, Insight is small; inside, Insight is fine for four (though headroom is tight in the back) plus groceries or gear. If the windshield glass extended another two inches upward, the view from the front seats would be remarkably airy, thanks to the long side windows with their skinny frames. The Insight’s wedgey, cab-forward style seems to announce efficiency and performance together. Relative performance, that is; this is no sports car. Instead, it’s the first inexpensive hybrid that doesn’t really feel like one. The new kid’s braces have come off and the acne is clearing up.
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Published September 29, 2009 by Silvio Calabi
Filed Under: Hybrids/Green, Road Tests