Honda InsightWhen the first Insight was launched in 1999 hybrid technology was a brave new world for most of us. Could the Insight really achieve what Honda confidently claimed – the performance of a largish petrol engine coupled with the thirst of a small one. Well, the official combined consumption of that quirky two-seater was a mightily impressive (for the time) 83.1mpg, though I have to say that the actual consumptions achieved by the car’s few owners were almost certainly pretty far adrift of that. Nonetheless, getting anywhere near 80+ was a tonic for the wallet. That old Insight never sold in large numbers, partly because of the price but mainly because it seated just two – so you had a level of sports car practicality coupled with a performance that wasn’t.The arrival of the Civic IMA (Integrated Motor Assist) in 2003 moved the Honda hybrid up a notch or two, as this was a true small family car with the appropriate number of seats, and a still relatively impressive 57.6mpg official average. The current version boasts 61.4, and is now referred to more definitively as the Civic Hybrid. That one is going to stay on sale, despite the arrival of Honda’s new player with an old name – the Insight.At 4.4 metres long the new Insight is a touch smaller than the Civic, but far more important to most buyers will be the fact that it’s a hatchback, whereas the Civic Hybrid is necessarily a saloon. I say ‘necessarily’, because the presence of a large battery pack behind the rear seat does somewhat mitigate against you folding it down. The new Insight has the battery at the bottom of the boot, so normal hatchback configuration – which of course is what British buyers traditionally go for – can be and is used.It may be a hybrid car, but the user can forget all about the mechanics of the system and simply drive normally. It feels like a petrol-driven family car with probably a 1.6 engine, and with the standard continuously variable auto transmission it’s very easy to drive. If you are inclined to see how the two motors are sharing the load, then the ‘motor assist’ gauge (one of a number of ‘pages’ which illustrate all sorts of things you may or may not find useful) indicates graphically which way power is flowing, so for instance you can see when the battery is being charged – either by the engine, or through regenerative braking which is the main benefit of a hybrid system. Obviously when braking it’s far better to charge the battery by turning the electric motor into a generator, than merely to generate waste heat in the brakes as one does in a conventional car. To the right of the facia is an ‘Econ’ button which instructs the system to behave as economically as possible, and you might think that this should have been a default setting.Up front in the cabin it’s a roomy car, with a very pleasing facia layout that’s finished in a variety of materials and colours; that might sound muddled, but it actually looks coherent and friendly. The rear seat isn’t such a happy place to be, being unsuited to tall adults, and indeed they’ll have to be careful of their head when getting in there. Boot volume is a minimum 408 litres, certainly enough for family luggage unless Elton John is part of your family, and of course that can be increased by folding the rear seat backs. Spread around the cabin are useful cubby holes, and underneath the boot floor is a very sizeable secret compartment.Whatever the pros and cons of the car, its USP is of course fuel consumption, but can one actually on a regular basis achieve anywhere near the official 64.2mpg? Well, at the launch we all crawled round a set 8-mile route as greenly as possible to see who could get the best figure. Measurement was done with the car’s own computer so was not necessarily dead accurate, but good enough for a comparison. I managed what I thought was a respectable 75.1, quietly confident that it wouldn’t be beaten, until along came a character wearing what were obviously trick boots who contrived a truly remarkable 79.5mpg. The route was admittedly pretty hill-free, but based as it was around Aldershot you can guess it certainly wasn’t free of traffic. Normal use won’t see anything near those numbers, but reasonably careful driving with a light touch on the throttle, and a brain prepared to think well ahead, should see results close to the official figure.Starting price for the Insight is some £1500 less than that of the original car ten years ago, so it’s a much more affordable hybrid. CO2 emissions are just 101g/km so the car gets into group B of the VED rates, which means for this ‘alternative fuel car’ an annual fee of £15, dropping to a lightweight tenner in April 2010.Size: 4.40m x 1.70mMotors: Petrol: 1.3 litre – 88PS Electric: 14PSGearbox: CVT autoConsumption: 64.2mpg official combinedPrice at April ’09: £15,490 to £18,390Full details of the Insight available on the manufacturer’s website: www.honda.co.ukPeter Cracknell - March 2009
Honda Insight
When the first Insight was launched in 1999 hybrid
technology was a brave new world for most of us. Could
the Insight really achieve what Honda confidently
claimed – the performance of a largish petrol engine
coupled with the thirst of a small one. Well, the official
combined consumption of that quirky two-seater was a
mightily impressive (for the time) 83.1mpg, though I have
to say that the actual consumptions achieved by the
car’s few owners were almost certainly pretty far adrift of
that. Nonetheless, getting anywhere near 80+ was a
tonic for the wallet. That old Insight never sold in large
numbers, partly because of the price but mainly because
it seated just two – so
you had a level of
sports car practicality
coupled with a
performance that
wasn’t.
The arrival of the Civic
IMA (Integrated Motor
Assist) in 2003 moved
the Honda hybrid up a
notch or two, as this
was a true small family
car with the appropriate
number of seats, and a
still relatively impressive
57.6mpg official
average. The current
version boasts 61.4,
and is now referred to
more definitively as the
Civic Hybrid. That one
is going to stay on sale, despite the arrival of Honda’s
new player with an old name – the Insight.
At 4.4 metres long the new Insight is a touch smaller
than the Civic, but far more important to most buyers will
be the fact that it’s a hatchback, whereas the Civic
Hybrid is necessarily a saloon. I say ‘necessarily’,
because the presence of a large battery pack behind the
rear seat does somewhat mitigate against you folding it
down. The new Insight has the battery at the bottom of
the boot, so normal hatchback configuration – which of
course is what British buyers traditionally go for – can be
and is used.
It may be a hybrid car, but the user can forget all about
the mechanics of the system and simply drive normally. It
feels like a petrol-driven family car with probably a 1.6
engine, and with the standard continuously variable auto
transmission it’s very easy to drive. If you are inclined to
see how the two motors are sharing the load, then the
‘motor assist’ gauge (one of a number of ‘pages’ which
illustrate all sorts of things you may or may not find
useful) indicates graphically which way power is flowing,
so for instance you can see when the battery is being
charged – either by the engine, or through regenerative
braking which is the main benefit of a hybrid system.
Obviously when braking it’s far better to charge the
battery by turning the electric motor into a generator,
than merely to generate waste heat in the brakes as one
does in a conventional car. To the right of the facia is an
‘Econ’ button which instructs the system to behave as
economically as possible, and you might think that this
should have been a default setting.
Up front in the cabin it’s a roomy car, with a very pleasing
facia layout that’s finished in a variety of materials and
colours; that might sound muddled, but it actually looks
coherent and friendly. The rear seat isn’t such a happy
place to be, being unsuited to tall adults, and indeed
they’ll have to be careful of their head when getting in
there. Boot volume is a minimum 408 litres, certainly
enough for family luggage unless Elton John is part of
your family, and of course that can be increased by
folding the rear seat backs. Spread around the cabin are
useful cubby holes, and underneath the boot floor is a
very sizeable secret compartment.
Whatever the pros and cons of the car, its USP is of
course fuel consumption, but can one actually on a
regular basis achieve anywhere near the official
64.2mpg? Well, at the
launch we all crawled
round a set 8-mile route as
greenly as possible to see
who could get the best
figure. Measurement was
done with the car’s own
computer so was not
necessarily dead accurate,
but good enough for a
comparison. I managed
what I thought was a
respectable 75.1, quietly
confident that it wouldn’t
be beaten, until along
came a character wearing
what were obviously trick
boots who contrived a truly
remarkable 79.5mpg. The
route was admittedly
pretty hill-free, but based
as it was around Aldershot you can guess it certainly
wasn’t free of traffic. Normal use won’t see anything near
those numbers, but reasonably careful driving with a
light touch on the throttle, and a brain prepared to think
well ahead, should see results close to the official figure.
Starting price for the Insight is some £1500 less than
that of the original car ten years ago, so it’s a much more
affordable hybrid. CO2 emissions are just 101g/km so
the car gets into group B of the VED rates, which means
for this ‘alternative fuel car’ an annual fee of £15,
dropping to a lightweight tenner in April 2010.
Size: 4.40m x 1.70m
Motors: Petrol: 1.3 litre – 88PS
Electric: 14PS
Gearbox: CVT auto
Consumption: 64.2mpg official combined
Price at April ’09: £15,490 to £18,390
Full details of the Insight available on the manufacturer’s
website: www.honda.co.uk
Peter Cracknell - March 2009
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