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THE HONDA INSIGHT Reviewed by Colin Hefferon  All-aluminum headturner Hallelujah! Finally, a car for people who want to do something to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas production. The Honda Insight is a lightweight, all-aluminum-body headturner that is supposed to get double the city and highway gas mileage of the last generation of fuel-efficient vehicles. Here's how the revolutionary gasoline-electric (hybrid) system works. An ultra-low emission (ULEV) Honda 995cc, three cylinder, 67HP gasoline engine provides the primary motive power under normal driving conditions. When the accelerator is pushed down, signalling more torque is required, power from a 144-volt battery pack producing 10KW is also engaged. The net result is a 10% increase in horsepower to the front wheels and a 38% increase in torque. This doesn't sound like much compared to what's available in, say, a Camaro Z28 but it's enough to give this lightweight (under 2000 lbs ) two-seater very acceptable acceleration and all-round performance. This is one electric system you'll never need to plug in; the car features regenerative braking so that, in fact, the battery pack charges itself. The Honda Insight is actually the second gasoline-electric hybrid car to be sold commercially but the first to arrive on these shores in volume. Deliveries of the first hybrid, the Toyota Prius, began in the fall of 2000. The Insight has actually been given the blessing of the Sierra Club of America which is the environmental equivalent of a Papal Imprimatur. This is the first time the Sierra Club has officially approved any motor vehicle. Sierra Club: good show; Honda: great show! A real car, not a novelty The significance of the Insight lies in its being a "real car," not a covered motorcycle or other type of oddball conveyance like the recently-introduced Sparrow. The Sparrow looks like the Messerschmidt three-wheeler that was cobbled together after WWII out of cockpit assemblies from wrecked ME-109s plus surplus parts from the Allied motor pool. For those of you who weren't paying attention, both the Messerschmidt (the car) and the Sparrow feature in-line seating for two and handling that reportedly gets more than a little dicey above 40mph. The Insight is a striking little guy that looks something like the Honda CRX 2-seater after a California makeover by the Mazda Precidia design team. Unlike the Precidia, however, the Insight lacks even a vestige of a back seat. Incidentally, the seats in the Insight I'm driving appear to have been installed incorrectly. The reason I say this is because the seat back release handles are most inconveniently placed on the part of the seat closest to the centre console; you have to reach into the car -- way, way in -- in order to release the seatback so that you can stow your briefcase or jacket in the rear storage area. The only other option is to open the hatchback each time. Very inconvenient, if it was designed this way: in fact, it may be one of the few examples of poor ergonomics you're likely to come across in any Honda product. Women prefer sitting upright Which brings up another point: Even though it's both economical and cute, I don't think women will buy a lot of Insights because I don't think most women will like the seating position. Many women have told me they prefer to sit upright so that they can see over other cars rather than so low that they're looking up their kilts. In fact, the alpha-dog syndrome that is fueling the SUV wars, may in fact, have been instigated by women. When I look into a big Ford Expedition or even a Mercedes ML-430 expecting to see a Marlboro-type guy behind the wheel with a load of people and material and some rough roadin' ahead, more often than not I see a tiny woman who'd likely get change back from 120 pounds with maybe a kid or two strapped into the back seat on her way to the mall. I never fail to ask myself (or anyone else who happens to be unlucky enough to be riding with me when I begin this rant), "what is accomplished by all that wasted space and fuel?" Insight a crowd-pleaser Two things about the Insight will knock out the guys: the first is the Wow! factor. The Insight draws crowds. All right, they're mostly guys and mostly tech heads but still, for the next few months, you're a star when you drive one: something like driving the New Beetle a couple of years ago, or even the PT Cruiser last month. Besides being a magnet for crowds (which most car guys seem to love), the Insight is fun to drive. The car feels like it's flying because the motor sounds like it's working its little heart out. Surprisingly good acceleration for normal city driving is helped along by the very tall first gear; you get to 25 or 30mph before first gear starts to run out of steam. Although this car is really about fuel economy, the big numbers promised in the adverts don't come without some help from you. For starters, you'd have to shut off the standard air conditioner and, most importantly, you'd have to shift when you're told. A green light on the dash tells you when to shift up; veterans of the OPEC wars will recall that old VW diesels came with something similar during the last fuel crisis in the mid-'70s. To get the eye-popping fuel efficiency numbers from the Insight, you must keep the revs lower than the little lean-burn VTEC-E engine would like to turn. Winner in the city, less so on highways At any rate, as a city car and short commuter, the Insight is a clear winner. For long distance commuting, though, especially when there are hills and valleys involved, the issue is somewhat more complex. In the interests of selfless reportage, one warm and dry mid-week evening last week, I packed an overnight bag and drove the Insight up to Whistler, a lovely four-seasons resort town about two hours north of Vancouver. For most of the 80 or so miles up the twisty, narrow Sea-to-Sky Highway (Hwy 99) from Vancouver, I was virtually alone, so I could push the Insight as much as my few remaining shards of prudence allowed. The margins for error are smaller on that stretch of highway than on many comparably well-travelled roads. For about half the 80 miles heading north, you're swimming in Howe Sound if you should lose it to your left (after a 1,500 ft plunge); if you lose it to your right, on the other hand, you're mashed potatoes. The remaining forty or so miles leave more margin for error but not enough so's you'd notice at high speed. No, madam, I don't think airbags would help. Interior noise higher than average I found the intrusion of road noise into the Insight to be considerably higher than other cars I've been driving in this series. In fairness, those cars included a Cadillac DTS, the new Olds Aurora, the V-6 Accord and other luxury or near-luxury vehicles, so I'm rather spoiled. While it's not the purpose of these... um... impressionist tests to record and report numbers like decibel levels, I would hazard a guess that at speeds over say, 50mph, road and engine noise easily exceeds the average for new cars sold in North America this year. With the tinny standard stereo radio and tape deck, the Insight makes for a raucus ride when it is pushed. It's good fun, mind, but still more noisy and buzzy inside the cockpit at highway speeds than most new car owners are used to these days.  Good fun but not so quiet Regardless of interior noise levels, the Insight is a remarkable achievement and I truly believe all car owners owe Honda a big "thank you" for it. In fact, Honda claims that with the numbers it is producing and the selling price, it's losing money on each unit. I guess it depends where you apportion the various costs of the car: As a marketing and public relations cum good-corporate-citizen gesture, it has to be a big moneymaker for Honda; as an R&D vehicle, ditto. That Honda figures it's losing money just tells you what a money spinner the automobile biz has become these days and how a rising market lifts everything, especially carmakers' expectations. Nonetheless, Honda hasn't cheaped out on the things we all expect: ABS brakes, two airbags, power locks, windows, stereo radio and tape, auto a/c, and so on. A car for your conscience With gasoline selling in parts of North America for almost double what it was just six months ago, and virtual gridlock the norm for four or five hours a day in most major cities, driving promises to be less fun next year than it is this year and even less so in the following years. All of us really should try to do more to help; it's just ordinary good sense. As a '60s-era African-American leader, the former Stokely Carmichael, had it: "If you ain't part of the solution, you're part of the problem." Just driving an Insight, I submit, does a whole lot to put you on the solution side. Photos © Honda Vancouver-based Colin Hefferon regularly tests and reviews new vehicles. Though an automotive enthusiast by nature, Colin takes the perspective of the average car owner. Which, after all, is most of us! Colin Hefferon is the road test editor for About Cars where more of his car reviews may be found. |
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