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Road Tests: Long-Term Test
Long-Term Test: 2000 Honda Insight
September 2000
By editors at Edmunds.com
Date Posted 04-24-2002
Video highlights of this vehicle
Driving the electric/gas hybrid
Insight was not a thrilling experience for our
associate editor Erin Mahoney. Ask her what she
thinks of this car and she won't hesitate to launch
into a vicious tirade, claiming "it's not a real
car!" and "driving it is frustrating and unsatisfying
[at this point she went into a detailed analogy
that is perhaps inappropriate for a family-oriented
Web site]."
Press her to summon up an iota of positive commentary,
though, and she'll make a few begrudging concessions.
She admits that fuel economy is phenomenal, and
the car gets up to speed fairly quickly. The cabin
is ergonomically sound as well, with intuitive,
easy-to-manipulate climate and stereo controls.
Mention the six-disc CD-changer, however, and
you'll be startled anew by her wrath:
"What
the hell is going on here?! I open the hatchback
- and don't even get me started on trunk-mounted
CD players to begin with - and the damn thing
isn't anywhere to be found. So I start to look
in all the logical places - the easy-to-locate
compartment in the center of the cargo floor,
the sides of the cargo area...nothing. I start to
wonder if this is all a cruel joke and the vehicle
isn't equipped with a CD player at all.
"I'd been suffering through listening to the radio
for about a week when I finally made an appeal
for help. Turns out that [research editor] Erin
Riches had found the elusive disc changer; she
said to look under the carpet on the left-hand
side of the cargo area. Seemed odd that the thing
would be hidden under the carpet, with no door
or latch to clue one in to its existence, but
- lo and behold - there it was!
"But my troubles didn't end there. I still had
to figure out how to load the bloody thing. It
took me a minute to realize that I had to remove
individual casings to accommodate each CD, rather
than just loading them directly into the magazine.
Why on earth Honda chose this troublesome and
nonsensical setup is beyond me."
Erin
also claimed that she didn't always feel safe in
the Insight, mostly because it felt so vulnerable
to gusts from passing semis and irregularities in
the road. Frankly, she was relieved to see her time
in the vehicle come to an end.
Our tech editor, on the other hand, found a lot
to like about the little car, although he admits
it isn't perfect:
"It is certainly the SLOWEST production automobile
I've ever driven. God, what a snail! I was also
really disappointed in the mileage figures, which
I was expecting to be much higher. I could never
get the thing to average even 50 mpg (and for
the most part I drove it very conservatively),
and for a vehicle that is rated 61 (city) and
70 (highway), I find that disturbing. If I was
a smart-ass, I'd ask whose pocket they're greasing
over at EPA, but I'm not.
"That being said, I think this car makes a lot
of sense as a local commuter. Granted, it's not
much on long trips or battling SUVs on the freeways,
but for an around-the-town kind of transport I
think it's pretty cool. Fifty mpg is nothing to
sneeze at, and over a year's time this represents
hundreds of dollars in savings.
"I also liked the Insight for what it signifies,
which is the future of the automotive industry.
Sure, it's clunky and slow, but this is the shape
(literally!) of things to come. If it looks a
little like something out of Woody Allen's 'Sleeper,'
so be it."
One
thing can certainly be said for our silver hybrid:
it's a car like no other, sure to elicit a strong
reaction from each of our drivers, be it critical
or congratulatory. Honda's got the right intentions
here, but this vehicle's going to need plenty of
tweaking to get up to speed (pun intended).
Total Odometer Reading: 7,295
Best Fuel Economy: 53.0 mpg
Worst Fuel Economy: 43.4 mpg
Running average over life of vehicle: 49.0 mpg
Body Damage: $0
Maintenance Costs: $0
Problems: None
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