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http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/2/Japanese_Flag_30x22.jpg The 2010 Insight's job is clear: rebuild Honda's hybrid street-cred and generate head (http://www.freep.com/article/20090528/COL14/905280388/1081/New+Insight+just+isn+t+that+innovative)

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/Insight_2000-2010.gifMark Phelan - The Free Press (http://www.freep.com) - May 28, 2009

I think this reviewer failed to note the main demographic for this vehicle. --Ed.

The 2010 Honda Insight hybrid is a new car bereft of new ideas.

That's peculiar, because the original 2000 Insight was the first gasoline-electric hybrid sold in the United States. It paved the way for dozens of hybrids that followed and reshaped the global auto industry.

Ten years later, the 2000 Insight remains a landmark vehicle. It combined great looks, sporty character, good value and breathtaking EPA fuel economy ratings of 49 m.p.g. in the city and 61 m.p.g. on the highway. To this day, nothing on the market can touch those figures.

The 2000 Insight was a truly historic car. The new 2010 Insight is merely a puzzle with a low price tag.

Prices for the 2010 Insight start at $19,800. A top-of-the-line EX with a navigation system stickers at $23,100. I tested a sparsely equipped EX model that goes for $21,300.

All Insights come with a continuously variable transmission, 98-horsepower 1.3-liter gasoline engine and... http://www.freep.com/article/20090528/COL14/905280388/1081/New+Insight+just+isn+t+that+innovative

-----I think this reviewer failed to note the main demographic for this vehicle. --Ed.-----

I would think that is Honda's Marketing Dept's failure. Of which I think they have been failing a lot over the last 10 years or so. They have not been marketing there products right and have had to much input on development and production.

Lets face it. The real gem in any Honda Hybrid or car for that matter is the ICE. IMA is,,, kind of a poke in the eye. The real beauty is the Swiss watch, eff. ICE.

The marketing folks need to be sharpening the engineers pencils IMHO.

It almost seems as though Honda has the opposite problem of GM. GM is run by bean counters that hamper efforts to produce winning products. Honda has engineers that produce superior products but fall short in marketing and other related aspects.

Honda's recent success proves they are not failing, but I do believe they could be doing much better if they tweaked their products a little. For example, the gearing of the FIT MT is ridiculous.

Honda's recent success proves they are not failing, but I do believe they could be doing much better if they tweaked their products a little. For example, the gearing of the FIT MT is ridiculous.

For an Eco-oriented car, yes. But for Honda's goal of making a little car that is as fun as possible, it is spot on. Remember from 07-08 to the 09+ model they shortened the gearing further.

There may not be much technical innovation obvious to the naked eye in the I-II, but the real breakthrough is the sub-$20k price and the appeal to young buyers. To many eco-conscious young people the Prius appears as a middle-aged person's car, and the genIII model will make that even more so. With its (slightly) lower price, crisper lines and Honda-not-Toyota handling, the Insight will definitely attract a younger crowd. I don't think it will pick off many Prius buyers, but it will bring a lot of otherwise non-hybrid buyers into the market.

In response to the argument that the new-old Prius EX is barely any more expensive, two points: first, the Insight is still under the incredibly important sub-$20k psychological threshold, at least if you include hubcaps. (If you don't see $20k as an important threshold, well ... congratulations on your financial success!) Second, you can darn well bet that the Prius EX would not exist for 2010 if the Insight weren't forcing the issue.

The Insight may not get the same impressive mileage as the Prius, but it still blows away every other conventional gas or diesel car on the market including the Smart. I think it's misleading to label IMA as "mild hybrid" system just because it doesn't have the HSD planetary-gear system. It may not be as clever as HSD, but Honda's system gets the job done many times better than the weak real "mild hybrid" (BAS) systems in cars like the Malibu and Saturn Vue hybrids. Honda's motor and battery are several times more powerful than what those systems have, and it's direct rather than belt driven. The proof is in the MPG numbers: The Insight and HCH may be 25% lower than the Prius, but they are still closer to the Prius than they are to the GM mild hybrids.