Chuck
10-23-2006, 09:34 PM
ex-Wheels editor had an Insight (http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1158875419190&call_pageid=970599119419)
The Toronto Star - Sept. 23, 2006
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/tor_insight.jpg
John Terauds parked his Insight within sight of the CN tower in Toronto.
I recently spent two weeks behind the wheel of a 1988 Subaru GL. Made the year I first started writing for the Star, this once state-of-the-art small sedan is now hopelessly outdated.
The Subaru has no airbags or antilock brakes, you have to crank your own windows and lock your own doors. There isn't a single cupholder inside, and the carburetted 1.8 L flat-four is bog-slow.
That today's smallest and cheapest cars can keep their occupants safe and be gentle to the environment while also providing a high level of creature comforts says a lot about how the auto industry has evolved over the last two decades.
Then there are the massive improvements in quality from manufacturers of all continents.
But the biggest story from my days at Wheels, which I left in June, 2000, was the birth of the hybrid gas-electric car.
In February of that year, I had my first drive in a Toyota Prius. It was a nice little sedan that was close to feeling like an everyday driver.
The price was high, but it held promise.
A couple of months later came the Honda Insight, a little two-seater that was a blast to drive. At the time, it was the most fuel-efficient car sold in Canada. Being a two-seater, it wasn't practical. But it was promising, too.
Now hybrids are status symbols for green-minded consumers, and sell by the thousands.
If only people would give up on their big sport utilities and pickup trucks, there might be more hope for our planet's future.
The Toronto Star - Sept. 23, 2006
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/tor_insight.jpg
John Terauds parked his Insight within sight of the CN tower in Toronto.
I recently spent two weeks behind the wheel of a 1988 Subaru GL. Made the year I first started writing for the Star, this once state-of-the-art small sedan is now hopelessly outdated.
The Subaru has no airbags or antilock brakes, you have to crank your own windows and lock your own doors. There isn't a single cupholder inside, and the carburetted 1.8 L flat-four is bog-slow.
That today's smallest and cheapest cars can keep their occupants safe and be gentle to the environment while also providing a high level of creature comforts says a lot about how the auto industry has evolved over the last two decades.
Then there are the massive improvements in quality from manufacturers of all continents.
But the biggest story from my days at Wheels, which I left in June, 2000, was the birth of the hybrid gas-electric car.
In February of that year, I had my first drive in a Toyota Prius. It was a nice little sedan that was close to feeling like an everyday driver.
The price was high, but it held promise.
A couple of months later came the Honda Insight, a little two-seater that was a blast to drive. At the time, it was the most fuel-efficient car sold in Canada. Being a two-seater, it wasn't practical. But it was promising, too.
Now hybrids are status symbols for green-minded consumers, and sell by the thousands.
If only people would give up on their big sport utilities and pickup trucks, there might be more hope for our planet's future.