Right Lane Cruiser
05-29-2009, 08:43 AM
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/2/Japanese_Flag_30x22.jpg Ultimately, in this square-off it's the consumer who wins. (http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/topdown/detail?entry_id=40623)
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/2010_European_Honda_Insight-II_Side.jpgMichael Taylor - The San Francisco Chronicle (http://www.sfgate.com) - May 29, 2009
I think he missed the fact that Honda pioneered the split glass tailgate. --Ed.
It's like watching two bantamweight prizefighters staring at each other from their opposing corners in the ring.
On the right, ladies and gentlemen, we have the reigning champion,
Toyota Prius, and over here, the challenger, Insight from Honda. May the best hybrid win.
It may well look that way, especially when you realize that these two cars are the only ones in their class. Yes, there are other hybrids -- Honda has a close competitor with its own Civic hybrid -- but there aren't really any others that hew this closely to such similar characteristics.
Perhaps the best way to see it is to simply look at both cars: the second-generation Prius (2004-2009) was a brilliant piece of design, not because it's a pretty car (in my view, it's not), but because it's unique. One of the reasons it sold so well is because of just that -- it didn't look like just another Toyota that had been stuffed with a hybrid power train. It looked like a Prius. Its owner was saying, "look! I bought a Prius."
And when you look at that car, what stands out is that rear liftgate, horizontally split rear window design. Few cars have hatchbacks these days -- I'm not talking, here, of SUVs or the like -- and so the Prius had something others didn't. But that rear window treatment did it -- one piece of glass on the top part of the liftgate, the other mounted vertically, below the tailgate's support member.
Now check the 2010 Honda Insight: same thing, virtually the same design. It says, in effect, this is a... http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/topdown/detail?entry_id=40623
http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/501/2010_European_Honda_Insight-II_Side.jpgMichael Taylor - The San Francisco Chronicle (http://www.sfgate.com) - May 29, 2009
I think he missed the fact that Honda pioneered the split glass tailgate. --Ed.
It's like watching two bantamweight prizefighters staring at each other from their opposing corners in the ring.
On the right, ladies and gentlemen, we have the reigning champion,
Toyota Prius, and over here, the challenger, Insight from Honda. May the best hybrid win.
It may well look that way, especially when you realize that these two cars are the only ones in their class. Yes, there are other hybrids -- Honda has a close competitor with its own Civic hybrid -- but there aren't really any others that hew this closely to such similar characteristics.
Perhaps the best way to see it is to simply look at both cars: the second-generation Prius (2004-2009) was a brilliant piece of design, not because it's a pretty car (in my view, it's not), but because it's unique. One of the reasons it sold so well is because of just that -- it didn't look like just another Toyota that had been stuffed with a hybrid power train. It looked like a Prius. Its owner was saying, "look! I bought a Prius."
And when you look at that car, what stands out is that rear liftgate, horizontally split rear window design. Few cars have hatchbacks these days -- I'm not talking, here, of SUVs or the like -- and so the Prius had something others didn't. But that rear window treatment did it -- one piece of glass on the top part of the liftgate, the other mounted vertically, below the tailgate's support member.
Now check the 2010 Honda Insight: same thing, virtually the same design. It says, in effect, this is a... http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/topdown/detail?entry_id=40623