Nothing for ages then...

[Bennett]

I'd barely heard of the Insight (was vaguely aware of its history as a pre-Prius hybrid) and never seen one in real life. Of course today I see three on my way in - two in my parking garage!

I have to say, it's a glorious-looking car.

I have the HCH-II and from my time on the Honda website I have to ask - what are the main differences between the modern Civic hybrid and the Insight? It seems to me that the Insight basically gives up some passenger head/legroom and HP for several thousand bucks off the price, and of course it's a hatchback which on balance I think is an advantage. For a small commuter car the Insight would appear to come out on top, but I wondered what people here thought.

When I bought the Civic there weren't any Insights available to look at/buy on the lot. I have a weird feeling if I had two side by side at the time I might have made a different choice. My biggest concern is the lower HP (the HCH already chugs up some steep inclines) and, weirdly, the lower EPA mileage...?

Bennett

[Mendel Leisk]

Very thorough comparison by Manuel Santos here:

http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showt...264#post213264

[ksstathead]

The pre-prius Insight was a completely different car: a little 2 seater. The Insight II is a compact 5-seater.

[WriConsult]

Personally I think the Insight is really underrated. Although its space is small on paper, the cargo area is actually fairly long (33") and wide, so it can carry a lot more stuff than its size spec might indicate. For my purposes the longer cargo space is more usable than that of a Fit. And I disagree with many "professional" auto reviewers who thought it's noisy -- I drove one back-to-back vs. a Fit, and the Insight was WAYYY quieter. And if you can live with the base model (I can) it's thousands cheaper than an HCH, too. (Sorry, maybe not the answer you were looking for there. ).

My biggest complaint about the Insight is its limited autostop capability. Officially you get 45sec max, and in my experience it's often a lot shorter than that. Since most stoplights around here have an average cycle length of more than a minute, that means I'd spend more time idling than in autostop.

[Bennett]

Originally Posted by Mendel Leisk

Very thorough comparison by Manuel Santos here:

http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showt...264#post213264

Brilliant! Thanks for the link.

Bennett

[Harold]

Bennett
That comparison is on the newer Insight. The one Bennett is talking about is the 2006 and earlier Insight. Two seater and aluminum body . The best damn Hybrid ever produced but nobody realized it. Could not get past the two seat part of it. Even though they hardly used more than two. I always wanted one , but owned a Miata at the time! Right Lane Cruiser has one and averages over 100 mpg! H

[Harold]

Sorry Bennett you are talking about the new Insight. H