2006 Honda Insight Road Test

[Tideland Prius]

Not too long ago, Honda announced that it would be ending production of the Honda Insight, and If this was a normal car, something like a Civic or even something sportier like the Acura RSX, which is also ending production this year, its send off would probably come in the form of a short, brief news section. But the Insight was a rarity for Honda. It wasn’t preceded by anything, and it won’t be followed by anything similar either. It wasn’t ordinary in the slightest. It was an especially thrifty gasoline-electric hybrid, and when it was launched in North America in 1999, that was a really big deal.

It might not have been the world’s first hybrid (Toyota beat Honda to the punch, launching the first generation Prius in Japan in December, 1997), but it was the first in North America; and just look at it. Even though it’s seven years old now, the Insight still looks futuristic with its covered rear wheel wells, bent-in front fenders and unbeatable 0.25 drag coefficient rating. Even the construction of the car is cutting edge. Unlike the rather ordinary Prius, the Insight is almost completely made of aluminum except for a couple of plastic panels. The Insight also happens to look sporty with its swoopy body, and two-seat layout, and that’s cool.

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[Chuck.]

There have been rumors on what if anything will succeed the Insight and so far it does not look like there will.

To the suggestion there was nothing like it - I have to differ. I had a 1986 CRX HF, then a 1988 CRX HF. It's a pretty accurate statement to consider the 5-speed Insight to be a CRX HF with an aluminum body and a hybrid powerplant.

I estimate around 2008 or 2009 the next generation Prius will beat the Insight 5-speed in overall fuel economy.

While being just a two seater was a disadvantage, you have to wonder if this is over done in the mind's of most people. There are now more cars than people and the percentage of single-occupant drivers is at an all-time high. I know we need to carry more people/things on occasion, but it still seems odd more people don't have a commute vehicle and a larger vehicle for big hauls....

[MarinJohn]

au revoir insight! You were good to me and inspired me to purchase my Prius.

[Beryl Octet]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Delta Flyer @ Dec 4 2006, 09:17 AM) [snapback]357323[/snapback]</div>

To the suggestion there was nothing like it - I have to differ. I had a 1986 CRX HF, then a 1988 CRX HF. It's a pretty accurate statement to consider the 5-speed Insight to be a CRX HF with an aluminum body and a hybrid powerplant.

While being just a two seater was a disadvantage, you have to wonder if this is over done in the mind's of most people. There are now more cars than people and the percentage of single-occupant drivers is at an all-time high. I know we need to carry more people/things on occasion, but it still seems odd more people don't have a commute vehicle and a larger vehicle for big hauls....
[/b]

We had a '90 CRX DX, great car, and always in high 30's/low 40's MPG-wise. Not sure why 2 seaters aren't more popular, I seem to remember seeing lots of CRXs around until they replaced it with the Del Sol, and I was hoping after the Insight came out a new CRX might not be too far behind. I hear what you are saying on Commuter cars, in yuppyland it now seems like the thing to have is a Sierra 2500 or Ford F-250 as the Dad's commuter car, and an Expedition or Tahoe as the family truckster for Mom.

[Proco]

I'm really disappointed that the Insight was discontinued. After I got our Prius, I started thinking it would be nice to have another hybrid. Since my wife & I aren't going to have kids, an Insight would have been perfect for me to commute in to work. My wife could use the Prius for her daily running around.

My local Honda dealer had a couple CVT Insights, but I couldn't work out the money.

Every now & then I'll see one on the road and wonder what might have been.

[Tideland Prius]

True. What if they redesigned the Insight. They could lower the price just as they did with the HCH. If the HCH dropped $5k (in Canada) to $25,800 (now it's $25,950) then the Insight would've been $21,000 flat which puts it right into the the smart car territory (smart fortwo passion).

Now *that* would've been some competition.

[john1701a]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(Tideland Prius @ Dec 4 2006, 11:56 AM) [snapback]357444[/snapback]</div>

True. What if they redesigned the Insight. They could lower the price just as they did with the HCH. If the HCH dropped $5k (in Canada) to $25,800 (now it's $25,950) then the Insight would've been $21,000 flat which puts it right into the the smart car territory (smart fortwo passion).

Now *that* would've been some competition.
[/b]

The heavy use of aluminum made Insight impractical for anything beyond a specialty vehicle, great for publicity now and fantastic for collectors later. The light weight of aluminum provided a big efficiency boost at the penalty making the vehicle unprofitable. So seeing large volume production was never realistic.

Perhaps plastic can be substituted. But the same is true for Prius. So being competitive shouldn't be an expectation.

The fact that "assist" hybrids don't support plug-in augmentation (larger motor and active cooling are not available) tend to derail discussions about that quickly. Starting fresh, as Honda is planning, is the best bet.