2010 Toyota Prius vs. 2010 Honda Insight Comparison: Battle of the Fuel Sippers—The Rematch

[Tideland Prius]

Yountville, CALIF.—The Toyota Prius used to have it easy. Since the second-generation 2004 model hit mainstream success, the Prius has become the gold standard for hybrid fuel efficiency. But much has happened in the past year. The competition has grown tougher, in particular from Toyota's cross-town rival, Honda. A few months ago, Honda unveiled the new Insight hybrid, a car that clearly has the Prius in its crosshairs.

To see how the Insight measured up, we compared it against the 2009 Prius, knowing all along that the new Prius was just around the corner. The Honda was victorious, logging better fuel economy in a sportier package. But that was, oh, three months ago. Now we've got the all-new Prius and have brought these two players together again for round two. We didn't have the opportunity to perform acceleration and braking tests this time, but we did run them both on a 300-mile, mixed-driving loop. Call this Prius vs. Insight—The Rematch. –Larry Webster

2010 Toyota Prius vs. 2010 Honda Insight Comparison Test Drive: Battle of the Fuel Sippers?The Rematch - Popular Mechanics

[robbyr2]

The original article ticked me off. 41.1 mpg? Even going 75 mph with cruise control against a 30 mph wind, my 08 Prius averaged 44.3 mpg! I would hate to think what the writer must have done to the Prius to get that mileage.

[spwolf]

And on the curvy back roads the Toyota wasn't working quite as hard as the Honda to keep a swift pace.

One driver commented that "You can really hear the Honda's engine working," and that's one of the biggest differences between these two cars. The Prius is much more refined; it's dead silent. In fact, we dubbed it the Mini Lexus.

so much for new prius being dull to drive, apperantly it is less so than Insight when driven against each other :-).

[Danny]

The Insight delivered 40.9 mpg, a solid number considering how hard we drove these cars. But the Prius returned an amazing 45.8.

You'd have to work the Prius pretty hard to only get 45.8. But I guess they worked the Insight just as hard to only get 40.9.

[Tideland Prius]

45.8mpg is still harder than the 34mpg that one of the journalists got in Napa Valley. Later that day, they achieved 70mpg with ECO Mode.

[markderail]

The only way I'm able to achieve around 35Mpg is with my trailer, loaded with furniture (stove / fridge), and three adults and boxes.

Then, doing 65MPH+ in the middle lane on the highway. The engine is ON all the time.

I was able to set a new low record. Oh, it was cold, with winter tires, so the heater was also on.

[toxicity]

I test drove a new Insight last week. They are INCREDIBLY weak, good God. I wouldn't be surprised if a person's fuel economy in an Insight was lower than with a Prius - it took so damned long to accelerate. Eco mode was basically as powerful as pushing the car yourself. If the Insight was a full hybrid, I imagine these qualities would enable to you achieve INSANE mpg, but its just a power boost hybrid, so the engine was always running.

No push button start.

It was brand new and the brakes were complete crap, you would have to push the pedal more than half way to feel even the slightest slowing down. If you had your hands at 10 and 2 on the steering wheel, half the dash was hidden, including the speedometer.

There was less space in the drivers seat, and MUCH less space in the shotgun seat. The cargo space was practically non-existant, but I kind of expected that after seeing a Civic hybrid.

There were only two things I liked about it - the interior design, including design of the dials, the colors of the lights, the layout, (including the eco-light thing) all much more exciting-looking than the Prius; and the A/C seemed a lot more powerful.

I would not trust the Insight to get on the highway in any remotely safe manner; when I got back in my Prius I was extremely relieved.

[SageBrush]

We are in a deep recession, and I have two perfectly good cars. The only way out for me is to rent each car for a week. Otherwise I am going to pine after them non stop.

[msirach]

You definitely have a different opinion than I. Weak?? Were you drag racing? Unsafe?? You barely touch the brake pedal and you feel the braking from the regen. I didn't stomp on the brakes to lock them up, but it didn't fail to slow down and stop. Eco power: Yes it has less power, but that's the function of the "ECO". The Prius "Eco" mode operates in the exact same way. I did see about a 10 mpg increase in the same route with the same driving conditions just by pressing the eco button.

Yes, you will be able to get insane mileage with it. It is not a Prius and wasn't designed to be.

Originally Posted by toxicity

I test drove a new Insight last week. They are INCREDIBLY weak, good God. I wouldn't be surprised if a person's fuel economy in an Insight was lower than with a Prius - it took so damned long to accelerate. Eco mode was basically as powerful as pushing the car yourself. If the Insight was a full hybrid, I imagine these qualities would enable to you achieve INSANE mpg, but its just a power boost hybrid, so the engine was always running.

No push button start.

It was brand new and the brakes were complete crap, you would have to push the pedal more than half way to feel even the slightest slowing down. If you had your hands at 10 and 2 on the steering wheel, half the dash was hidden, including the speedometer.

There was less space in the drivers seat, and MUCH less space in the shotgun seat. The cargo space was practically non-existant, but I kind of expected that after seeing a Civic hybrid.

There were only two things I liked about it - the interior design, including design of the dials, the colors of the lights, the layout, (including the eco-light thing) all much more exciting-looking than the Prius; and the A/C seemed a lot more powerful.

I would not trust the Insight to get on the highway in any remotely safe manner; when I got back in my Prius I was extremely relieved.

[sl7vk]

Originally Posted by msirach

You definitely have a different opinion than I. Weak?? Were you drag racing? Unsafe?? You barely touch the brake pedal and you feel the braking from the regen. I didn't stomp on the brakes to lock them up, but it didn't fail to slow down and stop. Eco power: Yes it has less power, but that's the function of the "ECO". The Prius "Eco" mode operates in the exact same way. I did see about a 10 mpg increase in the same route with the same driving conditions just by pressing the eco button.

Yes, you will be able to get insane mileage with it. It is not a Prius and wasn't designed to be.

I think part of the problem is the Honda engine... Maybe the noise of it.....
I had the same impression when I test drove a Civic Hybrid before buying my Prius in 06. I thought it was very weak, slow, and borderline dangerous. In hindsight maybe it was just the difference in their CVT, the less isolated driving noise, and the different humm of the Honda engine that had me freaked out.......