Hey Roy, why can't you post the URL?

- Google Search

http://www.nextautos.com/winding-road-issue-42-now-available

New members can't post links until they have a certain number of posts. I'm not sure why.

BTW, Winding Road is a great magazine, I've been reading it since the first issue. It is a free magazine every bit as good as Automobile. You can download the PDF or read it online. I wish I could get every magazine that I subscribe to in a similar format.

My guess is that "They" are fearful that someone may register for the sole purpose of advertising something. Perhaps someone can confirm?

Roy

Precisely. It's to prevent spammers.
Roy, welcome aboard, and thank you for sharing this article with us.

From the article: "The Prius leaves the driver hunting for her hands at night (there are no gauges in front of the steering wheel) and monkeying with a small and unique gear shifter the Insight is made for the complete idiot reader"

leaves the driver hunting?....you sure this article wasn't written by Honda?

I think we need to cut a little slack for the poor automotive reviewer. They have to review one car after another and write something that their readers will find interesting. After awhile we find one review sounds like another, so new words are coined. Notice few references to "transmission", now they call them "trannies". Isn't that cute?

So imagine that it's so dark you can't see your hand in front of your face. (But you and I know our hands are at the ends of our arms.) Excluding of course, those poor individuals who may be so terribly deformed.

I quit reading most automotive magazines years ago and have found forums such as this one much more informative.

Roy

Not a bad article, though a few serious technical errors. Some interesting new details, like the entry level Insight won't get the information display. Too bad, as that sounds like one of the more interesting features. Also interesting that they averaged 47mpg, where several other mags said they got around 60mpg.

A few of the errors:

1. Insight is a parallel hybrid, while Prius is a series. Says Prius power comes only from electric. In reality we all know about the PSD, and how Prius basically blends the best of both parallel and series hybrid modes.

2. Say new insight will have 123 ftlbs of torque, edging out the 2010 Prius. In reality the net torque output for the 2010 Prius has not yet been released. We know the engine alone will have 105 ft lbs, and the electric motor is rated for 153 ft lbs. In the '09 the engine was rated at 88 ftlbs, and the emotor at 295 ftlbs. We know that is an exaggerated number, based on what the motor is capable of delivering rather than what it actually is configured to do in the car (probably about half that based on the battery / inverter limitations). My guess would be that the 153 on the new model is more inline with what it actually delivers, and it will dominate the low rpm region where the Atkinson engine is pretty anemic. Anyway, I think its pretty safe to say it will have more net torque than the Insight.

Rob

In case readers miss it, there are also articles on the 2010 Prius and the new Fusion Hybrid in the magazine. The Prius article is right after the Insight article, around page 98. The Fusion article can be clicked directly from the cover page.

Winding Road Magazine | Issue 42

This is my first time reading WR. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt that they usually do a better job with content. Kudos though for the online and pdf presentation. I hope they are surviving money wise, because the publications based on paper are really struggling -- or folding.