2010 Insight reviewed, compared to 2009 Prius

It's under 'Future Vehicles', not under 'Hybrids' yet. The Safety Specifications page shows that the LX model will not have it, but the EX will. The Interior page mentions "VSA System and Off Indicators".

 

The trouble with all this skidpad stuff is it just doesn't relate to normal driving that most people do. I've driven Porsches, and unless you take those cars to the track, you never see much difference in performance from most other cars. One of the reasons, of course, is you have to take the engine to 4-5K rpm to get the kind of torque to get a kick. One of the great advantages of electrical engines is you get high torque immediately--at low rpm--and don't think the race car people haven't noticed. Electricals are the wave of the future in the racing industry, along with the CVT transmission. Manual is already passe.

Back to the point, the Prius and other hybrids right now are passenger cars, and should not be tested or driven as sports cars. The success of the Insight vs the Prius will be determined by price--and not by skidpad or anything else. You will have to price significantly lower to beat Prius. Marketing 101.

 

It looks like Consumer Reports kicked in:

Consumer Reports: 10 best cars - Green Car: Toyota Prius (11) - CNNMoney.com

So to turn off the ESC in a Prius, you just change options, no button required. <GRINS>

Bob Wilson

 

Hi Speedracer.

The Japanese jidoushazei tax is supposed to change this April to a CO2 based tax. If it does, the 5 number/3 number tax difference, actually a 1.3l vs. 1.5l or 1.8l difference, between the Prius and the Insight will become much smaller.

With negotiation, the current model Prius is already selling for at least 300,000 yen below recommended price in Japan. The discount is more than half the publicised difference in price between the cars. This is before the stripped down version comes out together with the new model.

I was disappointed to read that over half of the Insight buyers so far are fifty-plus. The Insight is being advertised as cute hybrid for everyone, but fifty-plus is really the same as the Prius. It would be nice to see more young Japanese drive hybrids.