Honestly insight is better than Prius C (Consumer Reports reviews)

The Insight-2 is (was) an attempt to compete with the adult-sized Prius.
They gave up a little efficiency for some real-world utility and cost concerns.
The Insight was supposed to be an $18,000 alternative to the $24,000 Prius with a more or less 5 MPG efficiency delta.
The idea shook Toyota up enough to squirt a little adrenaline in the development of the C-model, which retains the adult-sized car's MPG rating and gives the studio audience a less Priussy looking Prius with a slightly smaller price tag.

Fortunately, or unfortunately.....
It didn't work.
I actually tinkered with the idea of getting one, and it IS a good car, but as goofy as the Prius up-sell schemes are?
You still get some fairly 'essential luxuries' in the base models.
The base Insight for example lacks a cruise control, something that is usually included in an $18,000 commuter car.

You can blame it on this or that, but in the end the Insight-too failed in the marketplace for the same reason that it's parents did.
They are (were) a niche car for a market that has a LOT of competition, and they just got edited out of the automotive gene pool.

 

The insight is not meant to compete with the Prius C. It is meant to compete with the Prius liftback. Toyota just released the C afterwards to thwart it, and it worked.

The insight looks like a highschooler got hold of it and installed a $40 radio from an aftermarket shop.

 

The civic hybrid and the Prius were not competitors in anything but "two different hybrids". One was a hatchback the other a sedan with a useless trunk. We have both. The insight was intended to be a cheap Prius hatchback. That's why they even look the same, even though the insight is smaller.

You are truly delusional.

 

The reason we chose a five-door hatchback was that we wanted the car to be popular in Europe. American Honda – the biggest market – asked us to build a car with a boot, but we rejected that idea, because to compete with other green cars and sell more in Europe, it had to be a five-door hatchback. Of course, aerodynamically it is also a more favourable shape.

—Yasunari Seki, Honda Insight Project Leader

"Compete with other green cars"... Meaning the Prius?! Well yeah, it was the only one that posed any competition at the time. It was the frontrunner and still is.

The original insight is a small 2 seater, relatively low roof line. Yes similar to the old CRXs. Which I have also had before. The Prius is gigantic in comparison and much more swoopy. The lines are very different. Then the Insight II came out, and looked like a Prius.

It is really not that hard to grasp. Today they push it as a Prius C competitor because it really is a cheap crappy car and the only way they can come close in comparisons is to go against the baby of the line. And they still lose. It is truly sad.

I have owned and do own many Hondas. But Toyota flat out beat them with the Prius in every aspect. That's why we have 2 Prii and a Lexus hybrid as well.

 

Are those members also inanimate objects, not human beings?

Can you first provide a direct quote from Honda where they said, "Our new Insight is intended to compete against Nonhybrids ..., not any existing hybrids."


When I was shopping for a hybrid in late 2008 to early 2009, and the 2010 Insight and Prius were upcoming but not yet rolled out, I certainly perceived the Insight as competing at least against the GenII Prius. It appeared to be removing a bit of cost from the Civic Hybrid system, trying to undercut Prius on price and grabbing a portion of its market in the lower price end. But when both were finally rolled out, it was clear that the Insight price was a bit higher than expected, while Prius considerably raised the performance bar and then played hardball on price. By the end of the year, when it was clear that the Insight wasn't providing much competition, Toyota boosted the Prius MSRP.

 

This being the home field for everything prius, i can see how the convo has devolved into an eagles/redskins fanboy grudge match. So, here it is: they are both good cars from reliable companies. I drove both. I liked both, I would be happy with either. Quite simply, I prefer the c for what I perceived to be its better recipe of efficiency, economy and practicality for the intended purpose. After driving it for 10k I have not been disappointed.

I use it for a daily 60 mile commute on mostly 45-55 mph, frequently stop and go six lane highway with few lights and on ramps for most of the way. It also does the infrequent road trip and takes me camping with my wife.

Could I use the extra space? Sometimes. Do I need it? Rarely. For trips that require a lot of gear i can always throw on a turtle top for added room, bringing my mpg down almost to where the insight is normally.

My last two vehicles were a 500 dollar ranger and a 1500 dollar metro. I thought both were great and was sad to see each of them go. (Btw, no reliability or repair issues with either) Needless to say, the same c that some say is cheesy and retro feels like the top of the line to me. I'm thrilled to get behind the wheel every time. I hope and expect that insight owners feel the same way. My car is not better, it's just better for me.

Wins on mpg
Wins on size
Wins on placement and ease of controls
Wins on driver position.

Not much else matters to me. Except that my red is better than your red

Fuelly vs standard test? I like fuelly because, intentionally or not, a vehicle can have an anomolous liking for the exact conditions of the test and not perform as well in a broad spectrum of driver and driving conditions. The Prii seem to perform equally on either scale. The cmax and a couple of honda hybrids, including the new accord seem to have trouble duplicating their test scores in the real world. That was also a consideration when choosing between the two.

As far as motor trends review? It appears that the insight matches up marginally better with what their reviewer and readers are perceived to value.

DROID X2 ? 2

 

Just remembered -- while working with a Honda salesperson who knew I was also looking at the Prius, she lent me an internal marketing brochure comparing the Insight-II directly to the Prius, and only the Prius, with numerous point-by-point comparisons highlighting where the Insight was better. Of course, it compared against the GenII Prius, as GenIII was not yet rolled out.

I even photocopied it, so will look to see if it is still here.

 

Why even bother with this guy?

 

Of course I haven't. Instead, I previously stated that all of them follow a Pre-WWI German design, as have many others listed here: Kammback (Kammback - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia).

Your strawmen are getting more ridiculous, and you know it.

 

The thread's OP has an issue that many of us at PC find joy in our Prius', other hybrids, and EVs....seems like all his threads attempt to cause strife here. I'm a Honda guy, yet know the Insight II (from 2008-2014) can't match the Prius, and this thread does not even mention the greatest Honda shortcoming: the IMA system is well short of the HSD.

And the OP has the same screen name as someone that has made a career the past dozen years disrupting hybrid, EV, and other forums - the OP's behavior is very consistent in the desire to create strife.

Most of us want things in life such as a family, live the American Dream (even if it's in another country), somehow leave the world a better place - i.e. bring joy. This OP's mission seems to be to take away joy from us. I make my responses to this member limited (should be more limited) - I'm fine with my ride and what he says will not take my joy away. I recommend the same for other members.

 

Well the Insight is picking up sales . . . a market leader . . . if we use the right kind of glasses:

	model	May_14	Apr_14	Mar_14	Feb_14
1	others​
2	Honda Insight	493	441	410	339
3	GL-Class Diesel	447	434	396	415
4	ML Class Diesel	434	438	457	364
5	Honda Civic Hybrid	415	450	338	443
6	Q7 Diesel	408	410	411	310
7	5-Series Diesel	389	294	281	576
8	Honda CR-Z	389	369	354	318
9	A6 Diesel	373	303	249	202
10	GLK Class Diesel	356	369	411	298
11	Highlander Hybrid	355	418	333	105
12	i3	336
13	Touareg Diesel	304	319	285	195
14	Q50 Hybrid	294	263	380	328
15	Golf Diesel	271	479	515	366
16	Cayenne Diesel	270	475	562	350
17	E-Class Diesel	247	264	251	229
18	Pathfinder Hybrid*	238	183	237	191
19	Volkswagen Jetta Hybrid	209	149	276	232
20	forTwo EV	206	203	186	122
21	Spark	182	97	108	71
22	Grand Cherokee Diesel	181
23	Ford Focus EV	177	116	177	129
24	X3 Diesel	174
25	500E	167	152	166	40
26	Beetle Diesel	159	184	212	123
27	Toyota RAV4 EV	149	69	73	101
28	QX60 Hybrid*	137	114	167	135
29	A7 Diesel	99	90	72	55
30	Malibu Hybrid	94	130	191	202
31	A8 Diesel	78	52	64	59
32	Honda Civic	78	115	62	37
33	Cayenne Hybrid	75	84	96	64
34	Regal Hybrid	64	41	95	88
35	ILX Hybrid	63	49	46	42
36	Impala Hybrid	58	34	49	38
37	Porsche Panamera S E-Hybrid	53	63	56	57
38	ELR	52	61	81	58
39	Accord Plug In	46	37	18	24
40	i	35	12	24	3
41	Fit EV	33	50	37	33
42	Audi Q5 Hybrid	25	21	35	24
43	E400H	16	39	9	15
44	ActiveHybrid 3 (335ih)	13	13	27	18
45	ActiveHybrid 5 (535ih)	12	6	12	18
46	M Hybrid	12	11	19	14
47	S-Class Diesel	12	27	20	6
48	Chevrolet Tahoe Hybrid	10	5	20	6
49	Lexus GS 450h	9	35	25	23
50	ML450H	7
51	7-Series ActiveHybrid	5	6	4	3
52	LS 600h	5	9	7	11
53	Chevrolet Silverado Hybrid	4
54	Volkswagen Touareg Hybrid	3	3	1	3
55	Cadillac Escalade Hybrid	2	2	1	4
56	GMC Yukon Hybrid	2	7	5	2

Bob Wilson​

 

The fit hybrid appears to be competitive with the Prius c/Aqua on sales in Japan. But we aren't going to get it in the US.