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CAP Blog > CAP Blog > Martin's Blog
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Apr
15
Written by:
Martin Ward
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
The new Insight is Honda’s answer to going ‘green’. The name has been used before on a two seater petrol/electric car and features Honda’s IMA system – integrated motor assist. The Insight has some unique features in terms of technology and styling. It was originally billed as the ‘people’s hybrid’, affordable by most and to be driven in all parts of the world. This may become true but the cost of the car is more than what was originally planned.
 The Insight is powered by a 1.3 litre petrol engine that is coupled to an electric motor and drives the front wheels via a CVT automatic gearbox. The petrol engine charges the batteries and the batteries power the electric motor so when going up a hill or when quicker acceleration is needed, more power is produced to the wheels, giving a maximum output of 88ps. All this does not happen automatically as the driver does have some input into the system and can monitor exactly what is happening at any time. There is a mass of information on the dash with different colours, tree signs which display how economical your drive has been and an eco-guide. According to the sheet in the car there are five different functions for the IMA system. On start up, the engine is in operation with the electric motor assistance. At low speed cruising, only the electric motor is in operation (I did not get this function to work at all). On acceleration, the engine works in cooperation with electric motor assistance. At high speed cruising, only the engine is in operation and on deceleration the recovered energy is stored in the Hybrid battery. While all this is going on, there are dials and an indicator telling the driver what system is being used. By pressing the ‘info’ button on the steering wheel an instant read out tells the driver what MPG is being achieved, average mpg, average speed, miles left in the tank and an average of the fuel used in the last three drives. It will also give you an eco score which I’m sure Insight drivers will enjoy and have many an hour discussing how many miles per gallon they have achieved and possibly how many traffic jams they have caused.
 The digital speedometer is directly in front of the driver behind the steering wheel and when I got myself into a comfortable position with the correct seat and wheel height, I could not see the speedometer. I found myself constantly stretching my neck to see above the wheel, to see how fast I was going. Another annoying feature of the Insight is the rear window which is in two parts; there is a normal upper window and a small window below it. This causes reflection from the lower glass to the upper glass and all you see are road markings  being reflected. So when you look in the rear view mirror you see flashing white images, this is quite distracting. The dash and all the lights of the info centre are just a bit too fussy. You do find yourself spending too much time looking at how much fuel you are using and not enough time looking at the road! Unless you are very careful, it could become dangerous; there has to be a limit as to how much info you need as there is just too much going on in front of you when driving this car. Most of the interior quality is good with the fit and finish at an acceptable standard but the plastics on the dashboard are hard and look to be very old fashioned. It is obvious that Honda has spent much time, money and research on the car’s technology and some of the interior has been neglected. The 1.3 litre engine has a Co2 output of 101g/km and the test car had a tax disc on it for 12 months at a cost of £15 which said on it, ‘alternative fuel car’. The Insight goes from 0-62mph in 12.5 seconds and has a top speed of 113mph. The Insight is not a quick car but it is designed to be more frugal than fast. The combined fuel consumption figure is 64.2mpg but after using the car on a number of journeys both long and local, the best I got was 47.9mpg. This is a long way short of the official number and well short of many modern diesel cars of a similar size. Although petrol is much cheaper than diesel, the pence per mile figure would have to be carefully considered before buying the Insight compared to an equivalent priced efficient diesel.
The auto stop feature on this car is excellent. Once the car is warm, the battery is up to the correct level and the outside temperature above a certain degree, the engine normally stops at traffic lights and road junctions once the foot brake has been pressed. As soon as the foot brake is released, the engine fires up instantly and the car is moving in milli-seconds. It is a really good system; it is so quick, quiet and super efficient. It is a comfortable car with enough room for four adults and the boot is bigger than the previous Hybrid from Honda. It’s now adequate but still not huge and this is mainly due to the batteries that are stored in the luggage area. The car we tested had beige seats and beige carpets; this would not be my choice of colour scheme. The Insight requires servicing every 12,500 miles or every 12 months and has a 40 litre fuel tank. Prices start at £15,490 for the SE, an ES costs £16,790 and the ES-T costs £18,390.
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