Insight – All about car

Rod Johnson with the 2019 Honda Insight at Max Bell Arena parking lot in Calgary.Azin Ghaffari/Postmedia Hondas Insight was one of the first hybrid cars to hit the nations highways. Upon introduction late in 1999, it was a bit of quirky car. A low-slung, aerodynamic two-seater with body panels covering the rear wheels, the vehicle was something you either loved or hated.Rod Johnson of Olds, Alberta would place himself in the latter camp.I felt the first-generation Insight was kind of a homely looking vehicle, he says, and adds, I never would have considered owning one, even though I was interested in the fuel economy of the car, I wouldnt have wanted to look silly driving it.The latest iteration of the Insight, however, shouldnt be nearly as polarizing as the first. Third generation Insights rolled into dealerships halfway through 2018 as 2019 model year vehicles. Based on the chassis of the latest Honda Civic, the gasoline/electric Insight hybrid looks more like the automakers Accord sedan.Under the Insights hood lurks a 1.5-litre DOHC Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder engine coupled with an electric motor. Combined, they deliver 151 horsepower to the front wheels through an electronically-controlled continuously variable transmission. Now, this third-generation Insight really looks like a sharp machine, Johnson says. He recently spent a week behind the wheel of a $33,771 Insight Touring and was impressed with the experience.Johnson commutes daily from Olds to Calgary nearly 170 kilometres return, even more if hes running errands in the city. At one time, he also practiced what he calls mild hypermiling. This is where a driver uses a number of different driving strategies to squeeze as much fuel efficiency out of an engine. His best result was 964 kilometres on a single tank of gasoline from a 2002 Pontiac Sunfire equipped with a manual transmission.Even with the Honda Insight in Sport mode, and not driving like a hypermiler at all, I was still able to maintain close to 50 miles to the gallon, Johnson says.His regular commuting car is a 2006 Audi A3 while theres also a 2002 Honda Odyssey in the driveway. Johnson usually likes to shop used when he needs to upgrade a vehicle and cites his top three buying considerations as: Really good road feel, build quality and, to a lesser extent, brand reputation.Johnson says he was pleasantly surprised when he first rolled up on the all-new Insight.I think I had a different kind of vision, remembering the earlier generations, but this Insight looked like a higher brand of car, he says.Once inside, Johnson says the build quality continued to please as the cabin didnt look inexpensively put together and featured fine materials. At five-feet nine-inches tall, Johnson is of average height and he had no trouble adjusting the eight-way power adjustable drivers seat and the tilt and telescoping steering wheel to where he felt most comfortable. Also, it took no time for him to customize many of the Insights other settings and says everything was easily configurable.You can control what you see in the dash display, Johnson explains. I liked to see the power delivery, and noted when I was charging the battery, when I was driving purely on electric power and when I was using the gas engine.At first, Johnson thought the Insight was woefully underpowered.That was in Eco mode, and I wondered where the gas pedal was in the thing, Johnson laughs. But, after putting it in Sport mode, I decided that wasnt bad. You have to let the gasoline engine roar a bit, but it will perform better than expected.For a family sedan, in Sport mode, its got respectable performance and it gives good economy with no range anxiety.Johnson found it difficult to get used to the continuously variable transmission, though.To me its a funny feeling to push on the gas pedal and then have to wait for a response, he says. Braking was good, and Johnson experimented with the steering wheel mounted paddles that Honda calls Deceleration Selectors.The automaker says the paddles allow a driver to, Toggle between three different levels of regenerative braking performance. Tap the left selector to increase regenerative braking, and the right to reduce it. This system not only increases battery charging via regeneration, it also helps reduce stress on the brakes, and lets drivers tailor their regenerative braking level for different driving conditions.Johnson says the Insight handled better than he thought it would, and he was surprised by how composed the car felt in all driving conditions.I was really impressed by the amount of cabin space, Johnson says of the Insights overall utility. The trunk volume is the same as the Civic, but theres a very small opening to fit packages in there.He concludes, I think the Insight suits young or maturing families, couples of any age.I would consider it for myself because of my commute, and Id still be able to haul family around.DRIVER’S JOURNALDay One: Picked up the
Origin: Reader Review: 2019 Honda Insight Touring

OVERVIEW Great hybrid fuel economy, regular sedan styling. PROSHighly refined drivetrain, comfy ride. CONSLacking cold-weather fortitude VALUE FOR MONEYGood WHAT TO CHANGE?A more robust EV mode would be welcome HOW TO SPEC IT?As equipped for this test Hybrids in 2019 are roughly divided into two camps. Some are geeky, egg-like science projects on wheels for eco-martyrs who profess their sustainable lifestyle to the world. And others, like the Honda Insight, are regular cars shaped like regular cars that just so happen to have hybrid drivetrains for superb fuel economy. There is no more Civic Hybrid, so instead, you get the Civic-based-but-notably-different Insight. Although it comes across as part-Civic, part-Accord, the 2019 Insight nonetheless looks sophisticated and stylish. For Being Civic-based, the Insight sure is big — it measures a full 4.66-metres long and is nearly 1.9 metres wide. Speaking on the Insight’s (and Civic’s) ever-increasing dimensions, the Insight is longer, wider, and taller than a BMW 3 Series from a decade ago, but there are a few positives to all this girth. Firstly, rear-seat room is very generous. It’s a real back seat that can accommodate people for of most sizes for more than just short trips. The long wheelbase also pays dividends to the ride quality, making the Insight properly cushy. The Insight is a full 15-ft long and as such rear seat space is excellent Clayton Seams / Driving But the real people will or won’t buy this vehicle is fuel economy, rated at 4.6 L/100 kilometres in the city and 5.3 on the highway. Over multiple days of very cautious and slow mixed highway and city driving, I netted 5.6 L/100 kilometres. This is fantastic mileage for a car of this size, but not as good as the official ratings claimed. Part of the reason for the disappointing number is the cars poor ability to handle cold and remain fuel efficient. Temperatures during the week-long test in the middle of winter hovered around -12 degrees Celsius — not cold, but not unheard of for a Canadian January. The Insight, like most hybrids, has an aggressive engine start/stop system designed to keep the engine running only when needed, and to use the electric motor every chance it can. It even has an EV mode that, hypothetically, can be used to drive (slowly) on electric power only. But every time I tried to use the EV mode, I got a rude message saying EV mode was disabled due to cabin being heated. Well, no duh it’s being heated. It’s January; when is it not being heated? This meant the engine idled all the time to warm the cabin and not doing much to save fuel. If you plan on buying this car in a cold climate, this is a pretty big drawback. Another drawback is the notable lack of mojo when you want to merge or pass someone. The 1.5-litre engine works with an electric motor to provide a total of 151 horsepower and 197 lb.-ft. of torque when working together; alone, the gas engine makes 107 horsepower. This doesn’t sound too tragic, but it has a full 1,400-kilograms to move and it does so very slowly. It’s hardly a car you want to hustle around and the word fun doesn’t come anywhere near this car, so it boggles my mind that Honda saw fit to install paddle shifters for the CVT. I tried them a few times and they, too, seemed confused of their purpose. Front seats are very comfortable Clayton Seams / Driving Honda does deserve props for its crisp and coherent infotainment system and for finally listening to our whining and including a physical volume knob. That knob is connected to a pretty good sound system considering the calibre of vehicle. The front seats are heated and very comfortable, though the lack of a heated steering wheel — even in top-spec Touring trim — is a noticeable absence. Other interior features include Honda’s unique take on an automatic gear selector, which is more like a 1990s Bop-It, in that every gear requires a different action from your hand. The interior itself is nicely finished for the segment. The console is comfy for elbow resting and capacious for smart phone stowing. The light tan headliner does a good job of breaking up the black interior and making things feel a bit more airy. Sure, the cabin has plenty of hard-touch plastic, but none are obtrusive and there is a good amount of soft-touch where you actually come into contact with the interior. 1.5L I4 engine is hardly powerful Clayton Seams / Driving On the highway, you can hear the engine working hard to motivate the Insight at a heady 110 km/h up hills and there’s the usual Honda road noise at play, but the ride at speed is cushy and the seats are excellent. Highway consumption can dip as low as 4.6 if you pedal it nicely. The engine/electric drivetrain isn’t as refined as the Prius, though, and you can feel the various motors spooling up and whirring as they go about their business. At a hair under $32,000, the Insight is fairly good value for money, but this car
Origin: Car Review: 2019 Honda Insight