Honda Insight Gen2

[AmitG]

Anyone got one? I'm thinking of the model that came out in 2009 and which was revised for 2012. PH search throws up no previous threads.

I had a poke around the 2012 facelift at my local Honda dealer and also took a long test drive, and came away pretty impressed.

Things I liked:

• It looks really good (IMHO). The Prius looks a bit frumpy by comparison.
• Interesting dashboard layout. Love it or hate it, it certainly has character and is practical too. Makes a change from the usual 4 dials and a load of lights.
• More of a driver's car than the Prius. Low roofline, lightweight and low centre of gravity (presumably due to battery pack). I was genuinely surprised at how much fun it was to chuck around.
• The stop-start is really cool. The engine is started by the electric motor so gets up to speed instantly. You don't even hear it restarting. It goes from off to running with seemingly no transition.
• Very few plastic covers in the engine bay. Virtually everything is on display. I know that sounds strange, but to me it's a sign of good engineering.
• Excellent service from the Honda dealer. Friendly and helpful, and took all the care in the world despite me saying that I wasn't going to buy for another couple of months.

Things I disliked:

• Boot is a bit shallow, presumably due to the low roofline (it's about the height of my old Jaguar XJ40) and under-floor battery pack.
• Some of the trim is a bit cheap, particularly on the lower part of the dashboard.
• Very light steering, presumably due to electrical assistance. Could do with being firmer at higher speeds.
• Limited headroom in the back. I reckon anyone over 6'1 would have problems.
• Brakes are heavily assisted. The first time I pressed the pedal I nearly went through the windscreen Takes getting used to.

On a 1.5 hour test drive in mixed driving, with ECON mode off, and "making good progress", I got 55mpg according to the trip computer. Unexceptional compared to a modern small diesel, and way off the Prius. But a different, and more intriguing, proposition than either.

Any feedback from owners, or former owners, would be welcome. Thanks in advance.

[sjg]

I had a 2010 one as a courtesy car once. I generally agreed with this review: http://www.civinfo.com/forum/hybrid/29739-honda-in...

I can only hope they fixed the ride on the 2012 model (I know the new Civic is a lot better than the previous gen), it was pretty awful. At least they've just managed to squeeze it under 99g/km now.

You'd be barmy to buy one over a Prius or Auris HSD, which are much better cars - plus the ability to creep along in traffic with the engine off is most compelling reason to buy a hybrid IMO.

[AmitG]

Thanks sjg. The material on civinfo was excellent.

I can only assume that they fixed the ride and NVH on the facelift, because both were absolutely fine on the test drive. The literature suggests that they did, plus they apparently reduced engine friction and changed some other components to get it under 99g/km CO2.

On paper it doesn't make a lot of sense. The Prius beats it on just about every benchmark except cost. But there's something charming about it that I can't quite put my finger on. Maybe it's because it doesn't take itself too seriously. It feels fun, whereas the Prius feels rather serious and po-faced.

I may go back to the dealer for another looksie...

[AmitG]

sjg said:

You'd be barmy to buy one

And here it is, with apologies for the poor cameraphone pic:



I'm picking it up later this month

This is the 2012 facelift version. I also drove a lightly used 2009 model and IMHO the 2012 model is the car that Honda should have released first time round. It's significantly quieter, slightly faster, has tighter handling, has more headroom, has a better interior, looks better and generally feels much more like a quality product. The 2009 model feels rather cheap by comparison. I can see why it got slated.

I found the Prius to be poor in the area of handling and driving pleasure, and rather drab inside, which ruled it out for me. The Toyota salesperson was also hard work The Auris was very nice but too small. The Lexus CT200h had a lovely interior but is (I believe) the same size as the Auris, so again too small. I didn't like the exterior looks and it was also more expensive. I didn't feel that the extra expense would be justified.

This is a bit of a jump into the unknown, but I wanted to try something left-field rather than going for the standard Ford/VAG diesel hatch. It should be an interesting experience if nothing else. I'll get some pics/writeup done once I've owned it long enough to make some informed judgements, and I'm happy to answer questions in the meantime.

This is my first Honda so hello to everyone on this forum

[LordGrover]

Five years on... how was it?