The 2010 Honda Insight EX, an AW Drivers Log

February 1, 2010

EDITOR WES RAYNAL: I liked the old Insight two-seater with the weird rear-wheel skirts and the funky styling. This car drives like a long-wheelbase version of that, which is essentially what it is. I guess Honda wanted to do a more mainstream hybrid, and that's what it got--it swallowed all the gear and book bags and such all weekend for the two younger kids.

The Insight drives like a normal car, which I suppose is the point. Body control is good and the ride is firm but not overly so. The steering is quite nice, and the transition from engine on to engine off is smoother than in past Honda hybrids, but I could still feel it. If you push the car a little, the CVT makes the engine rev quite a bit before anything feeling like acceleration starts to happen.

It is cute (or cheesy, depending on your perspective) how the speedometer light goes from green under a light foot to blue when you tromp on the gas. That speedometer, by the way, is perfectly blocked by the steering wheel when I am in a comfortable driving position. I couldn't see it at all and had to look around the steering wheel every time I wanted to see how fast I was going, which was annoying.

The interior plastics are cheap, and there are a lot of swoops and angles inside. The sticker is low, though.

SENIOR EDITOR FOR NEWS BOB GRITZINGER: Honda has had "mainstream" hybrids in the Civic and the Accord, but because neither "looked" the part of a green-mobile, Honda lost its Insight-powered leadership on hybrids to Toyota and the Prius. By bringing back the Insight name, stealing some styling from the segment-leading Prius combined with cues from the old Insight, and making sure everything from three different instrument readouts to the rear hatchback design and badging scream "hybrid," Honda has a reasonable chance of reclaiming the hybrid mantle. Undercutting Toyota on price shouldn't hurt either.

I, too, miss the wind-cheating fender skirts of the old Insight, but I don't miss that two-door, two-seater's limitations when it came to carrying people or gear. With the new Insight, those problems are history. This five-seat, four-door easily lugged all the gear I threw at it with the seats folded flat. This sleek sedan-hatchback configuration is a perfect blend of function and style.

What isn't history is the same kind of powertrain noise and lack of power, thanks in part to the CVT windup. And the steering and handling may not be much improved since the old Insight went out of production in 2006--and maybe not since the car went into production in 1999. There are a good two inches of play on center before any steering action occurs, and while the suspension absorbs bumps and keeps the body relatively controlled, it's far from anything I'd call sporty. That's un-Honda-like, and that's not good, but then the competition is nothing to write home about in those departments either.

I liked the green-blue theme, in the power gauge and in the glow surrounding the speedometer (which from my seating position was clearly and easily visible). Plastics abound, but the car still seems reasonably equipped and of high quality throughout.

I'm sure that with a few more dollars on the pump prices, Honda will be overrun by over-reactive Americans looking for the latest solution to their latest crisis. Whether cars such as the Prius or the Insight really make much of a dent in our overall thirst for foreign oil is highly questionable. So buy it for your pocketbook and your psyche, but don't think you're saving the planet, no matter how many green leaves you pile up on the instrument cluster readout.

COPY EDITOR CYNTHIA L. OROSCO: The Insight was a fun little ride for overnight. In fact, it seemed more fun than the Prius that I drove a couple of months back, and it seemed you could toss it around a bit more than the Prius. I liked that the Insight didn't jerk back to power after a stop; the transition was pretty smooth. And while the ride did get bouncy over the crappy roads, the car handled well enough at highway speeds.

The seats were just OK, but I couldn't get the seatback into a comfy position. And at my driving angle, the steering wheel blocked the tops of the gauges. But the speedometer was right at eye level, and I liked that it changed colors depending on how efficient your driving was. I also liked the little notice, via the leaf/flower symbol, of how economically you drove. I only got one flower, but a lot of my driving was expressway. Oh, well.

What I hate about this car: The back window! Just as on the Prius, you can't get a clear field of vision and have to look above or below the bar. Not convenient and very annoying.

EXECUTIVE EDITOR ROGER HART: Yep, the back window is very Aztek-like, which is not exactly a compliment.

I understand why Honda had to make this new Insight look different, as certain green-weenies out there must be able to tell--and show--the world that they are part of the solution. Driving a hybrid Civic or Accord just didn't scream green like driving something that looks so obviously different, like this Insight or the Toyota Prius does. I get it.

But for pure driving, I'd take the Civic hybrid. It's a far better driver, handles better, and in my opinion, looks better. This thing is downright twitchy at highway speeds. I had an 18-wheeler run right up on me near an on-ramp as this thing struggled to get up to speed. You won't win many drag races in this thing, unless you're going up against somebody on a bike, maybe.

I do like the interior and the gauges and all the little graphs and charts that are supposed to help you drive fuel-conservatively. And I did average more than 38 mpg. But it was not an overall pleasant driving experience. For a 60-mile commute, I'd rather have a Civic, or a Fit.

2010 Honda Insight EX

Base Price: $21,970

As-Tested Price: $21,970

Drivetrain: 1.3-liter I4; FWD, continuously variable transmission

Output: 98 hp @ 5,800 rpm (gas engine and electric motor combined), 123 lb-ft @ 1,000-1,500 rpm

Curb Weight: 2,727 lb

Fuel Economy (EPA/AW): 41/38.2 mpg

Options: None