Someone likes hybrids, and in the color red. The Prius is of course one of the most common cars here, but the number of gen1 Insights is becoming rather small, like the car itself. Isn’t it now a rather curious relic from a different time? At a time when SUVs are the dominant vehicle of choice, this diminutive little gas saver seems rather quaint.
Curiously, we’ve never done a full CC on it either, just this short take, so it really is a somewhat forgotten and overlooked little thing. And how exotic it was in 2000, when it was the first hybrid available on the US market. It made a sensation with its sky-high EPA numbers (49/61/53, city/highway/combined), which were the highest for a gasoline fueled car until 2016. Of course it was super aerodynamic, ultra-light and only held two passengers. The Prius quickly showed that for only a slight penalty, one could have a legitimate four-five seater and not have to compromise.
The two-passenger Insight’s IMA system had a lower level of hybridization and smaller batteries than the Prius, which were basically commercial-grade NiMh D cells in a pack delivering 144 volts to the 10 kW brushless motor attached to the rear of the engine. In 2000, only a five-speed manual transmission was available; starting in 2001, a CVT was optional.
The Insight’s battery pack has not turned out to be as long-lived as the Prius’, and replacement is almost inevitable. New packs are available for about $2000. Some owners have disabled its hybrid system, and a few have even swapped in larger Honda fours to turn it into an ultra-light pocket rocket.
Total global sales during its six-year run amounted to 17,020 units; much less than Honda had projected. The Prius was a more practical solution, and has sold well over a million times.
You mentioned engine swaps – is that an engine hoist in the background? Or maybe thats need to lift and install a replacement battery pack.
That is engine hoist, however, having installed an Insight battery pack, I can tell you no hoist is necessary.
That may not be the case for the Prius, as I have no experience on that system.
Why no fender skirts on Prius or other hybrids?
Maybe the aerodynamic advantage was offset by their weight?
Not the weight, which for a plastic unit is minute, but the inconvenience.
Unlike some cars which I think look great with fender skirts, like this Insight, the Prius looks pretty terrible with them. Here’s a forum post about it. Rather hard to install, makes it a pain to check the tire pressure, looks bad.
Love it!
Inexpensive mods, but I fear that if I ran my 2008 Prius as such, it might be vandalized.
Don’t forget the white-walls.
I’ve got photos of an Insight that belonged to a friend of Lily’s. I should do a proper CC on it one of these days.
That Prius is a double of our 2010. When I had the Think City we had four red cars.
My Mom’s neighbor in Denver has a clone of that Prius, and while I know the Prii stereotypes don’t necessarily ring as true in 2018, she fits them to a tee.
I like the styling of the insight overall, the fender skirts are the only sore spot, but these to me cap off the golden era of light cheerful Honda cars. And yes, bring on the de-hybridization engine swaps!
http://www.superstreetonline.com/features/htup-0806-honda-k-series-insight/
I wonder how Honda’s latest hybrids (2018 Accord, Clarity, and Insight) are selling. My father has a 2017 Accord Hybrid, which he loves – when he bought it in April 2017, there were lots of incentives. Apparently the 2018 Accord isn’t selling as well as Honda wants, probably because people end up with the CR-V instead.
FWIU the Accord wasn’t available with a good lease deal at launch.
I’ve mentioned it before, but the original Insight’s stellar fuel mileage numbers are a direct correlation with battery life. Honda, unlike Toyota, configured the Insight to delve deeper into the battery’s reserves for better mileage. Unfortunately, the trade-off was diminished battery longevity.
That’s the reason there’s something of a cottage industry in providing replacement traction batteries for the Insight, while the Prius, with a hybrid system that gets lesser fuel mileage, has a substantially longer battery life. I haven’t researched it lately, but the general consensus was that, unless the Prius’ traction battery had been abused in some way (battery case damaged in an accident, water damage because of flooding, the battery’s reserves were tapped due to an empty gas tank emergency, etc.), they were (are?) very long-lived.
That’s not the full picture. The primary reason it got such stellar mileage on the highway was because it had such stellar aerodynamics. Not just its Cd, but because of its very low frontal area, its total aero drag was about as low as any mass production car ever, and significantly lower than the much bigger Prius.
I’ve always thought of the original Insight as Honda’s proof-of-concept for its hybrid system. When the Civic Hybrid was introduced in 2003, it had (apparently) the same 144-volt battery pack. We were early adopters of the Civic Hybrid, test-driving a Civic EX and an Insight to try to get an idea of how the two would mesh in a single car. The Insight had plenty of pep for city driving in our brief test.
I see old Insights around here from time to time, and wonder how their battery packs are doing. In our Civic, the pack was replaced (under warranty). There were other drive train issues that eventually made us no longer trust the Civic. Toyota’s hybrid systems seem both more aggressive in their hybridization and much better sorted in driveability and reliability. We bought our 2009 Camry Hybrid in 2012, with about 38,000 miles, and it’s been completely reliable. It just works.
Another interesting tidbit about the initial Honda versus Toyota hybrid systems is how differently they operated in city versus highway driving. It seems the Honda did better on highway mileage while the Toyota’s system was better in the city, seemingly due to the reliance on regenerative braking to charge the battery.
I also found it rather sad how the second generation Insight never found much love. Honda tried to copy the Prius’ success formula and, apparently, didn’t do a very good job of it.
The car that seems to be a much better competitor to the Prius these days might be the Kia Ioniq, at least if the reviews are to be believed. If I were in the market for a Prius-like hybrid, it’s the car I would definitely check out.
That would be the Hyundai Ioniq, at least in the US. Just saw one in traffic today. It does get excellent EPA numbers, I wonder how it compares in actual driving. The Ioniq powertrain is not a Prius-type full hybrid with two motor/generators and a planetary gearset. It’s got a single electric motor/generator and a six-speed dual-clutch automatic, unlike the other single-motor hybrids that use a CVT or a manual transmission like this Insight.
The Ioniq also comes in a plugin hybrid version and a pure electric. A genuine contender.
The single-motor hybrid like this Insight does have a slight advantage on the highway, since 100% of engine power goes directly to the wheels. Its motor/generator is part of the flywheel, always turning at crankshaft speed. The crankshaft goes directly through a clutch to a conventional gearbox. Toyota’s full hybrid system on the highway still has at least a small fraction of engine power going through the electric path (generator to motor to wheels) which is slightly less than 100% efficient.
Much of the great mileage the Insight achieves is due to small size, lots of aluminum, and extreme aerodynamics. Those benefits couldn’t follow to the 4-door Civic, so it didn’t do nearly as well.
As I said in a comment to above, the primary reason the Insight got such stellar mileage on the highway was because it had such stellar aerodynamics. Not just its Cd, but because of its very low frontal area, its total aero drag was about as low as any mass production car ever, and significantly lower than the much bigger Prius.
Yes, not only do we agree on this we were typing at the same time. 😉
Found a old Motorweek review. I still see a couple first gen Insight’s from time to time in town.
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DEzG2bQK2Ygs&ved=2ahUKEwjutpra1L3dAhX3HjQIHZKhCwIQtwIwBnoECAQQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3AwgvLB5S_1p1fDsSzNi_Q
There are at least three Insights still in DD use around the Peoria area, I see one in my work parking lot frequently.
First generation Insight aerodynamics are 2nd to the GM EV1 which hadn’t yet been killed when the Honda came out. Very similar styling and layout between the two.
My Insight still has it’s original drive battery after 18 years. It needs a little understanding and a charge/discharge from time to time but all of that complex electronics still works perfectly.
But compared to the electric hybrid drive / transmission of a Prius and it’s siblings the hybrid system in the Insight is a lot of effort for 13 horsepower boost & the energy recovery storage equivalent to a small wine glass of fuel.
Insight owners who have given up on the hybrid aspect of their cars report about 6 or 7 miles per gallon less mileage.
The Insight is really economical of fuel mostly because it has little aero drag and because the engine will run really, really lean. It isn’t particularly light weight, it weighs exactly the same as my one time 1976 4 door, five seat, iron engined Audi 80 for example.
But it is aluminium which is a massive positive here in damp, salt-happy Britain where few steel cars get to 18 years without rotting out. I can’t bare the prospect of another steel-bodied car rotting away around me……….
My mother drives a 2004 Civic hybrid 5-speed. She gets 35 mpg in city driving, and 45 mpg on the highway. The battery was replaced for free by Honda at 9 years even though it was out of warranty. The battery will drain completely on a long uphill leaving the 1 litre engine struggling to motivate the car. That and the numb electric power steering are the main negatives for an efficient and reliable transportation appliance.
I have two. They’re lots of fun to drive, although mine have upgraded suspension which improves handling. They will reliably take you on a long journey, but are at their best around town. I think “nippy” describes them well.
G1 Insights were always something of an enthusiasts car, even more so now as they get older. There’s a supportive community of owners on InsightCentral (IC) which includes some very clever (to my eyes) tinkerers. Longevity of the main traction battery can be a problem but devices (“grid chargers”) are commercially available to help keep them healthy. One of my cars (built in Jan 01) is still on its original battery (like Rory’s above) which still works well with the help of a grid charger purchased from one of the advertisers on IC.
Aerodynamics is certainly an important factor in fuel economy on the highway, but lean-burn operation of the ICE may be just as important. The CVT cars do not have lean-burn and do not get the fuel economy figures of the manual transmission cars. In low speed and stop-go traffic the car’s very low weight may be the biggest factor.
I understand that some people have disabled the hybrid system completely and still get excellent fuel economy. It may be arguable that rather than being a major contributor to fuel economy per se, the Insight’s hybrid system allowed the use of a small, very efficient ICE without too much of a loss of drivability due to low torque from such an engine. After all, Honda did call it Integrated Motor Assist (IMA).
Apparently the aluminium structure is a development of that used in the NSX and they were built in the same factory. Build quality generally seems very high but with an emphasis on keeping the weight down they are not a luxury car. Practicality is limited by being a strict two-seater but there’s a surprising amount of room under the rear hatch (I’ve had a lawn mower in there and – at a different time – two folding bikes). Try doing that with a MX5 (Miata) or MR2!
We also have a 2004 Prius which we have owned since new. It’s been a great family car (two adults, two kids) and now my kids drive it. Fourteen years of pretty much trouble free driving. Compared to Honda, Toyota certainly got the battery control better sorted. Our Prius is still on its original battery and it has never been touched. It’s a great car – but not nearly as much fun to drive as the Insight.
Is the Insight significantly more fuel-efficient than a CRX HF?
The answer is a few keystrokes away at the EPA site: https://www.fueleconomy.gov/feg/PowerSearch.do?action=noform&path=1&year1=2001&year2=2001&make=Honda&baseModel=Insight&srchtyp=ymm
The combined adjusted EPA numbers are 44 for the 88-89 CRX-HF and 43 for the 90-91 version. The Insight had a combined rating of 53. Its mileage is about 10mpg better generally, and that’s confirmed by user numbers too.
The thing to remember is that a 10mpg improvement at these numbers is about a 20-23% improvement, and doesn’t amount to a lot of actual fuel/money savings. There’s no doubt that the CRX-HF was a much more cost effective solution.
Honda built the Insight primarily as a technology showcase, in fairly limited production. That’s another reason its impact was very small compared to the Prius, which turned out to be a high-volume mainstream car and whose fuel efficiency was cost effective, the degree depending on the price of fuel.
These are a prime example why I love Honda (the golden era Honda) and not Toyota. Honda makes (made) my heart tingle, Toyota is super sensible but bland.