"A blue hybrid, eh? So, does your wife laugh at you?"
This was the query of a friend of mine when I pulled up in the Inside Line long-term 2010 Honda Insight to take him out to lunch.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"You ever heard Jeff Dunham's comedy bit about driving his wife's blue Prius?"
I hadn't. Didn't even know who Jeff Dunham was.
"Well, he does this skit talking about going from driving his Hummer H1 to his wife's Toyota Prius."
After lunch, I went home and looked it up. The clip has some amusing bits, but it's also kind of offensive, so I'll leave you to your own devices if you want to track it down. But suffice it to say, I think our Honda Insight is sufficiently macho, even if it is blue. And, no, my wife doesn't laugh at me when I'm driving it. If anything, she's probably more amused when I'm in the Corvette.
Brent Romans, Senior Automotive Editor
hybris says:
11:33 AM, 01/22/10
Sorry Hybrid = not macho that is a law of driving relativity that can't be broken without massive forces that don't exist outside of supernovas, black holes, or Hadron colliders.
I'd say something about you taking offense to Jeff Dunham skits but I'd probably get buried by the angry responses.
uncanny_man says:
11:36 AM, 01/22/10
What's macho about the insight? And where did those corvette stereotypes come from?
dougtheeng says:
01:01 PM, 01/22/10
Jeff Dunham is so overrated.
somberlaine1 says:
01:06 PM, 01/22/10
His Comedy Central show was canceled very quickly so i think a lot of people would agree with you.
golfgti4789 says:
01:28 PM, 01/22/10
There is absolutely no way a honda insight is macho. There is ABSOLUTELY no way that shoebox of a car is macho!!
jriz says:
02:08 PM, 01/22/10
I'm sorry boss, there's nothing macho about the Insight. Now, maybe if you put a dual-note exhaust on it, then we're talking.
bromans says:
03:25 PM, 01/22/10
Well, I should clarify. I wrote "sufficiently macho," and by that I mean I don't feel like a weenie driving it. -- Brent
mheikka says:
04:54 PM, 01/22/10
This post drives home the point about how marketing campaign-created perceptions (and emotions) determine car purchases for most people.
It will be interesting to see how real consumers respond to Honda's upcoming CR-Z. It will be a "macho" hybrid with better handling, but less utility and lower fuel economy. I'll bet the "macho" factor will result in higher sales (compared to the Insight) as a result.
The Tesla guys got it right. They have packaged macho and efficient in one car. Too bad its unaffordable....
uncanny_man says:
05:26 PM, 01/22/10
^^^ Sorry, the CR-Z is just an extra level of geeky, not macho!
banhugh says:
06:52 AM, 01/23/10
Insight is macho??? HAAAAAAAAAahhhaaahhaaaaaaaaa...Funny guy.
The old Prius smokes the Insight like a turtle smokes a snail...
bkaiser1 says:
08:36 AM, 01/25/10
I'd sooner drive the Insight coast to coast than be seen in a Hummer. Hummers are macho? Only if you're horribly insecure about yourself...and don't mind looking like a total douchebag. This is a brand that will not be missed one bit when it finally fades away.
On the subject of styling, I think the new Prius looks far nicer and more cohesive than the new Insight...particularly when viewed from the sides. There's just something about the back of the Insight that doesn't work for me. Since the Prius is the official state car here in California, I see them coming and going on every street in town (I swear there are more Prius cars here than Corollas!) but have still only seen a handful of new Insights. They just don't seem to have caught on the way the Prius has.