Ever wondered what it takes to build a hybrid? Well, that depends on what sort of hybrid you're talking about.
The hybrids that Toyota and Ford put out are complex (and effective) series-parallel hybrids, meaning they can run on gas, electricity, a direct parallel blending of the two or a series piggyback mode where the gas engine generates electricity for the battery while an electric motor uses that electricity to drive the car. It takes two powerful electric motors that are integrated into a mind-bending (but mechanically quite simple) planetary CVT system to pull this off. Powerful control software continually switches between these modes so you don't have to think about it.
But our 2010 Honda Insight is based on a simpler parallel-only setup, in which the engine and transmission are prised apart so a thin, flywheel-sized electric motor (just over 2-inches thick) can be slipped between them. This electric motor goes by the name of Integrated Motor Assist or IMA, for short.
It's basically laid out like this:
Engine --> IMA --> Transmission
Let's have a look, starting at the back of the car.
The above shot from my suspension walkaround series shows why the simple twist beam suspension configuration was used here: it leaves plenty of room between the wheels for a deep central well that houses the spare tire and battery pack.
Continue reading 2010 Honda Insight EX: Hybrid System Walkaround.
Categories: 2010 Honda Insight EX
Monday is Veterans Day, so I'm packing the family (two adults and one 3-year-old) into the Insight for a long holiday weekend up California's coast. Staying one night in Morro Bay and the rest in Berkeley, with at least one day trip into San Francisco planned. That means I've got approximately 800 miles to see how the little hybrid handles elevation gains, lots of kid-related luggage and bony rears. I'll give you the whole story when I get back next week.
Bryn MacKinnon, Senior Editor, Edmunds.com
Categories: 2010 Honda Insight EX
Honda cars usually come with pretty spiffy audio features. Our Insight is no different. My only complaint is that the connector in the center storage compartment is awkward to reach. It's not that it's in a bad place. But the cable itself is so short, it makes it difficult to reach when you want to plug in your device.
It's nice that it doesn't take up a lot of space in the smallish storage compartment. And I like that there is a pocket for my iPod. But another six inches of cord would really makes things easier and not be in the way.
Donna DeRosa, Managing Editor
Categories: 2010 Honda Insight EX
Is anybody there? Watch the video.
I'm pretty sure it's that blue piece on the back passenger side.
Donna DeRosa, Managing Editor
Categories: 2010 Honda Insight EX
Along with everyone else, I've had enough of seeing so many examples of the Prius scuttling back and forth on the road. It's a fine car that I admire very much, but it looks like a banana slug, only sadly not as colorful. One of the things worth admiring about the Honda Insight is the way it rescues the futurism in the Prius' basic proportions and makes it a worthwhile visual expression.
So many car designs these days seem to me like little more than rough pencil sketches reluctantly scaled to a few manufacturing hard points by a surly, overworked designer. Automotive design has become all about artistic expression and no one mentions function for fear of being out of fashion. But it's brought us a generation of cars that look like supermarket packaging, not useful implements.
Continue reading 2010 Honda Insight EX: Functional Form.
Categories: 2010 Honda Insight EX
People say they think the Honda Insight is ugly until they see it in person. I don't think it's a bad looking car.
Hopefully, this video will help you see it in a better light.
Sorry it's so shaky.
Donna DeRosa, Managing Editor
Categories: 2010 Honda Insight EX
Just below the D on our Honda Insight's shifter is an S.
In any other car, you would expect this to be for Sport Mode.
But Honda calls this Second. From the Honda manual "The S position is similar to D, except the range of ratios are different for better acceleration and increased engine braking."
Isn't that the same thing as Sport?
I guess in a hybrid "Sport" is a dirty word. I'll second that.
Donna DeRosa, Managing Editor
Categories: 2010 Honda Insight EX
What do you want to know about the 2010 Honda Insight?
Have you driven one, sat in one, seen one on the road? Write your reviews in the comments section.
Any details you want us to photograph? Can I make someone a video of something, pretty please? You know how I love my Flip ;)
Donna DeRosa, Managing Editor
Categories: 2010 Honda Insight EX
Below are the fuel economy numbers for October 2009. We've listed the best, worst and overall average tanks.
As usual, a couple of cars are out on the road or unavailable at the time of this writing. I'll continue to add them as they come in and let you know in the comments.
| |
Car |
Best
|
Worst
|
Average
|
|
2009 Audi A4 Avant |
26.8
|
15.2
|
21.7
|
|
2009 Audi S5 |
22.3
|
10.8
|
16.2
|
|
2008 BMW 750i |
21.8
|
13.0
|
17.3
|
|
2009 BMW M3 |
20.7
|
10.8
|
15.7
|
|
2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS |
23.1
|
13.1
|
17.3
|
|
2009 Dodge Challenger R/T |
26.4
|
10.3
|
16.6
|
|
2009 Dodge Ram 1500 |
19.4
|
10.5
|
14.1
|
|
2009 Ford Flex Limited |
26.7
|
13.3
|
19.2
|
|
2007 Honda Civic GX |
47.3
|
12.7
|
31.5
|
|
2009 Honda Fit Sport |
39.0
|
24.9
|
30.9
|
|
2010 Honda Insight EX |
43.9
|
27.9
|
38.1
|
|
2009 Hyundai Genesis |
28.5
|
14.3
|
21.2
|
|
2009 Infiniti FX50 |
22.0
|
10.7
|
17.1
|
|
2009 Mazda 6 |
30.2
|
18.7
|
23.7
|
|
2010 Mazdaspeed 3 |
26.7
|
16.3
|
20.1
|
|
2008 Mitsubishi Evo X GSR |
22.6
|
11.0
|
17.0
|
|
2009 Nissan 370Z |
24.4
|
13.2
|
18.4
|
|
2009 Nissan GT-R |
21.8
|
11.5
|
16.4
|
|
2009 Pontiac G8 GT |
24.3
|
12.0
|
18.0
|
|
2009 Suzuki SX4 |
28.3
|
17.2
|
22.2
|
|
2010 Volvo XC60 |
19.0
|
12.7
|
16.5
|
After the jump you can see the list sorted by best average MPG.
Continue reading Big List of Fuel Economy: October 2009 .
Categories: 2007 Honda Civic GX,2008 Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution GSR,2008 Pontiac G8 GT,2009 Audi A4 Avant,2009 Audi S5,2009 BMW 750i,2009 BMW M3,2009 Dodge Challenger R/T,2009 Dodge Ram 1500,2009 Ford Flex Limited,2009 Honda Fit Sport,2009 Hyundai Genesis V6,2009 Infiniti FX50 AWD,2009 Mazda 6 i Grand Touring,2009 Nissan 370Z Touring,2009 Nissan GT-R,2009 Suzuki SX4,2010 Chevrolet Camaro SS,2010 Honda Insight EX,2010 Mazdaspeed 3,2010 Volvo XC60 T6 AWD
I continue to bemoan the fact station wagons got a bad rap. They clearly represent the most flexible and useful configuration you can get in a sedan-sized footprint, and so I'm sorry automakers have to disguise their designs to deliver that utility without calling their cars wagons.
Consider the Honda Insight. Everybody talks about its hybrid powertrain but look at the cargo area covered by the rear hatch. Especially with the rear seatbacks flipped down flat, the space is cavernous. Though the Insight is a compact car, it can accommodate surprisingly voluminous loads. Which is precisely the genius of the station wagon roofline. And the Insight even presses that boundary. Take out just a couple degrees of down angle in the roofline's profile and you'd have a station wagon shape, pure and simple.
And why not, I say? There's already a vertical glass element in the hatch. Too bad we can't just be honest and have the Insight be a really efficient little wagon.
It IS plenty efficient, too, but you'd expect that. Starting with a fresh fill-up and then easing into the slow-and-go freeway traffic of my morning commute, I worked the "average mpg" readout up to 53-plus, using light throttle when acceleration was necessary and maintaining momentum when possible. With the traffic-imposed limit of about 55 mph, I was using less fuel than I would have on a motorcycle.
And with all that space!
Kevin Smith, Editorial Director, @ 7825 miles
Categories: 2010 Honda Insight EX
I feel like the 2010 Honda Insight gets a bad rap.
People call it ugly, they call it slow (I've been guilty of that myself), they call it a copycat of the Prius (even though it was first). They call it lots of things.
But the 2010 Honda Insight is a smart car. It's not ugly, it's aerodynamic. It's not slow, it's frugal. It's also efficient, sophisticated, and has a pretty good audio system.
Let's give the Insight a little love and call it car of the week.
Donna DeRosa, Managing Editor
Categories: 2010 Honda Insight EX
When the Honda Insight meter moves from CHRG to ASST and back, the color surrounding the digital speedometer also changes.
What I find surprising is how often it goes green, even at higher speeds.
Here's a video because I love making videos.
In the last bit (the part in the daylight) you'll see an illustration of what Bryn mentioned in her last post when autostop switches off.
Donna DeRosa, Managing Editor
Categories: 2010 Honda Insight EX
In good hybrid form, when you come to a full and complete stop in the Insight, the gas engine and electric motor shut off. The idea is that a vehicle that's not running doesn't use any fuel or energy. As long as you keep your foot firmly on the brake pedal, the car remains off until you lift your foot. When the car senses that you've lifted your foot, it immediately starts back up again in preparation to moving forward.
I've noticed that the new four-door Insight is very sensitive to a reduction in pressure on the brake pedal while "auto stop" is engaged. Frequently while I'm waiting at a stoplight with auto stop engaged while driving the hybrid hatchback, I'll feel the Insight start itself back up when I don't intend it to. I must have a really light foot, or maybe I ease the pressure off just a tiny bit without realizing it. Nice to know that it's so sensitive. I wouldn't want it to be the other way around. But I'd be interested to hear if this happens a lot to other Insight drivers or if I just need to bulk up my right leg.
Bryn MacKinnon, Senior Editor, Edmunds.com @ 4,352 miles
Categories: 2010 Honda Insight EX
This car nearly rattled what's left of my brains out coming back from from East Nowhere. What was I doing in East Nowhere, you ask? This.
It took two and a half hours to get back to the office and during that trip I thought the rearview mirror on our (not so) little Insight was going to fall off and wind up in my lap. I couldn't even see anything with the mirror it was vibrating so badly. The freeway ride in this thing is absolutely punishing. Why? What's point, awesome handling? Oh I'm sure around town it's firm and that helps to mask the utter lack of performance from the wheezy engine, but on a freeway, you know, the things you drive on every day in LA, it's terrible.
Kurt Niebuhr, Photo Editor @ 7,392 miles
Categories: 2010 Honda Insight EX
It's a little soon to predict what the long-term sales outlook might be for the Honda Insight, although you have to say that there's less of them on the street than there ought to be. For September, just 1,746 Insights hit the street. In the same period, 10,964 examples of the Prius were sold. Amazing, no?
Continue reading 2010 Honda Insight EX: Losing the Sales Race.
Categories: 2010 Honda Insight EX
