2009 Honda Insight Hybrid
2010 Toyota Prius Hybrid
-- The Mechanic, Inside Line Contributor
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estreka says:
03:39 PM, 12/ 3/08
Well, it's official, Bob is not The Mechanic.
desmolicious says:
03:46 PM, 12/ 3/08
Currently this is the best looking car that Honda/Acura makes.
Holy crap.
p.s. anyone who was complaining about Chinese car mfgs stealing other mfgs designs have got nothing on Honda!
albook says:
04:11 PM, 12/ 3/08
Dissapointing. Ususally, these posts are interesting. But come on now. Honda has made it clear that they copied Toyota's design. That was obviously the point.Next he'll be saying there's a resemblance between 90's Infinitis and Lexus.
"Currently this is the best looking car that Honda/Acura makes."
No.2. Their best looking car is still the Civic.
brn says:
04:16 PM, 12/ 3/08
Finally, a "separated at birth" that I can agree with.
firstwagon says:
06:17 PM, 12/ 3/08
Wow, do I ever see a great opportunity for a comparsion test!!
Not only to see which is better but for a laugh, cover up the badges and grills and see how many people on the street can tell which is which.
carlisimo says:
07:05 PM, 12/ 3/08
The Insight looked quite different from the outgoing (2nd gen) Prius. That Prius had a flat beltline, a more symmetrical greenhouse with a high peak in the middle, and vertical features in the front and rear; I wouldn't have ever mistaken it for the Insight.
The new Prius DOES look a lot like the Insight. Rising beltline, more horizontal lights, the rising crease down the flanks... Toyota copied Honda!
lightning73 says:
09:36 PM, 12/ 3/08
Ah-hah! That was Toyota's grand plan all along! "Let's let Honda come out with their design, then we'll 'redesign' ours and everyone will blame Honda for copying us! Brilliant!"
dougtheeng says:
06:06 AM, 12/ 4/08
I think the new Prius really is a step backwards...I hate that new nose. The Honda looks much cooler.
vacagrande says:
06:48 AM, 12/ 4/08
Aerodynamic is as aerodynamic does...
ateixeira says:
10:00 AM, 12/ 4/08
I dunno, the roofline on the Prius drops a lot sooner.
The doors and side windows do look similar, but the front and back and quite different.
Honda had that concept (FCX IIRC) that was bigger, and their Insight is a smaller version of that car. It happens to look like the new Prius, which Honda designers never before before they designed the Insight.
So a lot of this is just coincidental, the rest is design by wind tunnel.
altimadude00 says:
10:31 AM, 12/ 4/08
Did Toyota taffy-pull a Yaris?
The Insight looks like a hatchback Civic.
billt9 says:
11:33 AM, 12/ 4/08
Do most airplanes look alike? Pretty much.
firstwagon says:
11:56 AM, 12/ 4/08
"Do most airplanes look alike? Pretty much."
Seriously??
Go down to the airport and check out a Cessna, a Boeing and an F14. They look alike how?
Airplanes come in an incredible varity of shapes and styles.
I don't blame Honda for copying the Prius. Honda has done great job over the years copying designs but make them better then the original.
When their first minvan failed, they copied the Caravan and came up with the superior Odyssey.
With the S2000, they copied Mazda formula for a rear roadster but gave it an extra 100hp.
The Ridgeline copies the style of the Avalanche and the Acura NSX does a wonderful job of being a Ferrari that works everyday.
The Civic hybrid has never been a success so they had to do something.
So they built a better Prius (maybe, will know in a month or so).