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I bought an Honda Insight last month and it is the most amazing car - the technology makes most modern cars seem outdated. The main benefit is the fuel economy. I can regularly average 90+ mpg over my 90 mile commute and last week for 22 miles on the motorway averaged 103 mpg between Wigan and Preston going North on the M6 (which is by no means flat!) with my speed between 55-65mph. There is no other production car that can match that. If I were to increase the tyre pressures I could get 100mpg on a regular basis. And this is on cheap unleaded not diesel.
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I'm glad you enjoy it! I have to say that if I had the money I'd go out and buy one right now! Not for the styling, just for the 90+mpg. Truely amazing technology, and much more impressive than a car with traction control, 100 airbags, etc.
I think the styling is an attempt by Honda to design a car which is as aerodynamically sound as possible without looking like a sports car. Still, anyone looking at the 100mpg figures won't care about that so much. I mean, where's the competition?
b
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Mike Farrow
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Having just taken a look at the specs, it seems that part of the explanation is the lightweight engine, and the extensive use of aluminium body panels and plastics. Apparently the boot is tiny as the rear is stuffed full of batteries for the regenerative engine system. That makes me wonder how it would perform were the batteries and electric motor to be removed: there would be a lot more space for luggage, and the mpg would presumably still be far better than other cars. Interestingly the owner states that he got 100mpg on the motorway. Since the electric system is not playing any part in the propulsion while on the motorway, this means that it is capable of 100mpg on long runs. I am surprised that Honda do not sell a non-regenerative version giving over 100mpg on motorways. What's more the removal of the batteries and the electric engine and couplings would reduce the weight and give even better performance on long runs i.e. no stops and starts.
Leif
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Surely the real point of the hybrids is zero emissions around town?
Aren't they exempt from the congestion charge?
Get rid of the hybrid and you loose all that.
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I can't imagine wanting to keep one for 7 years to recoup the money spent, I certainly wouldn't want one out of the warranty period. No chance of your local back street garage handling any serious mechanical repairs, so its straight back to Honda who can charge what they like as they know you can't go anywhere else. I wonder what one of those batteries cost to replace?. Any chance of Halfords doing them for cheaper than Honda?.
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In 7 years time it will be economically unfixeable.
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Apparently the battery packs will definately need replacing at some point (wont last life of vehicle, but who knows?), and cost over £3,000!
Few years back, some journalist did over 100 MPG in a Perkins Montego diesel, and also over 100 MPH in the same car (but to achieve 100 MPG, he averaged something like 35 MPH!)
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Yes I remember the advert on the back of Perkins Vehicles.
100 MPG
100 MPH.
Perkins Prima.
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What about the VW Lupo 3litre?
100km on 3 litres of diesel. Biodiesel, if you want to be green.
And you can take 3 passengers.
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They do a Lupo 3.0?
Put my name down for one!
;-)
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Adam
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smart diesel will do 80+ mpg easily - pity RHD versions aren't available.
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Sure you know they called it the 3l because it uses only 3 litres of petrol to do 100km.
As for the impressive mpg etc. covering the costs... suppose it might as long as you don't need to replace the expensive batteries outside of warranty.
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Toyota have as good as admitted that as soon as the original prius needs it batteries changing it is basically worth scrap weight.
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The hybrid version of the RX-300 (I think it's the RX-400) looks like a vehicle worth investigating. I look forward to it's release in the UK and although never contemplated spending that much on a car, read: SUV, it might tempt us when SWMBOs car come sup for renewal.
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Im not plain stupid, just a special kind of stoopid.
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I once saw a Fiat 126 converted to LPG - the owner reckoned that on petrol he got about 70mpg and when running on gas it was roughly equivalent to 130mpg
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You sure about that Blue?
I had an LPG Vectra, 2000 W plate - LPG conversion from the factory. It had a 50L petrol tank and a 30L LPG tank. I regularly got about 27 MPG (which euquates to about 180 miles per 30 L of LPG) and in petrol it had a 2 litres standard VX engine and that returned about the same MPG. Since LPG costed about 35p and petrol (in 2001) was about 77p I didn't see much difference in terms of cost savings since I got half the mileage from my LPG than I did in petrol (ie: to go the same distance in LPG as petrol, I would have to fill up my car twice) - admittedly though, given that LPG is still < 40p here in Milton Keynes and petrol is now 87p - I can see the benefit of LPG since if the cost of LPG stays at equal to or less than HALF the cost of petrol - then it works...otherwise it costs half the money because you can only go half as far.
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Im not plain stupid, just a special kind of stoopid.
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Your getting me confused here.
If you got the same MPG running on gas or petrol but LPG is half the price surely it works out to double the MPG for the same amount of money spent.
£10 would buy 33 litres of LPG or about 13 litres of petrol. at 27mpg that would work out to 77 miles for petrol or about 190 miles on LPG. You may have to fill up more but it is cheaper.
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The honda insight, As per Chile Palmer~:
Whats that - I ordered a cadilac
That sir is the cadilac of hybrids.
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Thanks for all your posts. For info the car is 02 reg and cost me £6350 with 2 years Honda warranty (car has 54k miles). I had a 2litre Audi 100 before which cost a fortune in fuel. www.insightcentral.net is the site to look at if you are interested.
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I remember years ago.It was mentioned no way would plastics replace certain bits and pieces on a car..I thought otherwise and think this is eventualy going to replace all metal/alloy components on a vehicle..It is slowly becoming the case-which with certain plastics evolving in one way or the other.I see no reason why this wont happen-It with computer technology will probably see even better fuel consumption.also components made of plastic properly designed and made.May need no oil to lubricate giving longer engine life..Some may say dream on.But look at todays cars!
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Steve
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My own thoughts are that hybrid technology will follow the Toyota Prius path (electric drive with regenerative braking and engine acting as on-board power station when necessary for extra power or to charge battery)
This would make a viable alternative to auto transmission, if price and battery replacement cost can me made more competitive.
Diesel hybrids should prove even more economical. Taxis and urban delivery vehicles would seem obvious initial markets.
The Honda insight, if I remember, works on a different principle, with an electric motor assisting the engine, with drive going through a normal clutch and gearbox.
Cheers, SS
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I am building an Insight for tarmac stage rallying. I have tested it on a race track where it gave 35mpg whilst having the living daylights thrashed out of it. It was also as quick as the other 1000cc Rally cars even though mine was bog standard at the time. It's a quick and competant A to B car as well as being utra frugal.
If you take one apart it is obvious where every penny of that £17,500 comes from.
GREAT CAR !!!
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SWMBO's 2002 TdDi Focus CL did 62.5 mpg on a 150 mile round trip, two weeks ago, half A roads and half motorway, mostly at around 50-60 mph, light traffic. Whilst my 2001 V6 Mondeo Ghia X did 37.5 mpg on the same journey a week earlier at about the same speed and conditions. The downside to this is that the Focus mpg drops to 38-42 mpg and the Mondeo to 24-26 mpg when commuting the short journeys to work (3 miles for me, 2 miles for SWMBO).
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I have a VW Bora with the 1.6 16v petrol engine.
I keep the computer set to current fuel consumption in mpg. By driving carefully and without taking my foot completely off the loud pedal, I can get a reading of up to 199 mpg - the computer's limit.
Mind you in real life....:-(
But seriously, it does help to avoid unnecessary "foot down" progress and, on average, I get 40.9 mpg even with around town driving, which isn't bad for a car that's just 15kg light of a Ford Mondeo 1.8 LX...
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What\'s for you won\'t pass you by
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As was said in an earlier post, how is it that the engine in the Insight is capable of such figures during motorway driving? There is nothing else that comes near to returning comparable mpg in those conditions. Secondly, why doesn't Honda put this engine into the Jazz?
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The magic of the TON,to advertise the capabilities of their new Morris Minor,this was the one with an 833cc OHC engine,Morris arranged two runs,in one the car achieved 100mpg,and in the other 100mph,it was driven by Mrs.K.Peters a well known racing driver in the early 1930s.Needless to say much tweaking went on between the two runs.
ndbw
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