My wife's fuel sipping Gold TDi is due for a replacement, and we want tobe green (and economical) and I really fancy a hybrid... but why are they choices such ugly cars...
Look at the Prius - YUK!!!
Honda do the Insight , which looks almost the same as the Prius... or they do a Civic, but not the nice wedge shaped one... just an ugly four door one..
Why cant someone produce a funky, good looking economical hybrid.. do people who want to be green have to be punished by making them drive cars that look awful!!!
rant rant
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Hooray. So I'm not the only person who thinks that. Ever since the first Pious appeared on the road I've thought they were one of the ugliest non-styled cars I'd ever seen. The new model is a slight improvement, but it's improving on something which was so awful that it's still got a long way to go.
The Insight is even worse. It looks like my idea of a futuristic car I would've drawn when I was at school in the 1960s.
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To my mind the latest Honda Insight is a nice looking car, unlike the original one.
In fact I think it looks nicer than the Civic. I find the Toyota Prius quite easy on the eye too, although not as neat as the Honda.
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Are we talking about this version of the Insight? (to be clear....)
www.cargurus.com/images/2009/06/16/19/38/2010-hond...g
I think it looks really nice.
Edited by Sofa Spud on 09/09/2009 at 11:37
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Are we talking about this version of the Insight? (to be clear....) www.cargurus.com/images/2009/06/16/19/38/2010-hond...g I think it looks really nice.
I partly retract my first opinion. I think the car in that image looks pretty good. The Insight I was thinking of is this one
www.automedia.com/NewCarBuyersGuide/photos/2005/Ho...g
And I still think that is bizarre
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To my mind the latest Honda Insight is a nice looking car unlike the original one. In fact I think it looks nicer than the Civic.
Well, just about anything at all looks nicer than the current 1980s-Amstrad-inspired Honda Civic. It's a hideous combination of lumpy lines with cheap-looking fussy detailing.
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The primary purpose of hybrids is to be fuel-efficient, and the design of many of them has reflected that: the Prius and the Honda Insight have been designed to be as aerodynamically slippery as possibly.
What's the point of deploying expensive hybrid technology to improve energy efficiency and then compromising that efficiency for the sake of fashion?
There are of course some hybrids which waste this expensive technology by attaching it to an aerodynamically inefficient design, of which the most ridiculous has to be the Lexus RX400h -- an efficient engine attached to one of those absurdly heavy and bulky SUVs which have become fashionable in recent years.
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Answer: they're designed for the American market.
Therefore 1) the dubious styling, 2) the use of a petrol/electric hybrid where if they were really about minimising fuel consumption a diesel/electric would be used.
Diesel is unpopular in the US thus petrol-electric.
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Hybrids are only green if used quite a bit in towns on the electric motor. If they spend most of their time doing 40-70 on the open road then they are far less green than a fuel-efficient conventional car.
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Yes - quite right!
In this test, the Prius was beaten for real-world MPG by a conventional car. A 5 series no less!
tinyurl.com/3azok4
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I've just been in a Toyota dealer and had a look at the new Prius. It looks a nice car and the difference in cost between the Prius and Insight is noticeable.
Top spec Prius they have in the showroom is almost £22k. The alcantara seats aren't for me, but I do like the way the dash sweeps into the arm rest and contains the small gear selector. More buttons than a space shuttle around the central console and looking in the brochure the dash display looks complicated.
I've driven the new Insight and it's not a very pleasant experience. I hope the Toyota is better.
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BTW, a curious thing about the Prius -- no towing.
The relevant page on the Toyota website lists towing weights as "not applicable" (see tinyurl.com/ukprius-spec ), and posts on the Priuschat website also say that Toyota advises against using it for towing. (see tinyurl.com/nhs8yq )
That won't be an issue for for most drivers, but will make the Prius unsuitable for some people.
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The Prius and the Insight look attractive cars to me. As said above, a current Honda Civic or even a CRV ,is my idea of pig ugly.
But then again -I love my new FL Octavia, so what do I know?
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I saw a new reg Prius two or three days ago. It looked pretty reasonable - but then I haven't any strong adverse views on hybrids to cloud my judgement:)
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