Road test report ------ June 2010 ------ by Kevin Fenix.

Honda Insight

For the past number of weeks now, all my road test cars have had one common feature; they have all majored on low fuel consumption, leading to low exhaust emissions, which in turn provides low operating costs. In other words just the sort of formula that is highly desirable in these difficult financial times. Interestingly all of them have offered a more than adequate performance, velocity wise, making them all comfortable and pleasant to drive, out on the open road, or in the stop/go frustration of city traffic. Whereas the three excellent examples from the Volkswagen Group, have all been diesel powered, this Honda Insight is a petrol/electric hybrid. Its performance credentials from a velocity point of view, are right up there with all the others. Top speed is 186 kph (115 mph), with 0-100 kph acceleration in 12.5 seconds. This compares with the VW Golf Blue Motion, a diesel powered car in the medium size class, which has a top speed of 190 kph (118 mph) and 0-100 kph acceleration in 11.3 seconds. Both the Insight and the Golf come with a stop/start system, which is specifically designed for congested city driving conditions. In these conditions, the fuel consumption is almost identical, with Urban cycle figures of 61 mpg (4.6 lt/100 km) for the Insight and 60 mpg (4.6 lt/100 km) for the Golf Blue Motion. The Golf’s diesel delivered 77 kW. The Insight’s petrol engine delivers 65 kW with the addition of 10 kW from its electric traction motor, so total available power is very similar, but on the Extra urban cycle the Insight’s 67 mpg (4.2 lt/100 km) pales into insignificence when compared to the Golf’s 83 mpg (3.4 lt/100 km). Combined cycle figures are 64 mpg (4.4 lt/100 km) for the Insight and 74 mpg (3.8 lt/100 km) for the Golf Blue Motion. Perhaps it can be explained by the 250 Nm of torque delivered by the diesel, compared to 199 Nm for the combined petrol/electric output of the Insight. Finally, due to its lower overall fuel consumption, the Golf BM has an exhaust emissions figure of 99 gm/km. compared to 101 gm/km for the Insight. This is of little consequence, as both cars comfortably fall into Irish road tax band A, with an annual charge, at present rates, of Euro 104.

The Golf BM had a five speed manual gearbox, whereas the Insight has a silent, silky smooth constantly variable automatic, which makes driving absolutely effortless. Simply move it into D and forget about it. Alternatively if you want a more sporty performance, shift it into S and forget about it. This allows you far more time to concentrate on the most economical style of driving. Honda help you along this route, with different colours for the backlighting of the speedometer.
The speedometer itself is a separate instrument that sits on top of the curved hood over the normal instrument binnacle. It gives a large digital readout of the speed, with blue backlighting when a less economical use of the throttle is applied, which changes to green backlighting when a more economical use is in operation. You can thus watch the road ahead, your speed and your economical throttle performance, all in the one easy motion. The main binnacle houses an analogue tachometer, with blue marking for the lower engine speeds and red for the upper limits of the engine speed range. There are other analogue gauges to indicate when the petrol engine is getting assistance from the traction motor and when energy regeneration is being achieved on the overrun and braking. Balancing this on the opposite side of the panel is a fuel level gauge. In the centre there is a digital readout that indicates your average fuel consumption performance, plus another that shows the trip mileage. It is all very neat, very clear and delightfully easy to use whilst driving, without the need to divert your attention from the road ahead. As instrument panels go, it is one of the very best I have encountered for a long time.

Inside the car was beautifully finished in a combination of light and darker colours. The quality of the finish and fit was excellent, giving the the whole space a very premium quality feel and ambience. The two front seats were superbly comfortable, with an ample range of adjustments. The steering wheel adjusted for both reach and height.

The rear seating space looks, equally attractive, but there are difficulties. While there is plenty of knee and foot room, due to the sloping roofline, headroom is a problem. Even people of average height sitting in the outer two positions, will find their heads in contact with the roof lining. The centre position is much harder, so you sit even higher, with even less headroom. The rear seating space is perhaps best suited to children, with the two outer places having ISOfix fittings for child safety seats.

While the rear seat cushions are fixed, the backrest is divided 60/40 and drops easily onto the seat cushion to give an extension to the luggage floor and to accommodate awkward loads.

Normal luggage space, when all five seats are in use is an impressive 0.408 cubic metres. Just for the sake of comparison, the Golf has 0.350 cubic metres in the same circumstances. However, when only two seats are in use, the Honda stretches to 0.584 cubic metres, while the Golf manages a much better 1.305 cubic metres. That very sloping rear roofline is largely responsible for this, especially when you only load to the lower window level.
The Honda Insight comes without a spare wheel. The space under the luggage floor is partly occupied by the Nickel metal hydride battery pack for the electric traction motor and a foam tray that holds the plug-in air compressor, the latex foam and some of the wheel changing tools. In this tray there is a space for small items that are accessible by lifting a hatch in the normal luggage floor. The jack is housed in a separate position, behind the interior panelling, on the right hand side.

Above left : Access hatch in luggage floor
Above centre : Luggage floor raised to give access to tools and storage space
Above right : Traction battery pack under luggage floor

The driver’s handbook states quite simply, the vehicle is not designed for towing, but it can carry up to 50 kg on the roof. However, remember that the Insight has a very aerodynamic shape with a drag coefficient of 0.28 and that a roofbox and its associated mountings will drastically affect that designed low air resistance.
The Insight’s petrol engine is modern yet uncomplicated. It is a four cylinder unit, with a single overhead camshaft and two valves per cylinder. The valves have a variable lift and timing system, that adjusts to driving conditions. It is modestly tuned to deliver a specific output of 48.543 kW/lt.
Assisting the petrol engine is a three phase, brushless, direct current, electric traction motor. It delivers 10 kW and 78 Nm. It draws its power from a Nickel metal hydride battery pack, that comprises 14 cells each capable of supplying 7.2 volts. On the overrun and during braking, the power flow is reversed and the motor acts as a generator which recharges the traction battery pack.
The petrol engine and electric traction motor are linked to a constantly variable transmission, which drives the front wheels. This CVT can vary from a low ratio of 2.526 : 1 to a high ratio of 0.421 : 1 in forward speeds, and a low of 4.508 : 1 and a high of 1.874 : 1 in reverse. It drives through a final drive ratio of 4.200 : 1. This gives a low overall forward ratio of 10.609 : 1 and a high overall forward ratio of 1.768 : 1.

On the road the suspension gives a smooth comfortable ride. Although the steering is geared to give around three and a quarter turns from lock to lock, it does not feel vague or lacking in precision. In fact it feels comfortably direct and positive. The braking system uses ventilated discs at the front and plain discs at the back. It is power assisted and incorporates anti-lock, with electronic brakeforce distribution and emergency brake assist. There is also a vehicle stability assist function.
While the Insight is a relaxing and comfortable car to drive, it does have one major achilles heel. The aerodynamic shape and its associated sloping roofline, results in a very compromised rear visibility. When you look in the interior rear view mirror, there is a bar across the centre of the image, caused by the division between the large sloping upper rear window and the smaller vertical window below the division. You do, however, over time get used to this. More serious is the lack of visibility in the rear quarter panels. This makes reversing out of a driveway, laneway, or garage, a difficult operation as there is no visibility available from either rear quarter area. This is particularly awkward where cyclists or pedestrians are concerned.

Technical data

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