New Honda Insight Hybrid review
Author: David Miles
Published: 25 March 2009
An affordable five-door, family sized, petrol-electric hatchback with Honda’s renowned product quality has to be a tempting proposition for hard taxed company car users, downsizers, companies wanting to promote their ‘green’ credentials, for those private retail customers just wanting to be ‘eco’ friendly and for all drivers not wanting to pay the London Congestion Charge.
On sale from April and priced from £15,490, the new Honda Insight 1.3 IMA Hybrid is around £2,400 cheaper than its main contender the Toyota Prius. The Insight also has a pricing advantage over most conventional diesel powered ‘Eco’ models of a similar size.
The Insight looks very similar to the current Prius but I guess if you are designing a wind cheating family hatchback computer design logic throws up the same results. Built in Japan the Insight is very much middle of the road for styling inside and out.
It meets most of the requirements for most people whether they are in Japan, the USA or Europe. It does not inspire, neither does it offend.
The equipment levels even in the cheapest SE version are high ranging from alloy wheels to air conditioning, to electrically operated door mirrors and windows. Being a roomy five-door hatchback means maximum family and load carrying options.
The Insight has conventional family car handling and at 4.4-metres in length it easy to park. There is a steeply raked tailgate with the upper and lower windows divided by joining bar which limits rear visibility. Ride comfort is on the harsh side.
Drivetrain
Honda’s IMA hybrid system is now 10 years old – having made its debut in the original Insight back in 1999. IMA stands for Integrated Motor Assist, which means that an electric motor sits alongside the petrol engine it supports and in front of the CVT auto transmission.
The petrol engine is new, but is based heavily on the 1.3-litre unit from the Civic Saloon Hybrid and the new Jazz. This modified i-VTEC unit has been further enhanced by using a low friction, pattern coated piston design combined with a new catalyst to optimise economical performance.
However, the really clever part happens during deceleration when combustion in all four cylinders is stopped and each pot is sealed shut. This means the engine is not working as hard to pump fuel or air, so it’s immediately more efficient.
The technology used to shut the cylinders, VCM (for Variable Cylinder Management), is also used to shut all four cylinders when only little torque is required – during low speed cruising for example. In this mode the Insight is powered by the electric motor only, with the pistons running idle.
On its own, the engine produces 87bhp and 121Nm of torque (89lb.ft), but the key to hybrid systems is the support given by the electric motor that can help boost performance as well as keep emissions and fuel consumption to a minimum.
As well as a new petrol engine, the Insight gets a new, improved and more compact electric motor which uses coils with high-density windings and high-performance magnets to produce 14bhp and 78Nm (58lb.ft).
The recovery speed of the battery has also improved, meaning that with power from regenerative braking, it can charge more quickly and therefore deliver power to the electric motor more regularly.
When combined, the motor and engine produce lively enough performance ideal for urban environments, with good throttle response. Using a CVT transmission in a hybrid provides smooth and predictable gear transitions and helps keep the IMA system operating at its peak efficiency. The Insight reaches 62mph from a standing start in 12.5 seconds, and has a top speed of 113mph.
Driving
But as with all cars it is the driver that has the most influence over the final performance. The instrument panel for the new Insight is crammed with clever dials, lights and a pictogram showing five plants. Drive economically and all five are shown, drive in a non eco-friendly way and the leaves will drop off – you have been warned.
The background lighting for some of the instruments changes from blue to green as the car performs in a more fuel efficient manner depending on how the driver is behaving. Cleverly the Insight teaches the driver how to drive economically, but it is visually intrusive.
Best to press the ECON button and that assists with driving methods because its sets up a more fuel friendly setting for the air conditioning, it adjusts the throttle response to a softer setting and it will allow cruise control to be more natural, not keeping the car at the dialed in speed going up steep hills and letting it over-speed slightly going down hills. More like a real driver actually.
Economy
All clever stuff but does it work? Well, driving very, very gently around an urban route in Farnborough my test car returned 62.6mpg instead of the quoted 64.2mpg for the 1.3 SE version.
However it was like pulling teeth, painful. Driven in a typical way the Insight returned 54.7mpg, good but really no better than a modern 1.6-litre diesel and certainly not as responsive to drive.
I rather suspect a motorway journey will dent the Insight’s real-time fuel economy further. Some buyers, retail and business, will find comfort in owning a hybrid and sending out the right message for them of eco-friendly motoring.
I am yet to be convinced hybrids are really much better when you consider the carbon footprint of just developing such technologies and the usage of some pretty nasty components that are needed to make batteries work.
However the Honda Insight doesn’t cost the earth.
Honda Insight MILESTONES
Honda Insight 1.3 IMA SE Hybrid
Price: £15,490
Petrol-Electric drivetrain: 1.3-litre, 4-cylinder petrol, 87bhp and 121Nm of torque, electric motor 14bhp and 78Nm, CV Taito transmission, front wheel drive
Performance: 113mph, 0-62mph 12.5 seconds, 64.2mpg (62.6mpg actual in snail mode, 54.7mpg actual in realistic urban driving mode), CO2 101g/km, VED £15, London Congestion Charge free, BIK Tax 10%.
For: Affordable, non quirky styling, well equipped, roomy, handles well, low emissions, low road tax, no Congestion Charge
Against: Fidgety ride, some cheap plastics, petrol engine sounds stressed when pushed, real-life fuel economy less than the official figures.
See Also:
Click here for more Honda stories
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Click here for more Hybrid stories
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