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View Full Version : New Honda Hybrid Car: The all new Honda Insight



denot
10-12-2008, 04:02 PM
http://www.drive.com.au/Editorial/ArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=59418&vf=2

Second-generation Insight hybrid stays faithful to Paris concept with Prius-like styling, though it will be more affordable and more fuel efficient than the Toyota.


2009 Honda Insight hybrid


Honda has revealed the production version of the Insight production car that is set to become the world’s most affordable hybrid.

The showroom-ready second-generation Insight goes on sale in 2009 retaining the body shape and most design cues of the Insight concept car unveiled at the 2008 Paris motor show.

The production Insight will make its public debut at January’s Detroit motor show and abandons a number of the show car’s costly features.

The blue LED lights make way for conventional lamps, flush doorhandles are switched for traditional lift-pull handles, and the sleek wing mirrors fatten up.

Insight’s real-world alloy wheels are also less fancy and are wrapped in higher-profile rubber optimised for fuel consumption.

The new photo confirms that the Insight’s silhouette – particularly the sloping rear – mimics the shape the car’s obvious petrol-electric hybrid rival, the Toyota Prius.

Honda, however, has said it intends to make the five-door, five-seat Insight more affordable than the Prius that starts at $37,400.

The Insight is set for an Australian launch in late 2009, and Honda’s local subsidiary is hoping the Australian dollar will recover sufficiently to set a sub-$30,000 entry point.

Honda’s only other hybrid in Australia, a petrol-electric version of the Civic sedan, costs $32,990.

Honda has yet to reveal official details for the Insight, though the new hybrid is rumoured to be powered by a drivetrain comprising a 1.4-litre four-cylinder (from the Jazz city car) and an electric motor.

The electric motor is expected to follow the Prius by being linked to a nickel-metal hydride battery pack rather than lithium-ion batteries.

Speculation also has the Insight consuming 3.4 litres of fuel per 100km (and emitting just 100 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometre), which is 24 per cent less than the current Prius (4.5L/100km) and likely to be better than the third-generation version of the Toyota hybrid that also debuts in Detroit.


Honda says it plans to sell 200,000 Insights per year as part of an overall goal to reach half a million hybrid sales within the next five years.

The Japanese car maker has also confirmed the Insight will be followed by hybrid versions of the Jazz and the CRZ Coupe concept shown at the 2007 Tokyo motor show.

Honda beat Toyota to the Australian market with the first petrol-electric hybrid with the original Insight.

The first-generation Insight had a claimed fuel economy of just 3.6L/100km in the city and 2.8L/100km on the highway, though the hybrid’s unusual styling, two-seat cabin and $50,000 price tag struggled to attract buyers.

Honda Australia sold only 45 Insights between 2001 and 2004.

Type R Positive
11-12-2008, 08:39 AM
Number 1 reason people don't buy these cars?
THEY LOOK LIKE SHIT!!!!!

denot
11-12-2008, 08:45 AM
Number 1 reason people don't buy these cars?
THEY LOOK LIKE SHIT!!!!!

or even worse... THEY LOOK LIKE PRIUS!!!!!

EK1.6LCIV
12-12-2008, 03:19 PM
I reckon the gas companies must pay them to make them look lousey so theyre not popular, lol.

I'd still like to drive the first gen one for an opinion tho, one was forsale awhile ago near me, shouldve bought it

Type R Positive
12-12-2008, 03:44 PM
I'd still like to drive the first gen one for an opinion tho, one was forsale awhile ago near me, shouldve bought it
First gen's rock. They look like a normal civic for starters.

I been in a pruis taxi before, it actually went pretty good.