There’s no hit in the safety department either. Side and curtain airbags are standard across the Insight range, alongside advanced antilock brakes and active head restraints. The tester even included a stability control system.
Long story short, it seems that Honda’s worked hard to create a hybrid that should even appeal to skeptical shoppers. It’s barely different than any other upscale small car, except for the looks. It’s function over form here: a giant victory for aerodynamics over style.
Insight’s cabin is bright, airy and very dynamic. Entry and exit are easy, controls are mainly simple to find and use, and there are gobs of storage in the form of compartments and cubby-holes.
Multiple power outlets and covered compartments complete the package, and the hatchback body style lends itself to easy handling of numerous jobs.
The instrument cluster is the cabin’s most striking element. A slew of high-tech indicators are included, and the whole things lights up like the console of a shuttlecraft from Star Trek at night.
There’s also a multi-function digital display to track, among other things, your digital alfalfa garden. This grows or dies off at the hands of your driving habits, which Insight tries to guide via a color-changing light ring around the HUD-style speedometer.
In gentle driving, it stays green. Push too hard, and it turns turquoise or blue. Not long thereafter, your digi-sprouts will start to die off as if you watered them with extra-strength Round-Up. Careful and patient manipulation of the throttle is vital to playing the Insight’s green driving game.
The numbers
I kept a mileage ‘diary’ of my time with the Insight-- recording its consumption in a variety of conditions. Note that I’m no hyper-miler, and I’m typically not willing to frustrate other traffic by accelerating as slowly as possible.
Travelling a hilly highway on a windy day at about 105 km/h saw mileage of 5.6L / 100km. One day saw 60 km of gentle city driving and 210 km on the highway in heavy wind. Average here was about the same. My worst consumption was 6.1L / 100km, recorded after a combination of enthusiastic city and highway driving—and no intent to save fuel.
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| My Insight EX tester included navigation, automatic climate control, Bluetooth and more. |
Long story short, it seems that Honda’s worked hard to create a hybrid that should even appeal to skeptical shoppers. It’s barely different than any other upscale small car, except for the looks. It’s function over form here: a giant victory for aerodynamics over style.
Insight’s cabin is bright, airy and very dynamic. Entry and exit are easy, controls are mainly simple to find and use, and there are gobs of storage in the form of compartments and cubby-holes.
Multiple power outlets and covered compartments complete the package, and the hatchback body style lends itself to easy handling of numerous jobs.
The instrument cluster is the cabin’s most striking element. A slew of high-tech indicators are included, and the whole things lights up like the console of a shuttlecraft from Star Trek at night.
There’s also a multi-function digital display to track, among other things, your digital alfalfa garden. This grows or dies off at the hands of your driving habits, which Insight tries to guide via a color-changing light ring around the HUD-style speedometer.
In gentle driving, it stays green. Push too hard, and it turns turquoise or blue. Not long thereafter, your digi-sprouts will start to die off as if you watered them with extra-strength Round-Up. Careful and patient manipulation of the throttle is vital to playing the Insight’s green driving game.
The numbers
I kept a mileage ‘diary’ of my time with the Insight-- recording its consumption in a variety of conditions. Note that I’m no hyper-miler, and I’m typically not willing to frustrate other traffic by accelerating as slowly as possible.
Travelling a hilly highway on a windy day at about 105 km/h saw mileage of 5.6L / 100km. One day saw 60 km of gentle city driving and 210 km on the highway in heavy wind. Average here was about the same. My worst consumption was 6.1L / 100km, recorded after a combination of enthusiastic city and highway driving—and no intent to save fuel.
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| The instrument cluster is the cabin’s most striking element. |