2005 Honda Insight Road Test

Time spent in traffic becomes enjoyable, nipping in and out spacesbetween cars, while on free-flowing highways, there's still enoughjuice to pass with ease. (Photo: Justin Couture, American Auto Press)

Time spent in traffic becomes enjoyable, nipping in and out spaces between cars, while on free-flowing highways, there's still enough juice to pass with ease. If shifting your own gears doesn't sound enjoyable in such traffic, there's always the option of an "Automatic" CVT gearbox. But the fact that my tester included the manual made for a little more fun behind the wheel, and the cachet that it's the only hybrid car currently in production with a manual gearbox, and for that matter the only hybrid sports coupe, holds a unique value all its own.

According to Honda, the Insight, with all its advanced fuel-saving gadgetry, should consume an average of 61 mpg in the city, and 71 mpg on the highway, which calculates to a range of roughly 775 milies per tank. While my conservative driving style is usually able to best the government's averages, I simply couldn't match them this time around. Tried as I did, I can conclude that the only possible way of achieving figures this low is down hill with a tailwind. But when driven like the average consumer, the returns are still respectable; I managed 52 mpg, with the A/C on full blast and plenty of city driving. It's well off the mark of the suggested economy, but a huge savings over even the most economical gasoline or diesel-powered cars.

The thing that strikes most people as odd, if it occurs to them regarding the Insight's interior is that it's completely opposite of the typical hybrid cabin. Because of its low-drag, teardrop shape, you slide down into the cockpit rather than climbing in, much the same way as you'd hop into a

The centre stack features two separated units, including a slim CD-stereo system, above which rests the digital automatic climate control. (Photo: Justin Couture, American Auto Press)

sports car. You also sit as if you're in a sports car with arms and legs outstretched and all the major controls intuitively positioned and well within reach. Driver and passenger sit in one-piece mesh-weave buckets that have thin, flat cushions which are more comfortable than they look. There's not much to the simple dashboard, or console for that matter, which has been seriously downsized from anything Honda has produced before or since to fit into this narrow car. The two separated units include a slim CD-stereo system, above which rests the digital automatic climate control. Both devices have a strange deficiency of buttons, which might leave the user puzzled at first, but the controls for each can be easily deciphered.