2001 Honda Insight - The Eco-Friendly Sports Coupe Has Arrived
Honda has a long history of bringing high-efficiency low-emission vehicles to market. Introduced back in 1973, the CVCC (Compound Vortex Controlled Combustion) was so efficient that it passed California's strict emission standards without a catalytic converter. Always concerned with the environment, Honda has brought us the Civic VX, the natural gas burning Civic GX as well as the 'zero emissions' electrically powered EV Plus. The Insight is the first of these to offer the efficiency of an electric motor and the user friendliness of a conventional gasoline engine.
Toyota's Prius is the only competitor in this environmentally friendly electric/hybrid niche. While the Toyota is a practical 4-door sedan, the Honda is carving yet a niche of its own - eco-friendly sports coupe.
Three's a crowd in this compact two-seater, biased for an optimum mix of fuel economy and sporting character. Its tight turning circle makes maneuvering in city streets easy and its wonderful handling belies the skinny low resistance tires mated to a front-wheel drive transaxle. Albeit its 0 to 100 km/h time at just under 11 seconds (due in part to a 5-speed manual gearbox) isn't going to stand the hair on the back of your neck on end, considering its superb fuel economy rating of 61 mpg (26 km/L) in the city and 70 (30 km/L) on the highway the tiny coupe is a literal jolt of lightning.
Honda has taken a unique approach in balancing competent performance with ultra-low fuel consumption. Turn the key and its tiny one-liter power unit putt-putts to life with the aural sensation of a Honda portable generator - and ironically that's close to what it is. You never have to plug it in to an electric power source due to the battery's 'no-memory' charging system, the 1.0-liter combustion engine. What's more, the engine note is barely noticeable, keeping interior noise levels to a minimum. Under acceleration the electric motor assists the gas unit creating similar power to larger combustion engines. Let go of the gas pedal and the engine braking charges the batteries. If it wasn't for a flashy digital gauge showing charging and assist levels tucked next to the digital speedometer and tach, the driving experience would be much like a regular Honda.