News

Anja driving the Honda Insight

insight green

During the two weeks when the Honda Insight was the testcar for motoreport.de, I also had the chance to form my opinion about the car. In general, the Honda insight is a car with modern technological attachment that is packed into a spaceship-like housing. The exterior shows the feature of the Honda hybrid. The back with its two rear windows is in the beginning a bit strange, but you will soon get accustomed to it. The high back is characteristic for hybrid cars. In comparison, the front has a normal sporty car form and does not point to a hybrid car. Our Insight was white with darkened windows that captivates the eyes of passing people.

Also the interior is just like a cockpit of a futuristic vehicle. I liked the climate control which is packed intelligibly into a round operating system (see on the photo below)

The speed display changes its color depending on how efficient the drivers handles the car. On the left driver’s site is a green button for the ECON-Mode to increase the efficiency: The engine tries to safe more gas by regenerating more energy.
And now to the technique: the Honda Insight  basically has two motors, one electric-motor with 88 hp and one gasoline engine with 14 hp. The electric engine that works with a battery in the rear of the car supports the other motor and charges the battery during appropriated driving. The consumption is to be reduced with that hybrid technology. But unfortunately I must confess that I expected a lower consumption. We had an average consumption of 5,7 litres per 100 kilometers. Here to compare the average value of the Audi 1,6 TDI that is no hybrid: 5,5 liters. (It could be our fault because maybe we had not the moderated driving habit that is used for low fuel consumption).
A good concept is, in my opinion, the integrated mini-game for eco driving. During the car journey, you grow small plants. In relation to your driving habits, you have at the end more or less plants. That game animates to moderate driving.
The battery display (photo) is also very interesting. Here you can see whether the battery is charging or supports the other engine or whether you “sail” (it is a term for only driving with the electro motor).
For me as an often freezing person, the seat heating convinced me. You can adjust three levels of heating and you feel the warmth at your bottom and back within a few seconds.
The navigation system however has some shortcomings. Although the navigation itself works well, the operation is complicated. It needs some time until you know what to do for entering a destination. The map is similar to a former pc-game map whereby I missed the modernity.
Finally, a few sentence to the comfort of the Honda insight. Our test car had leather seats that were very comfortable. Despite the double rear window, I had a good view and due to the reversing camera, parking was no problem, too. A speed-limiter was available, but I missed a projected speed for the set-speed.
All together, the Honda Insight is a little spaceship that is very quite in operation (except for acceleration). For people who drive environmentally it is a good car that helps to save fuel. Longer trips are no problem with the Honda Insight because it is comfortable and sits gently on the road.

Über den Autor

Dr. Anja Hager

Anja berichtet auf Motoreport hin und wieder über aktuelle Themen der Automobilindustrie. Sie interessiert sich für umweltschonende, alternative Antriebe, ist aber regelmäßig auch in Autos mit mehr als 4 Zylindern anzutreffen.

Kommentieren...

Mit dem Absenden des Kommentars übermittelten Sie uns Ihren Namen, Ihre E-Mail-Adresse, Ihre IP-Adresse, Ihre URL (sofern angegeben) und Ihren Kommentartext. Gleichzeitig stimmen Sie ausdrücklich der Speicherung und der Veröffentlichung des Kommentars zu. Die Veröffentlichung erfolgt ohne E-Mail- und IP-Adresse. Diese Daten dienen dem Schutz vor Missbrauch der Kommentarfunktion (SPAM) und werden anschließend automatisch gelöscht. Wir behalten uns vor, Kommentare ohne Angabe von Gründen nicht zu veröffentlichen.

Diese Website verwendet Akismet, um Spam zu reduzieren. Erfahre mehr darüber, wie deine Kommentardaten verarbeitet werden.