2010 Honda Insight User Reviews

Pros

Fuel economy, handling, value hybrid

Cons

Hard seats, no merging power

Purchased As New

After having owned the Insight for a month, I'm generally happy with the vehicle. My other vehicle is a 350z, and the Insight was purchased to replace my wife's V8 Ford Explorer.

While I would have preferred a cheaper Fit or Civic, the trendiness of a hybrid appealed to my wife, and I'd rather spend a few thousand more for better fuel economy rather than luxury features, size, or horsepower that we don't need. Test driving the Prius, the local dealership made us feel like they were doing us a favor or something. It's just a car - a good car - but not a work of art. While bigger, more comfortable, and slightly more fuel efficient than the Insight, for me it's not worth thousands more. While the base Prius is comparable in price to mid-trim Insight, just *try* to find one at that price.

I *really* like the handling of the Insight. While test driving the Prius, I thought its steering and general road-feel was numb. With the Insight, I can really feel the road. It feels nimble, though cornering at higher speeds, you can feel its weight. Acceleration from a stop feels almost peppy. But at highway speeds, stomping on the accelerator yields disappointing results - the high noise of the engine at 6000 RPM is not accompanied by a correspondingly significant pulse of power. While fuel economy and peak horsepower are trade-offs in engine design, it's disappointing that Honda wasn't able to generate more than approximately 85HP from the gas engine when not in "eco" mode. It feels no better or worse than the Prius in terms of acceleration. In fairness, neither is supposed to be a sports car.

I live in central Texas, where there are significant hills/grades on the local and state highways. The 100 degree weather also means the A/C is most always running. In a typical mixed driving in a 20 mile drive into work, I get about 40mpg in eco mode. On flat interstate driving in eco mode, 65mph, with the A/C off, I'm seeing upwards of 60mpg. So there is quite a bit of variability.

My only real complaint is the seat comfort. I am 5'10" and 155lbs (positively average), fit, with no back problems. As with all small Hondas, but worse, I find the seats to be hard, unergonomic, and uncomfortable. It's only noticeable on longer drives (not the test drive!). My 1993 Ford Escort had better seats. In analyzing the source of the discomfort, the foam is too hard. Also, it has no lumbar adjustment, which is bad, because the hard lower back of the seat sticks out too much. Further, the base of the seat is too short and too upright, leaving almost all your weight compressing the base of the spine. Honda makes great cars, and I expect the Insight to provide reliable transportation for a long time. But how can they get something so wrong? I do expect that the problem can be solved at least partially by after-market seat cushions, but this should not be necessary. This is why I gave only two stars for comfort. Other aspects of comfort such as design of the controls and interior are excellent. I really hated the Prius in this respect - things are not where they're supposed to be.

With respect to the hybrid technology, I expect that it should be very reliable. IMA is very simple, tested, and should be very durable.