[eldaino]

whoa. there is a lot of speculation being thrown around in this thread.


(and as a side note the new prius does NOT have 175hp, it only has about 130-140 if i'm not mistaken.)


i personally do think that honda 'gets' the whole hybrid thing. the insight seats 4, and is relatively cheap.


the bottom line is that its silly to say things like 'well...a versa or yaris or fit is cheaper!' ok fine...you want to play that note, then why pony up the extra dough for a slower, worse handling civic hybrid that does not get gargantuan amounts of mpg over the regular civic?

speaking of the civic....you can get one of those with leather and no nav for the same price as a insight with better mileage and NAVIGATION. the insight compares very well to the civic as far as price goes, and puts a greater emphasis on thrifty driving . sounds like a good plan to me. i have not heard legions of people complaining of how 'unaffordable' the civic is. personally i'll take an 18k insight and the killer mileage that goes with it over a stripper dx civic anyday.


and ENOUGH with the 'insight looks like the prius!' stuff. remember what everyone said when the 2nd gen prius came out? "it looks like a 4 door insight'. Honda copied HONDA. simple as that.

sure the current gen prius is more upscale with its fancy shmantzy electronic systems, but thats not honda's approach to hybridness: the simpler the better according to honda. and the current gen insight is the natural successor to the original 2 door.

this consumer reports review is the only real negative review on the insight. edmunds, c/d, motortrend, they have all praised it. (ttac's has two reviews, one good one negative.)

but its hard to fault the insight when it blows the 2nd gen prius out of the water with regards to driving dynamics, and it owns the current gen on price. and lets face it: while neither interior is audi-esque in quality...i'll gladly pay 18-22k for the insights interior and accept its flaws than lay down over 24k for a prius with its god awulf new-found toyota cheapness.


and you can play the mpg rating game all you want: in the same way fit drivers have been able to exceed mpa ratings the insight has done the same, closing the gap between it and the prius' rating. the last few tests done by edmunds and car and driver showed the the insight was very close to the average mpg of the prius. so thats a moot point.

and i sure as hell will take the insights video game-get-the-best-mileage-you-can! gauge readouts over the SUPER complicated and COMPLETELY un-ergonomic approach the prius has taken. i dont see how ANYONE can fault the civic/insight dash with the atrocious out-of-line-of-sight approach toyota has taken.