The local Honda dealer has 3 new insights in. Two ex models and an lx. I drove a black ex. Very cool car. Beautiful interior and a quiet smooth ride.
Im not sure its worth the extra money over the fit though. The LX was 20,400 dollars and the EX without Nav was 21,900 dollars.
I couldnt believe how many fits were on the lot, they must have at least twenty, including a much sought after white 5spd sport.
I didnt really take the insight very far so I cant give a real drivers report but Im guessing it will give the Prius a run for its money.

 

Yeah, noticed that too, my local dealer who always had 5-8 out of 8 presold before they hit the lot.........now has 23 Fits in stock!

So payback on the insight over a Fit wont be there for 6 or so years unless gas shoots up to $5 a gal.
they are more expensive than I thought (Toyota is going to drop their shorts on Prius pricing a grand or 2 to stay competitive with Insight and because Prius sales are down 62%)

 

$20,400 is a nice base price for the Insight. Sounds like an affordable Hybrid that should definitely give Toyota some competition.

 

I wonder if it will be like the Si with a full on Mugen version available later.

 

That would be nice and it might urge me to trade... They should release a USDM Mugen kit just like the GE8! :3

 

Two words for Toyota in regards to the Prius:

Market Saturation.

 

Exactly. Priuses (Prii?) are so common that there is nothing drawing people to them anymore -- high priced hybrid, hideously ugly, gas is cheap now.

I've seen as many as 20 Priuses littering the lot of a local dealer. Heck, they've even had them parked outside Costco for the member's car-buying program!

I've looked at the Prius interior and it's absolutely stupid. Not a driver's car at all. Bad dash layout. Every Toyota I've driven has a mushy, soft feel to it.

. . .

As far as the INSiGHT goes:

I have to admit I've had more than a passing thought about just getting one. The Fit is nice, but the Insight is more future-proof with it's high gas-mileage. (40/43 will probably mean more like 50-55 MPG average for me from what I've read recently)

Besides the high gas-mileage, here's what I really like about the Insight better than the Fit:

• Projector headlamps
• Driver seat height adjustment
• Heated side mirrors w/ integrated turn signal indicators
• Variable intermittent wipers
• LED brakelights
• Climate control
• More "grown-up" look. As good as the Fit is, I feel like I'm driving a college student's car
• Longer wheelbase and greater dimension probably translates to a more comfy, quiet ride.

My '09 Fit is paid for and only 3 months old. The only thing holding me back is I'd take a bath on it right now.

Oh well, I have to be practical.

 

The insight has approximately 4k premium over the Fit (compare base to LX, sport to EX), and the mileage difference isn't huge. The Fit has the following benefits that Insight is lacking:

- magic seat (biggest selling point for me - if hte Insight comes w/ magic seat I will very much consider it).
- smaller wheel base means easier parking in NYC or other urban areas.
- cheaper.
- available in fun colors such as orange. I don't like any of those "boring" colors on the Insight.
- more storage niches I assume.

When Insight concept was first unveiled last year Honda says it will come w/ magic seat. but then they took it out in the production model. it's a shame because the magic seat is so useful, especially because the Insight's roof line is lower than Fit's and being able to transport taller stuff is really great.

 

Hey Phil, I'm glad you were the first to get to drive our demo insight. Its quite a choice you have ahead of you. That tw fit would look really nice if you end up getting that. The si would be a car I'm sure you'd miss, to bad you can't have both on this one.

 

Take a picture and measure the mirrors for us to see if they are the same size as the Fits!

 

ditto.

 

MUGEN INSIGHT FTW

edit: a little more research pointed out that all the parts Mugen is making besides the wheels (as far as I know), are to improve the aerodynamics of the car and reduce drag coefficient. how neat1!

 

Thanks for the info...

 

too bad it was beat with a massive ugly stick, I cant get past the cars god awful looks to even begin to care about its technical innovations.

 

The front and side profiles look good... the rear is hideous.

 

in 4 years hopefully there will be a plug in hybrid fit.

I think if we had to decide now the price and the looks of the fit would win. if gas was $4 then it would be different.

 

A little OT but since the Prius has been mentioned a couple times in the thread and it is the target for the Insight, the new Prius embargo lifted today and some reviews are out of the press drives. Most of the reviewers got 65+ mpg on the combined test loop in and around Napa. Pretty impressive.

 

Yeah. Its like a supermodel with a cottagecheese ass.

 

Any impressions regarding the CVT? That drivetrain is one reason I never even considered the Nissan Versa vs. the Fit. I have never actually driven a CVT, but I have been a passenger in a few vehicles with it. The absence of distinct gear ratios seems to be weird. A friend's Civic Hybrid felt a bit like a '53 Buick Dynaflow when under modest acceleration from a dead stop. I am a bit on the, errr..., ummm..., mature side, so perhaps many people here are not familiar with Dynaflush, which featured a 1950's style loose torque converter, and no assisting gears.

 

The only thing I noticed was under deceleration, the car almost self brakes. I think this is from the car charging the batteries though, not the cvt.
I will say it is much easier to get in and out of the back seats in the fit. With the drivers seat all the way back in the insight I found it almost impossible to get in the back seat. I have decided Im not going to buy the insight, its just not for me.
The white fit sport with a five speed is really tempting me!!! They also had a red 09 civic si coupe that would only be 4 grand more than the Fit.
Decisions Decisions!!