GTP Cool Wall: 1999-2006 Honda Insight

[Jet Badger]

They're actually alloys

That's what I thought it was but seeing everyone reffering to them as hubcaps I thought maybe there's something I don't know

 

[LMSCorvetteGT2]

I honestly kind of like this car, but there is absolutely no way it can be anything other then Seriously Uncool.

I mean, this car is to the hypermilers what an Alfa 8C is to us petrolheads. They adore it, which means this happens:

...Well since people are going to keep making these blanket judgement to support their asinine bias because it isn't a petrol heads wet dream. I guess I'm going to keep doing what would HFS do as my own blanket judgement to go against theirs, except mine holds more water

So @homeforsummer Have you yet to do this to your car? You dirty hypermiler you!

Yeah, not keen on that behaviour myself, and rest assured I shan't be doing it to mine.

There you have it. A style not for every Insight owner. Maybe some of you yups should use
"some owners" or a "few owners" or other words that don't make the entire group of owners seem of a hive mind.

 

[Parker]

I'd daily drive the hell out of it. Seriously uncool.

 

[Rotary Junkie]

The Insight is absolutely cool.

Oh, I guess it helps that the owners don't seem to be your average hybrid owners either. Most of them I see wind up cruising at 80+ on the freeway rather than being driven like your average hybrid.

 

[Adamgp]

Cooler than the Prius, but not by much.

Seriously Uncool.

 

[homeforsummer]

Cooler than the Prius, but not by much.

I'll totally take that.

 

[TheCracker]

Am i the only one seeing an Insight unconvincingly trying to carry a 3/5ths scale Aston DB6 in it's boot/trunk?

 

[homeforsummer]

Am i the only one seeing an Insight unconvincingly trying to carry a 3/5ths scale Aston DB6 in it's boot/trunk?

Is that a bit like the "BMW i8 is farting out a Porsche 996" thing?

 

[Famine]

Imagine you're "a car enthusiast" and your car - let's pretend it's a Jaguar F-Type R, because pin up and V8 - does about 18mpg, but 25mpg on a long run. Say you drive 18 miles each way to work (because it's neater that way), five days a week.

You're chewing up about 10 gallons a week - 480 gallons a year assuming standard private industry holiday time - and the occasional long run, such as the one HFS and I both did yesterday is 16 gallons in a day (so you'll need to stop for fuel at least once each trip - the F-Type's tank is 16 gallons). Five of those a year takes you to 560 gallons a year of utterly boring driving, without any thought given to the weekend fun you have.

Now imagine you're a car enthusiast and your Honda Insight does about 54mpg (how curiously triple), but 80mpg on a long run. Your commute is now down to 3.3 gallons a week - 160 gallons a year - and the six annual longer runs absorb another 40 gallons (and you don't have to stop for fuel at all - the tank is 8.8 gallons so it'll do three of those runs without refuelling), for 172 gallons in total of utterly boring driving, without any thought given to weekend fun.

Which saves you 388 gallons a year - 24 tanks of fuel - for having fun in your F-Type of a weekend. And every time you're in the F-Type, it feels even more special because you're not using it as a commuter hack.


Today you learned that doing dull driving in fuel efficient cars saves fuel for burning at will to have fun in fun cars and makes fun cars more fun to be in.

*All number above assume proper, full-fat gallons. For tiny, weedy, US gallons, multiply by 0.8

 

[homeforsummer]

That's more or less the logic I've used, with the added bonus I'm doing those boring journeys in a car with a daft 1980s-style electronic display that appeals to my childish side and a shape that I'll virtually never see coming the other way.

If I'd bought a diesel Golf or something I'd have to tell people I drove a diesel Golf, I'd see eight billion of them every time I went to the shops, my hands would get greasy every time I filled it up and I'd still be paying a third extra in fuel (money better spent on car-hating things like going to Le Mans, doing road trips across America or filling the tank on the occasional press car).

 

[The Stig Farmer]

Brilliant little thing. Cool.

 

[Ingram]

Am i the only one seeing an Insight unconvincingly trying to carry a 3/5ths scale Aston DB6 in it's boot/trunk?

I think it looks more like someone has glued the rear end of a VW XL1 onto it.

 

[SuperLambo570]

I give it a Meh, I have no feeling one way or another.

You on the other hand are really beginning to get on my nerves. You seriously need to drop your ridiculous mindset about what a car should be, and your obsession with the Cruze is unfathomable.

You're not going to get far in life being the way you are, just drop it.

He disagrees with you. Get over it. And how will his opinion on cars affect his success in life?

Anyway, it's Seriously Uncool for me. The styling is complete crap, and the fact that it's a hybrid makes it worse.

 

[Famine]

That's more or less the logic I've used, with the added bonus I'm doing those boring journeys in a car with a daft 1980s-style electronic display that appeals to my childish side and a shape that I'll virtually never see coming the other way.

I used an MX-5 (again, because child) and still had to fill up at half way

 

[homeforsummer]

I used an MX-5 (again, because child) and still had to fill up at half way

Incidentally, the speed I was traveling when you passed me isn't representative of every journey in that car - despite the car's economy I was playing fuel-light bingo and was ensuring I made it to the next station...

 

[Famine]

The speed I was travelling which I passed you pretty much is representative of every journey in Pato - though I was in 4th to make more noise, 'cos Child (qv above).

 

[mustang fanatic]

Seriously uncool. There is nothing cool about this car.

 

[Xilor]

...Well since people are going to keep making these blanket judgement to support their asinine bias because it isn't a petrol heads wet dream. I guess I'm going to keep doing what would HFS do as my own blanket judgement to go against theirs, except mine holds more water

So @homeforsummer Have you yet to do this to your car? You dirty hypermiler you!



There you have it. A style not for every Insight owner. Maybe some of you yups should use
"some owners" or a "few owners" or other words that don't make the entire group of owners seem of a hive mind.

Read what I said again and you'll realize that I did not make any such blanket statements.

Is it a fact that the Insight is adored by hypermilers? Yes. Does that mean every Insight owner is a hypermiler? Of course not, just like not every single E46 M3 owner is a douchebag, yet that didn't stop the majority for voting it SU for that reason when it was being polled a month ago.

Imagine you're "a car enthusiast" and your car - let's pretend it's a Jaguar F-Type R, because pin up and V8 - does about 18mpg, but 25mpg on a long run. Say you drive 18 miles each way to work (because it's neater that way), five days a week.

You're chewing up about 10 gallons a week - 480 gallons a year assuming standard private industry holiday time - and the occasional long run, such as the one HFS and I both did yesterday is 16 gallons in a day (so you'll need to stop for fuel at least once each trip - the F-Type's tank is 16 gallons). Five of those a year takes you to 560 gallons a year of utterly boring driving, without any thought given to the weekend fun you have.

Now imagine you're a car enthusiast and your Honda Insight does about 54mpg (how curiously triple), but 80mpg on a long run. Your commute is now down to 3.3 gallons a week - 160 gallons a year - and the six annual longer runs absorb another 40 gallons (and you don't have to stop for fuel at all - the tank is 8.8 gallons so it'll do three of those runs without refuelling), for 172 gallons in total of utterly boring driving, without any thought given to weekend fun.

Which saves you 388 gallons a year - 24 tanks of fuel - for having fun in your F-Type of a weekend. And every time you're in the F-Type, it feels even more special because you're not using it as a commuter hack.

Today you learned that doing dull driving in fuel efficient cars saves fuel for burning at will to have fun in fun cars and makes fun cars more fun to be in.

Going by that logic, every single person should have tiny, cheap diesel/hybrid econoboxes as their everyday cars, right?

Lets not pretend that an F-Type doesn't feel more special that an Insight/Camry/whatever, even in everyday commuting. The way that it looks, the beautiful interior, the way it feels even at low speeds, the beautiful rumble of the engine even at low RPMs; those are all things that will put a smile on your face, whereas in the Insight you'll feel like you're drowning in wallpaper paste.

 

[Wiegert]

Oh man, I've been bracing myself for the furore surrounding this one.

Had it down as cool since it was nominated. Not because I expected the same names to whinge about it being a strange, weedy eco-box and the antithesis of what a truly masculine puddle-of-liquid-nitrogen-cool car should be. It had bags more personality than the majority of - if not all - hybrid cars a decade ago. Seriously, it's something straight out of Demolition Man, minus the silly autopilot. A definite head-turner and interest magnet for most passers by, and not for all the wrong reasons either.

The only thing I don't find cool are the ungainly hypermiler appendages some people feel the need to attach.

 

[Famine]

Going by that logic, every single person should have tiny, cheap diesel/hybrid econoboxes as their everyday cars, right?

Yes. I mean, the clue is the name "econo"box.

Not diesel though.

Lets not pretend that an F-Type doesn't feel more special that an Insight/Camry/whatever, even in everyday commuting. The way that it looks, the beautiful interior, the way it feels even at low speeds, the beautiful rumble of the engine even at low RPMs; those are all things that will put a smile on your face, whereas in the Insight you'll feel like you're drowning in wallpaper paste.

Try it.

Bimbling along in stop-start traffic in a car that thrives on going quickly isn't fun, it's frustrating. Sure, have leather and lovely carpets if you like - though you'll end up with an Aston Martin Cygnet - but all you need is enough power to move it. Chuck in a heavy clutch, carbon-ceramic brakes that have no feel and a throttle pedal you have to press with the same touch as a surgeon and it becomes not only frustration but actively stressful. We'll not even mention the fun that listening to your idling car pissing out four times as much fuel out of the exhaust for no actual benefit.

Commuting is driving as a chore. Racehorses don't get ridden to work...

 

[homeforsummer]

whereas in the Insight you'll feel like you're drowning in wallpaper paste.

Except you don't. I've owned mine for about six ten weeks now and done around 2,500 miles. Given my job, almost every one of those miles has been on the way to test some brand new car or other (or many, as was the case yesterday - one of which had four times more cylinders and about six and a half times more capacity). And not once have I climbed into it at the end of the day and thought "oh god, this thing again". I can't stand the thought of owning a boring car, so I don't buy boring cars.

But that's a fantastic example of a blanket statement you've just provided, after claiming you don't make them

 

[Joel]

Solid cool.

The tech is awesome, I like the look of it, and it's unique in a way a Prius isn't. And it makes people like @White & Nerdy upset which is always fun.

 

[Xilor]

.Try it.

Bimbling along in stop-start traffic in a car that thrives on going quickly isn't fun, it's frustrating. Sure, have leather and lovely carpets if you like - though you'll end up with an Aston Martin Cygnet - but all you need is enough power to move it. Chuck in a heavy clutch, carbon-ceramic brakes that have no feel and a throttle pedal you have to press with the same touch as a surgeon and it becomes not only frustration but actively stressful.

Commuting is driving as a chore. Racehorses don't get ridden to work...

I did try it. Many times and in many different cars. And some of them, like the E92 M3, were lovely. Comfortable and relaxing when sitting in a jam, yet when the road opened up a bit you could have brief moments of fun, without even needing to stray too far away from the speed limit.

Really its the best of both worlds, and there are plenty of accessible and inexpensive cars like that out there, you should know since you apparently drive one.

 

[Cano]

Solid cool.

The tech is awesome, I like the look of it, and it's unique in a way a Prius isn't. And it makes people like @White & Nerdy upset which is always fun.

This, pretty much. I've always liked how over-engineered these things are, and the look of a wedge that rolls has always been a favorite of mine. And will you look at those wheels.

I'd daily one every day of my life. And yes, it needs a V8.

Cool.

 

[homeforsummer]

Really its the best of both worlds, and there are plenty of accessible and inexpensive cars like that out there, you should know since you apparently drive one.

When BMW produces an M3 that costs a third to a quarter in fuel what the current one does commuting in traffic - as the Insight does - I'll be first in line to buy it.

Wait, that's probably the i8. Okay, I'll rephrase: When BMW produces an M3 that costs a third to a quarter in fuel what the current one does commuting in traffic (and doesn't cost a hundred grand), I'll be first in line to buy it.

 

[Famine]

I did try it. Many times and in many different cars. And some of them, like the E92 M3, were lovely. Comfortable and relaxing when sitting in a jam, yet when the road opened up a bit you could have brief moments of fun, without even needing to stray too far away from the speed limit.

Really its the best of both worlds, and there are plenty of accessible and inexpensive cars like that out there, you should know since you apparently drive one.

It's not even close to the best of either world, doesn't even do the combined jobs better than other cars and turns something that should be special into the mundane.

And I drive a Mk1 MX-5 which is utterly appalling on motorways and not much mirth on crap, rutted urban roads, or a Mazda 6 diesel estate which, while not wholly joyless, is not exactly fun and efficiency bundled into one.

 

[CinnamonOD]

I always loved the quirky looks of the car, a friend has one, not the best drive, but it'll take you wherever you want to go.

Cool

 

[Xilor]

When BMW produces an M3 that costs a third to a quarter in fuel what the current one does commuting in traffic - as the Insight does - I'll be first in line to buy it.

Wait, that's probably the i8. Okay, I'll rephrase: When BMW produces an M3 that costs a third to a quarter in fuel what the current one does commuting in traffic (and doesn't cost a hundred grand), I'll be first in line to buy it.

I used the M3 as an example because its one car I've had personal experience with.

But then, I added this bit...

...and there are plenty of accessible and inexpensive cars like that out there...

...to prevent people from saying what you did.

I'll use an even more personal experience. In the summer, I DD a 1999 Honda Civic SI. I bought it in perfect running condition for $3000, the same amount of money many people pay for their 10 year old Accents and Corollas. Of course, its not as fuel efficient as the Insight, but I can still easily manage 35+ MPG a tank. But most importantly, it puts a big, goofy smile on my face every single time I drive it.

Would that be a good enough example of the "best of both worlds" that I'm talking about?

It's not even close to the best of either world, doesn't even do the combined jobs better than other cars and turns something that should be special into the mundane.

No need to be pedantic with words, you know what I'm talking about. The M3 provides a good balance between comfort and performance. The Insight on the other hand is all about efficiency, and provides very little fun to most people.

 

[homeforsummer]

Of course, its not as fuel efficient as the Insight, but I can still easily manage 35+ MPG a tank. But most importantly, it puts a big, goofy smile on my face every single time I drive it.

Would that be a good enough example of the "best of both worlds" that I'm talking about?

It depends. I also enjoy driving the Insight - I know that's hard to believe for some people here, because it has the wrong number of cylinders or isn't held together with rust and bondo, but no less true. It's a sub-1,900 lb car with a low driving position, revvy little gasoline engine, that doesn't take up much space on the road, which suits me fine. It's not particularly quick, but speed is relative - "slow car fast", and all that.

And so far, it's averaged just over 60 mpg US without any real effort. Which over here, where petrol costs twice what it does in the most expensive places in the US, also puts a smile on my face when I spend less on fuel on it than I did 11 years ago when I bought my first car.

Incidentally, none of that really has anything to do with why I think it's cool. I think it's cool because the vast majority I've spoken to since buying the car, from all walks of life, have told me they think it's cool. And the only people who have indicated otherwise are either mid-teen schoolkids who probably use words like "YOLO" in regular conversation, and a select bunch of V8-everything types on an internet forum about a videogame. And I'm quite happy to play to the odds with this one.

 

[Famine]

No need to be pedantic with words

Yeah, who needs to express themselves clearly anyway?

The M3 provides a good balance between comfort and performance. The Insight on the other hand is all about efficiency, and provides very little fun to most people.

The M3 is not good enough at either job. The Insight is extremely good at the job of doing the driving you have to do rather than the driving you want to do. You know, commuting and the occasional long distance home-to-somewhere else schlepp where fun occurs at the destination. Like I said.

Tools work best if you use them for the jobs they're designed for. Sure, you can put a nail into a plank with a screwdriver head and a torque wrench but it's best if you use a hammer.