Mugen Honda Insight Hybrid 2010

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MUGEN tunes the 2010 Honda Insight


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"An exciting piece of news for hybrid sports car fans: MUGEN, the experienced Japanese tuning firm responsible for years of Civics and Accords miles in front of their stock counterparts, has developed and released a tuning program for the as-yet-unreleased Honda Insight.

While the Insight is similar to the Prius in nearly every way, including styling and powertrain, the very idea of a TRD Prius sounds completely ridiculous. MUGEN's relationship with Honda is longstanding, think Ford and Roush here in the States, and you can bet that if a MUGEN-tuned Honda Insight is making such a loud entrance, it is fully sanctioned by the Insight's builder.

Specifics under the hood are nothing fancy by tuner car standards. A new performance intake is paired with an oil cooler to supposedly keep the gasoline and electric motors stoked and cooled, and larger, wider alloys should make a huge difference on the road.

If Honda's current product line is any indication, a factory Insight should prove more agile and spirited in driving than its Toyota hybrid counterpart. MUGEN would not be putting their name in front of the car without some degree of confidence that the Insight tuning package makes a tangilble performance difference.

The new MUGEN Honda Insight even features an aero kit MUGEN claimes significantly improves the Insight's already-stellar aerodynamics, complete with rear spoiler.

The MUGEN-tuned Honda Insight is not expected to be offered as a standalone model in the United States, but enterprising tuners will of course get their hands on the parts. A Ronn Scorpion, Tesla or Fisker is one thing, but a sub-$20,000 hybrid car with real tuner potential?

Depending on critical reception to the 2010 Honda Insight's driving dynamics, the MUGEN Insight may seem like one of the greatest business decisions in the entire energy efficient car industry, or a big joke."


 
Well I guess its nice to have some handling options available for one of these...

@Philly: There's a new one?
 
They should've put a boat tail on it or something. This car makes absolutely no sense.

The only way it would be cool is if they put a K20 (or whatever the best Honda engine is) under the hood and made the hybrid drive like Kers boost system.
 
Mugen's Public Relations Department
"While the Insight is similar to the Prius in nearly every way, including styling and powertrain, the very idea of a TRD Prius sounds completely ridiculous."
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Pot, meet black. I believe you've met kettle before. :dunce:
 
While the Insight is similar to the Prius in nearly every way, including styling and powertrain, the very idea of a TRD Prius sounds completely ridiculous.
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What, and a Mugen Insight isn't? :dunce:
 
Wow... I'm stunned.... right now...:eek::crazy:
 
Could someone please explain to me what is going on here? I'm really at a loss. An Insight with a few things bolted on it?

Totally.
 
Philly
All seven of them?
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Hey, if I had some cash, I'd buy an Insight. Hell, even the original one! I like the look, and I understand the way it drives is rather impressive. Only thing is, the Fusion Hybrid is a billion times cooler because its bigger, more efficient, and looks (not to mention drives) like an even more normal car.
 
HACKr
Could someone please explain to me what is going on here? I'm really at a loss. An Insight with a few things bolted on it?

Totally.
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A typical Mugen job (like the Mugen Civic Si) includes reworked suspension, different wheels with more track-oriented tires, a different aero kit, some minor interior changes, and on the Civic it got an axleback exhaust.

This article says that it won't be sold as a complete car, rather this example shows the available parts.
 
^Agreed.

💡

Do they have Mugen stuff for that one?

And to all of this, I give a laugh and a thumbs-up.
 
Drop the spoiler and i'd buy it. Still can't get over the huge ass, but oh well.
 
Front end looks good but the back looks like they ran out of ideas...
 
HA. you guys never played with GT4's insight, have you? I basically consider the Insight's as Hybrid CRXes, which is exactly what they look like to me.
 
EA11R
Do they have Mugen stuff for that one?
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Not as far as I'm aware. Though I'm sure people have made Mugen bits fit them.

Mugen are veering perilously close to being a styling company first and a tuner second, at the moment. I can't see why you'd buy an Insight and then ruin the carefully tested aerodynamics with a body kit and large spoiler.

Slick Rick
Front end looks good but the back looks like they ran out of ideas...
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It's funny you mention them running out of ideas. Everywhere you go on the internet people are saying it looks like the Prius (which it does, but that's obvious as it's a near-optimal shape for good aerodynamic efficiency with a front-engined, five seat and luggage space car) but if you compare the back end on the new Insight with that of the old one, there are a lot of similarities. Honda obviously carried over the name to mark the car out as their dedicated hybrid, just like the last one was.

Even if the new one isn't as clever, IMO.

Sniffs
HA. you guys never played with GT4's insight, have you? I basically consider the Insight's as Hybrid CRXes, which is exactly what they look like to me.
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You're right, the original Insight looked very much inspired by the second gen CRX.
 
EA11R
^Agreed.

💡

Do they have Mugen stuff for that one?

And to all of this, I give a laugh and a thumbs-up.
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Some people have swapped K20s into them. 💡

200hp+electric power, 8000rpm, still 45-ish mpg or whatever they got with the little three cylinder. :D
 
YSSMAN
Hey, if I had some cash, I'd buy an Insight. Hell, even the original one! I like the look, and I understand the way it drives is rather impressive. Only thing is, the Fusion Hybrid is a billion times cooler because its bigger, more efficient, and looks (not to mention drives) like an even more normal car.
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You just like it because the car shows little leaves in the dash. :p
Eric.
Some people have swapped K20s into them. 💡

200hp+electric power, 8000rpm, still 45-ish mpg or whatever they got with the little three cylinder. :D
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A K20 in an Insight? I wanna see that. :D
 
Eric.
Some people have swapped K20s into them. 💡

200hp+electric power, 8000rpm, still 45-ish mpg or whatever they got with the little three cylinder. :D
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From what I've seen, they do away with the electric motor altogether - after all, it's probably not designed to sit alongside a K20. And 45 mpg is very good, no doubt helped by the 800-850kg kerb weight and efficient aerodynamics, but it's not quite as good as the 100+ mpg that owners manage to extract from Insights.

As for the cars, here is an article on one such example.

And here are some pictures, for the intrigued:

htup_0806_01_z+honda_insight+front_view.jpg

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htup_0806_14_z+honda_insight+s2000_guages.jpg


I'm liking the S2000 display in lieu of the Insight's normal S2000-inspired electronic display.

I think this sort of thing is known as a "Phantom" car - one that wasn't produced by the factory but looks like it was and is up to the same standard as a factory car.

Having looked at the other link posted, it appears it's the same car :p
 
Technically, it's still a hybrid in a way...

I just looked at the engine bay: less crowded than the '99 Altima currently antagonizing me. Is the KA24 engine the biggest 2.4 ever? But I digress.

I've seen that before, very cool car. Did you notice about the third gear wheelspin? I can't imagine what sort of top speed it generates...

We've got a horsepower ratio (Before:After) of 80:217, and a speed ratio (Before:After) of 112:X. Given that aerodynamic resistance increases as the square of velocity, and rearranging that to say, "all else equal, power divided by top speed squared equals a constant," I've reached 184 mph as the possible top speed!

Okay, it's more of an upper bound than anything else, but that's a damn high number for a double-hybrid. Also, it's the highest-number example I've seen of similar numbers of power and speed. It seems they'd be equal at 156.

And this is how I put off doing my physics work. Aye!
 
EA11R
Technically, it's still a hybrid in a way...

I just looked at the engine bay: less crowded than the '99 Altima currently antagonizing me. Is the KA24 engine the biggest 2.4 ever? But I digress.

I've seen that before, very cool car. Did you notice about the third gear wheelspin? I can't imagine what sort of top speed it generates...

We've got a horsepower ratio (Before:After) of 80:217, and a speed ratio (Before:After) of 112:X. Given that aerodynamic resistance increases as the square of velocity, and rearranging that to say, "all else equal, power divided by top speed squared equals a constant," I've reached 184 mph as the possible top speed!

Okay, it's more of an upper bound than anything else, but that's a damn high number for a double-hybrid. Also, it's the highest-number example I've seen of similar numbers of power and speed. It seems they'd be equal at 156.

And this is how I put off doing my physics work. Aye!
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It would run out of gears long before 184mph. Its using a JDM transmission, so either from a Civic Type R or Integra Type R most likely. The only difference are the gear ratios, likewise for the current gen Si sold here. Si's would run out of revs (if not for the speed limiter at 130ish and aero drag closer to 140) at about 160mph or sooner. Both of the Type Rs run higher final drives, so better acceleration (and the reason for third gear wheelspin - my Si only chirps going into third) and less top end.
 
Ignore me, brain fade
 
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Thing is, they swapped the gearbox as well as the engine in the K-sight. I doubt the Hybrid's 'box could handle the sheer power or revs of the Type-R spec mill.
 
Jim Prower
Thing is, they swapped the gearbox as well as the engine in the K-sight. I doubt the Hybrid's 'box could handle the sheer power or revs of the Type-R spec mill.
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I know. I realised that after I pressed send, hence my edited post 👍
 
Ah, it happens to the best of us.
 
I think that depends on how Honda routed the electric motor. If they ran it through the same gearbox as the gas engine, there isn't a four cylinder made by the company that had more torque. That being said, it still isn't a performance tranny, so what I said is largely irrelevant. What can you do?
 
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