Honda Insight Hybrid (Parallel Imported)

I purchased this car because of it's rebates, relatively low price and and need for a fuel efficient car for daily commuting. Forget about the reviews written by professionals like Txp Gxxr etc. who give this car very poor rating, I suspect they don't know how to drive hybrid cars properly, or totally missed the point of having a hybrid car. If you want to speed and have good acceleration or drive like a racer than this car is not for you. First of all, for a small car there is plenty of room for front passengers. Back room is sufficient for me (6+ feet tall), but taller people might be touching the roof and have inadequte leg room. Boot space is plenty and big enough to fit in prams, golf bags, big luggages etc. For reliability, I've driven this car for regular commuting and long-distance road trips >700km and so far no problem at all. Steering is smooth and easy. Note that when ECON mode is switched on, driver may notice sluggish acceration. However, you have the option of switching it off and activate the car's "S" gear which results in siginificantly improved acceleration response (hard to believe it's only a 1.3 car), and good enough for overtaking on highways. For a relatively low-priced car, it's fitted with cool gadgets that make driving fun like Cruise control (I find this extremely useful), MP3 port, sterring wheel with music player controls / cruise control etc., automatic rain sensors, and automatic headlights. Sadly, Honda seems to have 'under-estimated' it's fuel econmy. In real Singapore roads (I drive about 50% highway, 50% city), overall fuel consumption turns out to be >25 km/L or <4L/100km (about 20 for pure city, >30 for pure highway) which is pretty impressive and saves lots of $ on fuel in the long run. Overall, I'll recommend this car to anyone who is interested in getting a small family hybrid car.... Read More

Space isn't too bad in the Honda Insight and the seats and driving position are fine. The ride's stiff, which is especially annoying because this isn't a sporty car. In town, having a petrol engine liberates you from the rattle that you'd get in a diesel car, and you have the comfortable luxury of complete silence at traffic lights as the engine shuts down, but in eco mode it doesn't run at full chat. If your friends know nothing about cars and laboriously unplug their telly each night instead of leaving it on standby, they'll think you're cool. But do such folk have any real concept of cool? And if they did, would they admit to it? Maybe gadget-fiend mates would be impressed by the flashing lights of the Honda's dash. Assembled with great precision, but doesn't have the gorgeous interior touch-quality of a VW. It will be reliable though. Honda simply doesn't know how to do otherwise. Can be quite fun, mostly because of low roll and quick steering. We suspect you could learn a lot about slidey car control on a wet road, thanks to thin tyres and switchable ESP. But you'd need to use the paddle shifters to hold it in a low ratio. The rest of the time it's benign and capable but hardly an inspiration. Previous Civic hybrids were saloons, but the Insight is a hatch because Europeans demand that sort of practicality. The boot is slightly oddly shaped because of the batteries beneath, but not alarmingly so. This is a useful and user-friendly car.... Read More