Prius. First Impressions

[The Toecutter]

When you sell 12 a month or whatev, can't blame ya for giving up,

But then again, it can be argued that they never made near enough to meet demand to begin with.


If I were Honda, I'd turbocharge the engine of the Insight so that it could accelerate like a Porsche Boxter. I've read of turbocharged Insights do 0-60 mph < 7 seconds, without any statistically significant fuel economy penalty under the condition you drive it as you normally would. A 65 mpg car that had that performance and only cost ~$20k? It would sell like mad. People who buy two seaters usually are looking for a performance vehicle. The Insight could have been that without any FE sacrifice.

[SVOboy]

Talking to a few dealerships about the insight I was told by all of them that they stocked them for a few years, never sold one, then had to send them back to wherever,

But anyway, honda will come out with something better!

[The Toecutter]

Interesting. The dealerships I looked into all had a 6 month(or longer) waiting list. I hope the next Insight or replacement is a 100+ mpg performance vehicle. It won't sell to its maximum potential on economy alone if it's a two-seater.

Maybe use a design similar to the Opel Eco Speester and use the Accord's diesel engine with a hybrid drive setup like that of the Insight. Aim for a $25,000-30,000 0-60 in 4 second sports car that gets ~100 mpg and weighs < 2,000 pounds.

[diamondlarry]

Originally Posted by The Toecutter

Maybe use a design similar to the Opel Eco Speester and use the Accord's diesel engine with a hybrid drive setup like that of the Insight. Aim for a $25,000-30,000 0-60 in 4 second sports car that gets ~100 mpg and weighs < 2,000 pounds.

I'll take one. Where do I send my money?

[GasSavers_brick]

Regarding the Insight, the replacement vehicle won't be anything like it. Honda is talking about a dedicated hybrid vehicle with 4 doors, somehow between the Civic and the Fit. (That will make for some tricky marketing, I think.) There's a car called the Honda City, which is rumored to be the platform. Don't quote me, that's just what the rumor mill is generating.

And regarding the new Prius, nice work! To be cranking out 60+mpg segments within minutes of taking delivery is pretty darned good by anyone's standards. I'm sure Dan will have plenty of input to help you fine-tune the driving technique.

Oh, and btw, the first gen Civic Hybrid came in a 5-speed too. That thing is good for some really excellent FE in the right hands.

[diamondlarry]

Oh, and btw, the first gen Civic Hybrid came in a 5-speed too. That thing is good for some really excellent FE in the right hands.

Yeah, it seems like I was keeping an eye on one that was up for bid on Ebay. Went too high for my budget.

[schmeep]

i thought that there was at least one manual hybrid available, btw, what model year was the gen 1 civic hybrid launched?

[tomauto]

Japans Version

http://world.honda.com/news/2001/4011213.html

U.S. Version

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honda_Civic_Hybrid