Honda Launches Its Greenest Car Ever
Governments across the world are calling consumers and industry to “Go Green!”, everyone must do their bit to cut their carbon footprint and CO2 emissions to save the planet. Japanese maker Honda has sat up and taken note of the green calls, it has launched the second generation Insight – with an aim to challenge the Toyota Prius.
But can the Honda take the fight to the Toyota camp or is the Insight just marketing hype?
Similar Design To Toyota’s Prius
With white being an in color, of all car makers at present, it was appropriate that the test car was in ice white. The boffins at Honda may have got the color right, but the design of the car could be a bit more ‘out there’ if it wants to attract a new breed of consumers to its brand. When parking the Insight next to its rival, the Toyota Prius, the cars look very similar in design when viewing the cars from the side profile.
The main difference in design that is noticeable is that the rear spoiler dissects the screen on the Honda Insight, it also hinders visibility somewhat when driving, while, the Toyota Prius has much better visibility as it has no spoiler obstructing the driver’s view.
Neither car will rock the design world and may not appeal to the youth market.
The Interior Of The Honda Insight
The cockpit of the Insight is very new-age, it has an array dials and LCD displays which should make the drive experience feel more special. A downside is that the plastics look to be of cheap quality. The car is very roomy, and there is enough room for four adults of average size.
Fitting luggage in the boot should not be a problem as there is 408-litres with the rear seats in place and with the seats folded, this expands to 584-litres of luggage room.
The Honda Insight Is Powered By The Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) System
The Honda Insight is powered by latest version of the Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) system. The 1.3-litre petrol engine produces 87bhp and is further boosted by a 14bhp electric motor, at times this will be the only source of power that is driving the vehicle as it can work on the electric battery when cruising at low speed or when slowing down as the car uses a regenerative braking system.
Not only does this help by cutting emissions but it also improves fuel economy. Performance figures see the Insight get from zero to 62mph in 12.5 seconds and it has a top speed of 113mph.
The Insight Has Good Road Manners
The Honda is never going to wow drivers when behind the wheel, but the eco-friendly car is easy to drive, and it behaves as you would expect, like a family saloon.
The Honda Insight starts from a price of £15,490 and it emits 101g/km of CO2 emissions making it an eco-friendly car which may indeed knock the Toyota Prius off the top of the green tree that it is perched on at present.
