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2019 Honda Insight http://www.motortrend.com/news/2019-honda-insight-goes-mainstream/ It’s official: Honda will bring back the Insight nameplate that it discontinued in 2014. This time around, Honda is positioning the Insight as an upscale, five-passenger sedan instead of a hatch. Honda has released images of the Insight Prototype ahead of its official debut at the Detroit auto show in January. The prototype takes plenty of design cues from the Civic, including its long hood and curvaceous body lines. The 2019 Honda Insight will adopt a two-motor hybrid system. The 2018 Honda Accord Hybrid uses this type of setup, pairing two electric motors with a 2.0-liter DOHC Atkinson cycle engine. Exact powertrain details for the Insight are unknown, but it’s already sounding better than the pesky Integrated Motor Assist setup on the old Insight. We never liked the system, which is comprised of a 1.3-liter I-4 with an electric motor producing a combined total of 98 hp. The powertrain would switch on and off too abruptly at stoplights, as we noted in a 2009 review. Introduced in 1999, the first-generation Insight was a two-door vehicle and the first hybrid to launch in the U.S. Honda didn’t debut a second generation until 2009, when the model adopted a more practical five-door design. Still, we weren’t all that impressed with the Insight’s interior space, not to mention its ride quality. Transforming the Insight from an egg-shaped hatch to a sedan should help broaden its appeal. And it’ll erase any comparisons that may have been made in the past with the king of all hybrids, the Toyota Prius. Expect a much more premium feel and a more spacious interior for the new Insight. It’ll slot above the Civic in Honda’s lineup and will offer fuel economy that is competitive with other compact hybrids, the automaker says. Honda is also claiming the model will have “best-in-class performance.” “You won’t have to be an electrification advocate to appreciate the new Insight—it’s a great car in its own right, independent of what’s happening under the hood,” Henio Arcangeli Jr., senior vice president of Automobile Sales and general manager of the Honda Division at American Honda Motor Co., said in a statement. A production version of the Insight will arrive next summer. It’s part of Honda’s plan for electrified vehicles to comprise two-thirds of its global sales by 2030. The 2019 Honda Insight will join the new Accord Hybrid, launching early next year, alongside the Clarity series in Honda’s expanding green lineup. The vehicle will enter production at Honda’s plant in Greensburg, Indiana. Source: Honda

I recently had a go (sometime early this year) with the facelifted Honda Insight courtesy of Honda Malaysia via a journalist friend of mine who was testing it for a few days. It is basically the same car with some cosmetic changes to the front and rear bumpers, front grille, a CVT gearbox with some minute improvements and some tweaks to the hybrid drivetrain. The improvements made are nothing to shout about as it is still basically the same car, powered by the same 88ps, 121Nm 1.3-litre engine coupled to a tiny 14ps, 78Nm electric motor that assists the car when the going gets tough. What both engines give you isn

Once upon a time, Group B rally cars ruled the earth. Or rallying, that is. This was in the 1980s and these cars were so fast and dangerous that eventually these Group B monsters (like the Lancia Delta S4 and the Audi Quattro S1) were banned. This was quite logical at that point of time as there were horrid accidents that claimed the lives of the drivers and navigators. The cars were built without compromise for speed and this actually made things dangerous for its occupants. Unlike this story which I am about to tell where a Honda Insight Hybrid rally car gets banned for winning rallies over in the UK. This hybrid Honda competed in the Formula 1000 Tarmac Rally Series and was officially requested to withdraw due to complains by rival teams stating that the hybrid rally car has an unfair advantage. It was deemed to have dominated the championship with a 19 point lead by coming in first twice and second once in the first three rounds that had taken place. The Oaktec team running the Honda Insight Hybrid have been requested to withdraw from the Formula 1000 rally series and compete in a higher class to make all these spoil-sports happy. The Honda Insight Hybrid rally car uses a tuned petrol engine as well as an electric motor to give it power and fuel efficiency. The Lancaster based Oaktec team had been developing the car for almost 6 years and the car can achieve 100mpg when driven conservatively. It is also the only rally car that runs on a specially developed CVT gearbox. Never have I heard anyone running an automatic type transmission in rallying. It is usually manual or sequential gearboxes. Anyway, Oaktec had stated that they will comply with the request to participate in a high rally category. Whatever the case, even though I do not actually fancy hybrids, I also do not actually fancy spoil-sports and rally teams that whine about unfair advantage. Now what is the actual advantage given is actually hard to say as the car still came in second, meaning some other normal petrol or diesel powered car came first. As if the other teams in the Formula 1 GP are kicking Red Bull out because Sebastian Vettel for winning nearly every F1 GP race this season. Eventually the world of motorsport will be filled with hybrids and electric cars as the powers that be will request motorsport promote the use of eco-friendly race cars that take into account carbon emissions and other environmental issues. Oh, and one more thing. Aren't the other teams ashamed a wimpy looking hybrid like the Honda Insight with skinny tires and rear wheelarch covers can beat the crap out of normal 1400cc petrol powered rally cars? source:green-car-guide/photo:oaktechybrid

Fuel efficiency has increased dramatically in the last decade, or at least that's what we've been told. So, it might come as a surprise to find out that six of the Top Ten Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA)-rated Fuel Sippers from 1984 to present were built prior to 2000. This info comes straight from the EPA website, the authoritative source on this fuel efficiency stuff. While some current vehicles such as the 2010 Toyota Prius, 2010 Honda Insight and the 2006-2010 Honda Civic Hybrid garnered a spot on the top ten list, it's really older lightweight models like the 1986 Chevy Sprint ER or 1990-1994 Geo Metro XFI that make it obvious efficiency hasn't come as far as we'd like to think. Overall, Honda holds top honors for automakers with five models present on the list, while Toyota's Prius made its mark twice. All of the vehicles on the list run with either 3- or 4-cylinder engines and five out of the top ten rely on hybrid motivation. The overall winner, the 2000 Honda Insight (above), scores a combined rating of 53 miles per gallon, a number that exceeds even the modern-day Prius by three mpg. In many cases, we've been mistakenly led to believe that buying a new car equates to increased efficiency, but this list clearly shows that many of the relics from days gone by can easily hold their own with the most efficient vehicles made today. Therefore, newer is not always better! 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.