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Category: Honda Motor Co.

Insight economy almost matches Honda's claims

Hybrid car makers have been strong on economy claims, which often haven't come close in the real, on-the-road world.

I've been driving the new Honda Insight gasoline electric hybrid, the Japanese company's answer to its Toyota compatriot's Prius, to see if its extravagant fuel economy claims are backed up by its performance in the real world. The answer is; pretty much.

Honda claims the new Insight will manage an average 51.1 miles per U.S. gallon. This is a bit more than the car it replaces ... the old Honda Civic hybrid - which claimed an average of 48.3 mpg but actually produced only 34.6 mpg for me in a test a few years back. I managed an average of almost 46 mpg with the new Insight, after driving about 250 miles including about 25 per cent highway, 50 per cent rolling along country lanes at between 45 mph and 60 mph, and the rest in town. The air conditioning was on all the time, and very cool it kept the interior, too.

The Insight is packed with little gimmicks to shame you into submission and make you drive much slower than perhaps you might. There's a little green ECO button which you push for maximum efficiency.

When you press ECO, this is what happens ...

*Power and torque are limited by 4 percent, except when the accelerator is floored.

*The constantly variable automatic gearbox changes its shift pattern to economy.

*The throttle control maximises economy by refusing to accept a command which exceeds economy mode, accept when the accelerator is floored.

*The system expands the amount of energy captured by regenerative braking (regenerative braking has nothing to with the brakes. This captures excess energy when the car is coasting down gradients).

*Air conditioning and fan blower switches to economy.

*The Stop-Start system turns off the air conditioning

The Insight also includes a device which turns green when you are driving in the economy zone. There is also a group of cartoon trees, and if you can produce five, you are doing the maximum possible for the environment. I managed "five trees" status briefly, but wandering over 45 mph up hill put paid to that.

The Insight can do at least 45.6 mpg, and Honda claims 51.1 mpg; that's close enough.