Insight on honda insight?

i am seeing used honda insights at under 10k now, despite the fact they are butt ugly(but also the only two door hybrid that widely available, and so ugly its actually kinda cool), the 50-60% reduction in fuel use is appealing given my 500 mile plus commute each week. just playing with the idea at the moment, im not planning on running any down just yet.

ive read up a bit, apparently you need to push them to get going and will be out pedaled by a good ten speed bike, but as an appliance vehicle, i might be able to deal with that if there were a few minor mods to improve it a bit (95% highway commute at 70+ mph). the batteries seem to be lasting to well over 180k from what im reading. i cant get the grm review on it to load

anyone drive one? are they "that" bad? anything to be done to the three cylinder to give it a bit of pep without killing the miser qualities? theres a ton of info from the "greenies" but not much the hot rodders , which is understandable, but i cant help but think there has to be a few out there who have played with the performance side a bit...

I have a co-worker who drove one several years ago and said he enjoyed it. Kind of like a slow gocart he said.

That being said he's not a hot rodder type.

I looked into them about a year or so ago. As I remember (at least in my area) they weren't the easiest thing to come by.

I'd be looking for one with a bad motor or battery. Then swap in what ever 4cyl honda engine you want and that would probably get you 90% of the fuel econonmy without the hassle of dealing with a hybrid. I think in the insight a lot of the fuel effiency comes from the low drag body and rock hard skinny tires.

I will never figure out why the insight never seemed to take off like the pius did..

personally, I happen to like the looks of the insight. I consider it the spiritual heir to the CRX HF..

yeah...swap in a B16 dawg!

I will never figure out why the insight never seemed to take off like the pius did..

1. Gas had been really affordable for a really long time. No one had seen $4/gallon gas yet.

2. It was new technology at the time.

3. Two doors. Looks like they abandoned that idea:

I think that it's one of the better looking Honda products.

There was a guy who used to put Hoosier slicks on one and did quite well at the autocross. They are very light and have a low cg.

The new one is not only ugly IMO, it's got virtually the same profile as the Toyota. wtf?

What was the problem getting the review to load? http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/new-cars/2002-honda-insight/

I always wanted to do something like this to a prius, just to lay some smack on the honda guys locally....

I've seen this car in person, TOUCHED it... it's pretty interesting.

Peter Egan wrote in his R&T column a while back about taking a road trip in an Insight, and he thought it was pretty fun to drive. http://www.roadandtrack.com/article.asp?section_id=26&article_id=6921

I really liked & wanted an Insight when they were newer. The thought of having to deal with a dead battery pack is a bit intimidating, but IIRC they're just D-cells inside, which leaves some tuning/replacement options.

There's really not much storage space inside one, and the hatch area has the battery vents, which when blocked cause bad things to happen - though I don't remember now what that was.

I test-drove 2 of them. I didn't think either of them were appreciably slow. Certainly not fast, but no worse than most small compacts.

The seats seemed comfortable & the idea of a full-aluminum body rocks!

But yeah, I think a B16 in one would be the sweet spiritual successor to the CRX Si & still give good mileage.

93celicaGT2 wrote:

If memory serves me correctly, that Insight has a 300+ hp K20/24 with ITB's right?

poopshovel wrote:

I will never figure out why the insight never seemed to take off like the pius did..

1. Gas had been really affordable for a really long time. No one had seen $4/gallon gas yet. 2. It was new technology at the time. 3. Two doors. Looks like they abandoned that idea:

i saw the commercial for that on tv last night and all i could think was, "wtf, they just straight up copied the prius, and threw a honda civic nose on it"

did anyon besides me intantly look at ebay and CL to find one? haha

The shape is dictated my space needs and aero design... that's why it looks like a Prius... If you remove the 2 rear doors, it kinda looks like a CRX... add some plastic cladding... and you have an Aztek... there are other cars on the road that look similar... it's not exactly a new shape and the Prius wasn't the first...

The Insight was unsuccesful partly for the reasons stated... and also because Honda didn't really push the car... but mostly because it was a 2 door, 2 seater, which severely limited the target market to commuters.

Autolex wrote:

93celicaGT2 wrote:

If memory serves me correctly, that Insight has a 300+ hp K20/24 with ITB's right?

It's a K24, yeah. It's an interesting car... they've had some bad problems with the Type S 6-speed tranny, and i believe they're going with a 4-speed sequential this year.

The shop that built it has turned out some interesting stuff, and the owner was one of the first to break off the gas pedal in the new Evo X. He had a nitrous'd Evo VIII before that was possibly one of the scariest cars i've seen in awhile.

Here's a list of some of the cars they've churned out. I've ridden in the Neon on that page, the owner's brother is on this site as well in his 4door ACR w/ srt4 swap.

http://www.team4piston.com/thecar.html

My roomate is an unofficial rep for them or sorts.

My $.02:

Obviously, being a 1G/3G fanboi, I'd go for a 1G 1300 or HF CRX over the Insight. Simple is better, and while there are a few $6,500 insights on CL here in Atlanta, decent, 150k mile HF's can be found from time to time for ~$2k. Buy now while gas prices are low. My brother just snatched up a running (but overheating) 1300 with cold A/C for $100.

If you need something newer, I've seen CLEAN Civic VX's for $2k on CL lately. They were $5k when gas prices were soaring. I borrowed my buddy's VX for a week and loved it. Wouldn't set any 0-60 records, but it was VERY tossable, especially with the tiny VX wheels.

CarKid1989 wrote: did anyon besides me intantly look at ebay and CL to find one? haha

Me!

That $999 one on ebay with the front end damage looks tempting...

kreb wrote: I think that it's one of the better looking Honda products. There was a guy who used to put Hoosier slicks on one and did quite well at the autocross. They are very light and have a low cg. The new one is not only ugly IMO, it's got virtually the same profile as the Toyota. wtf?

I actually drove that car at an autocross once. Acceleration was on par with the '89 Civic standard that I drove in college. What made it fun was that it was so LIGHT. With "R" compound tires and low mass, I had more fun with it than was expecting.

I seem to recall someone in FL swapped in a stock K series engine from a RSX-S or Civic Type-R or something, and still managed 48 MPG on the highway with one of those a few years back. Thats probably a bit more fabrication than the usual Honda swap, though.

I still see a few of them on the road up here, but usually not on the highway.

I actually don't mind the looks of the Insight. It is kind of unique in its own right. But if it were me, I'd save some cash, pick up a used CRX, make it reliable and just enjoy a more fun-to-drive car that still gets great gas mileage.

some good info, as always.. im going to run some numbers and see what happens. this may a part of a triple play solution to some issues i have , improve credit rating (uh, that one STILL pisses me off, long story ill skip), even more commuting miles soon, and low budget... due to play one above, id need to look at 04 and above if i decide to go this route..

I didnt expect the word fun and Insight to be combined in the same sentence, that's encouraging... i need to find an insight to test drive and peek under the hood, seems to me a small turbo......

924guy: Completely irrelevant and off-topic, but Port St. Lousy is my home town.

I like the fender skirts. We were promised all the cars in the future would have them.

Strizzo wrote: i saw the commercial for that on tv last night and all i could think was, "wtf, they just straight up copied the prius, and threw a honda civic nose on it"

You forgot the clincher; She is less than $20k and undercuts the prius cost by $2-$4k