Quote:
Originally Posted by bish79
I really have no problem with a reviewer pointing out the shortcomings of the Insight such as how tight the headroom and legroom is in the back seat. At least that is a legitimate and honest complaint.
But to say that the Insight is noisy and that it has clumsy handling...
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I'm left completely baffled by CR's review as well. I've never been overly confident in their ability to review cars but I've never seen one so one sided and off base - and I'm not just saying that because I own an Insight.
The only gripe that has basis in truth is the lack of rear seat room. It is snug for adults. For us though it is fine. we have a 4 year old and a second child on the way. The backseat is without a doubt roomy enough for them and will be fine up until they are older and we replace the car. I've sat in back, as has my wife, father and numerous friends and while it isn't a limo it is not in any way uncomfortable. Sure it's not as big as the Prius's rear seat but as has been mentioned multiple times it is in a different segment than the Prius.
I am irritated by CR's clumsy handling, stiff ride, cheap materials, etc. comments but what REALLY p*sses me off is their 38 mpg figure. I don't know what they were doing but that number is so far off it comes across almost lie-like. We are averaging 48 mpg with ours. That number is not all telling in that now that I am putting a small amount of effort into maximizing efficiency I am routinely averaging between 55-60 mpg. I have the econ button on all the time, ac pretty regularly (it's been HOT these last few weeks) and radio on. Reading other reports it seems that even when TRYING to get low mpg in the Insight it is virtually impossible to get below 40 mpg. What was CR doing?!?!
Materials, ride quality and a few other of the complaints that CR had are subjective so they can get at least a bit of a pass (though I personally disagree STRONGLY with them). MPG should be much more concrete. People considering a hybrid often will look at MPG before and over any other quality. The fact that CR reports such falsely low mpg is very damaging to the Insight. Even the EPA figures (which are also proving to be abysmally low) are higher. Again, what was CR doing?!?!
