Hello, new member, Honda owner

[cycledrum]

Hello, this is my first post here! Little about myself - I've owned a lot of cars and motorcycles too. I bought a brand new Accord Coupe 4 cyl automatic EX in January mostly due to the stellar reputation of Accord.

I owned a 2009 Prius for 2 1/2 years and tried to keep it. Made a big boo-boo when buying it - I knew the driver's seating was bad (I'm 6'2" and long legs), but gambled it would be good enough. After couple months was super annoyed, built a custom seat but was not happy enough. Got bunus frrom work and got good resale on it in January, made switch.

About the Insight - I think it is a good looking car. I think it is all around sharper looking than the 3rd gen Prius. I like the front end, headlights, side view and the overall interior styling better.

I got to test drive a 2011 Insight a couple miles after buying my Coupe. My impressions -

My first impression when releasing the brake in the parking lot is I could feel a slight, but distinct little jerkiness in the driveline when starting to roll. I noticed it a couple times on the test drive. The other thing I didn't like is when I stopped in the lot, then put in reverse to back up, the engine kicked on again. With respect, I much prefer the Toyota full hybrid system where you would just back up in all electric or putt around the parking lot on battery.

Hard to know really how good or not Insight II is given 2 miles test drive. Unfortunately even CR does not recommend it. Hmmm.

On the up side, I did notice the Insight felt a little more solid and planted going around turns. I think it had less body roll. I also like the more conventional interior. The Prius is alright, but a bit too unconventional for my taste.

In order for the Insight to be a true 4 or 5 seat car (back seating is small!), it will need to be larger, it will need to have more power, but then the fuel economy will go down and can't have that. So, it seems Honda must develop a full power split hybrid drivetrain to accomplish this.

Mostly, I like Honda's sense of style in their cars and their very good overall quality for the price. So, I will keep this Accord Coupe a wait on a full hybrid Insight III, hopefully.

[amorris]

Welcome to the forum. As a Prius and an Insight owner, I agree with your comments on the Prius -- the full hybrid drive is far superior. But, the Insight is thousands cheaper, and my Prius is averaging about 4 mpg better than my Insight. Each individual makes their own choice: Is 4 mpg worth thousands?

[cycledrum]

Thank you.

I'm seeing $3,160 difference between Prius Two and Insight LX. Big differences are the 134 vs 98 HP, 94 vs. 85 ft3 interior, 195 vs. 175 tires, and 300 lbs weight diff. I also miss the SmartKey and push button start. Was nice to put fob in pocket and not have to grab it. electronic shift lever, like that too - no clunks going into gear on a slope (sometimes happens on my Accord Coupe (they say it's pressure in driveline when parking in sloped driveway))

But, yeah, $3k+ is some money. And Honda has that stipped down Insight for $1,700 less also (no use comparing that to Prius, it doesn't even have cruise control, but it's less $$).

[nursemike]

Having driven a 2010 Prius pkg 2 as a rental for a week and owning an Insight II since April, 2009, I can agree with most of the posted comments. Personally, I like the handling of the I2 better though I didn't find the Prius as poor of a driver as some "professional" reviewers have claimed. Little things such as the push button start and hill keep assist in the Prius were nice, as was the larger interior space and wider center armrest. To get a Prius I'd want, however, would cost me at least $4500 or more than I paid for my Insight. With the Prius rental we drove from San Diego to Thousand Oaks, on to Whittier, and back to San Diego. That's a lot of miles and many hours in the car. My overall average was mid-40's, though I'm obviously not well versed in all the nuances of maximizing mileage with the Toyota HSD. For a few mpgs, I can buy a lot of gas for my Insight for $4-5K.

In my case, I've got the tools already to work on Honda hybrids and the I2 takes the same oil and filters as the Civic hybrid, though not the same air filters .

[cycledrum]

I had a chance to drive a 2010 Prius III up on Skyline Blvd (maybe 1,500 ft elevation). It was getting about 48 MPG going uphill and maybe 49 in the hills. When I came back down into the city area, it jumped to about 52. I rented a few times and it has shown about 52 at the pump. My 2009 was doing about 48 as long as the trips weren't only 5 minutes.

As they make batteries even better, these hybrids should continue to get improved fuel economy.

btw, thanks for the replies. Seems like nice people here