What do you think of the stock handling?

[circa1986]

I am pretty happy with my Insight overall, it's a comfortable frugal car to commute with, and the ride quality and noise isn't as bad as I was expecting.

However, given its light weight, I was expecting it to be much more responsive in the handling department (and more fun!). It baffles me that many of the car reviews I've read claim this car is nimble.

If I am going at highway speed, and I suddenly shake the wheel from left to right, the car never seems to turn. Rather, the body just rolls from left to right a little bit, and with a delay, too. When I do it at 30 mph or so, the car doesn't roll, but it also doesn't seem to have razor sharp reflexes either. Heck, it almost seems like every Honda Odyssey, Accord, Civic, etc. I've driven has sharper reflexes than this car. (Grip on the car is fine, I am just talking about its responsiveness.) Perhaps this sensation has more to do with the lack of feedback from the electric power steering.

Now, I'm not wanting to get aftermarket suspension upgrades or whatnot (it's just my commuter car), but I can't help but think that this is one of the reasons why the I2 has flopped, at least in the US. What do you guys think?

[Zwolfe]

It's largely a matter of perception and what you were driving before or have drove before.

The Insight does have some sway at highway speeds but after the first few times I noticed it and I adjusted my driving style at highway speeds so it's largely irrelevant. Don't keep doing something and expect different results when it's technically impossible to reach a different outcome, that's insanity.

My problem on the highway is if you twitch the steering wheel you can feel the body roll.

Now, I do have to give the Insight bonus points for rural road runs. On back roads where I'm not driving 70+ (well ... heh) I find the handling to be a lot better, and I actually find it quite acceptable, and I have fun.

I do have an Accord that I've modified to have zero sway, zero body roll ... you might have to get it up on two wheels going around a corner to notice any of that. Overall I find the I2 suspension acceptable.

Now if you want some real fun, I used to have an 84 Accord where the suspension would lift and sink back down while flying around corners like a bat out of hell with the tires screaming their guts out. I would stomp on the gas around corners because otherwise the tires would begin to lose traction.

Other than that sway I get making sudden lane shifts at highway speeds I have no complaints. I give it a passing grade for back road runs on the other hand.

[amorris]

Maybe its due to the cars I've recently owned, Ford Ranger and Toyota Highlander, but the I2 handles very well to me. Certainly, much more fun to drive than my wife's Prius.

[jcbesq]

i find the handling quite competent in most linear road maneuvers ... however, emergency lane changes can make the read end a little squirrely

[circa1986]

Originally Posted by jcbesq

i find the handling quite competent in most linear road maneuvers ... however, emergency lane changes can make the read end a little squirrely

Precisely! It has me a little on edge as my girlfriend just got in a big pileup on the highway.

[Eli]

It's good to hear, though not surprising, that the 2nd gen Insight is more fun to drive than a Prius. Toyota's cars are very boring, though certainly functional.

Now why didn't they give it a fuel efficient manual gearbox?

I won't own an automatic until they can get better fuel economy than I can in every scenario by at least 5%.

[lat.ch.]

I find the Insight steering to be touchy at highway speeds, but quite fun on the winding roads. Of course, I drove a Silverado for over eight years prior.

[circa1986]

Well, I test drove a new Kia Forte, as well as a Kia Optima and a Hyundai Sonata this weekend (my gf is in the market for a new car). The salesman was a nice guy and really let me toss the car around (no salesman present for the Sonata).

I think it's safe to say that compared to the Forte, Optima and Sonata, the Insight handling is complete garbage. The three cars I mentioned are not exactly shining examples of responsiveness and steering precision, but they feel like a finely tuned European sports car compared to the Insight. At 50+ mph, the Insight feels just too dang floaty. Although it feels light at its feet, it just doesn't have any responsiveness to inspire any sort of confidence in an emergency/panic situation. At lower speeds, throw the Insight into a corner (like taking a quick right turn at an intersection too fast) and it plows like it's planting season. The Korean cars I drove had some mild understeer in the same scenario, but did not feel floaty and responded to changes in steering mid-corner. Heck, the Forte even has a torsion beam rear suspension just like the Insight!

I am really not expecting the Insight to handle like a sports car, but when it can't even handle as well as other economy/midsize cars in the same price range, that's a problem. Then again, the Insight does get much better gas mileage than those vehicles.

I wonder how the Prius handles compared to the Insight.

[insight78]

Mine handles great; I'm more likely to be passing traffic in tight turns than at any other time. I'm able to hold speed and follow the curve tightly & easilly on sharp turns. I drive home on a particularly winding two-lane road and find it very fun because of how great this car handles. Very similar to any economy car with a sport suspension (the weak point is the stock tire grip IMO). The prius I drove was a real floater.

[carrera]

For an economy car, I think the Insight handles pretty well. I would like just a bit less body roll and the eco-low rolling resistance tires probably don't help either. Does anyone make a thicker rear anti-roll bar for this car? I've only had my EX for about 3 weeks and haven't had it up on my lift yet to see how one would fit. Adding a rear bar might help induce a bit of oversteer, which I would prefer to the normal understeer programmed into most cars. It would also be nice if we got the 16" rims the Euro version of this car gets in EX trim. I think they look better too. I am playing with the idea of using the stock 15's with my Blizzak snows and getting some 16" or 17" wheels with better tires for summer.

If I do that, I will probably loose a few mpg. My last Civic (04 EX coupe) was getting consistently 36-38 mpg highway with the stock RE92's and when they wore out and were replaced by sticky rubber, that dropped to 34-36.

Still better than a Prius, I thought that felt like an old Grand Marquis.