I have a 2010 Insight with less than 10,000 miles on it. Honestly, I don't like the car very much. Wish I'd gotten another Prius. What I dislike most (after the dislike of the AC not working well when the car is stopped at a light or something) is the way the car lurches when taking off. It seems like the car is a manual transmission and the driver doesn't know how to work the clutch.
What I dislike most (after the dislike of the AC not working well when the car is stopped at a light or something)
Turn the ECON off.
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Originally Posted by relleven
the way the car lurches when taking off. It seems like the car is a manual transmission and the driver doesn't know how to work the clutch.
Doesn't bother me at all.
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Originally Posted by relleven
Hello all,
I have a 2010 Insight with less than 10,000 miles on it. Honestly, I don't like the car very much. Wish I'd gotten another Prius.
You can always sell it and buy whatever you want and can afford. Me, I don't like the layout of the Prius. Another thing to consider is that the Insight is more cost effective. Whatever minor advantage the Prius has in fuel economy, is more than offset by the increased cost; over the Insight. Then there is a significant cost of ownership difference to be considered as well.
I only notice this when the engine is cold. Once it warms up I don't have any problem. Even when it does lurch. It is so minor that I hardly notice it. As for the AC. For them to have made it electric (which would be preferable), they would have had to make the battery pack bigger to handle more power since the AC would be draining from the battery whilst the engine is in Auto-Stop. I would imagine that is why Honda designed the engine to restart when there is a major change in the cabin temperature. I drive in Econ mode all the time. When it is hot outside my engine will fire up after a few seconds in Auto-Stop.
Back to the lurching. I have found that even though you let off the brakes and the engine restarts, the brakes are still applied for a few seconds whilst the engine gets to normal idle. Usually about 3-4 seconds. If during that time you are trying to press the accelerator, then that could cause the lurching, it would be like holding your foot on the brake then trying to accelerate and suddenly letting your foot off the break. The car will lurch. This may not happen in the Prius since it starts off on the electric motor until it needs the ICE. Please correct me if I am wrong.
Yes, to solve your AC going off "problem" just turn Econ off. This will also make the cruise control more responsive.
As for the lurching, yes it was a little bothersome at first, especially since the last car was a standard, but I quickly learned to anticipate the green lights and take my foot off the brake slightly to restart the ICE just before the light turns green and then wait a couple seconds to hit the gas. I then hit the gas very lightly until I get past the initial start.
It sounds like a lot of trouble but it really is second nature to me at this point and the process of starting to move takes about 2-3 seconds as compared to the 1-2 seconds it takes to start from a dead stop in a "normal" car. I get very few obvious complaints from people behind me.
Good luck and I hope you give it more time. I'm averaging about 52MPG and am liking this car the more I drive it. Just passed 30,000 miles.
Wow! This is very helpful...I'm getting around 48 mpg and am using the ECON feature. Perhaps switching it off and enjoying the car more is what I need to do??? I've heard someone say the MPG gauge is not very accurate but I've not checked that out.
My wife's Prius is getting 43 mpg. I can see out of her car better than the Insight (big blind spot to my right rear).
My impression of the CVT in the Insight, is that it is like a manual transmission that you don't have to think about. Just my take on it. Since I have had several Honda's with the CVT (Mostly Elements), I have gotten used to the nuances of the CVT and learned that it isn't like a true automatic transmission.
Wow! This is very helpful...I'm getting around 48 mpg and am using the ECON feature. Perhaps switching it off and enjoying the car more is what I need to do???
This is exactly what I did once it started getting hot here. My FE dipped 2-3mpg over a full tank, but I'm ok with that if it means having A/C.
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I've heard someone say the MPG gauge is not very accurate but I've not checked that out.
Most people, including myself have noticed the MID display is about 2MPG off (some have reported more, but I'd say that's about the average) from calculating it. There's been much debate and a little overreaction, IMO, regarding it and the accuracy of the "range" display, but I really don't see either as being that big of a deal. Just set up a Fuelly account and text your M-P-G (miles-price-gallons) to it when you fill-up, and it takes care of the math and logging for you...
As for the brakes remaining engaged for a second after you lift off them, someone else described the technical reason for that in another thread. I believe it's so you don't roll backwards on an incline. Just lift off the breaks, wait a second and apply gas smoothly...it shouldn't lurch or be too jerky.
Over time, I must have learned to compensate and anticipate for some of the quirks of the CVT and hybrid, because when I have passengers, I can see their heads bobbing (only slight, nothing major), so obviously there is still some "jerky-ness" from time to time.
A couple instances of this are: when coasting, the ICE goes into fuel cut (as seen on the SOC/"energy-flow" screen on the MID), but when you need to accelerate again - assuming you are not coming to a stop - the ICE comes back in again and can give a bit of a kick.
Similarly, when slowly coming to a stop, braking is provided by the electric motor regenerating the battery but, as I understand it, at about 7mph regen stops and the friction brakes take over - that transition is not always seamless, so it can feel like the car is lurching forward. I think someone described it as "non-linear" braking...
I'm with the OP, the jerks, lurches, and hesitations really drive me nuts sometimes. I'm trying to like the car, but it makes it difficult. Some of the things I've discovered after owning the car for awhile makes me wonder if anybody actually tested it first. I'm leaning towards trading it in on something else, just not sure exactly what. This is the second Honda I've bought in the past few years, but after this car I don't think I'll be going back.
Just in case you're wondering, the resale values don't look good at all
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