Bill's early impressions of his Insight

From: Bill Webber (May 16, '00)

We're having a ball with the new Insight. Almost every time we stop at a supermarket, mall, movies, etc. we have people come up and ask all about the car. I've boned up on all the technical information and almost feel like a salesman. Most people ask us if that tiny 67 hp engine has enough power for passing, going up mountains, keeping up with traffic, et al. The answer is a resounding YES. Yesterday I drove up Mnt. Lemmon to the 19 mile level where the construction starts. The Insight handles like a sports car on the curves. I was concerned that I'd discharge the battery going up, but by keeping it in lower gears, 2nd or 3rd, I got to the top with a fully charged battery and averaged about 40 mpg. Coming down I also drove in the lower gears and averaged 150 mpg. That makes a net of over 90 mpg for a trip up and down Mnt. Lemmon. Cornering on the way down was incredible.

In town with the a/c on I've been getting a consistent 50-60 mpg and on the highway without a/c I've had runs from Civano to Vail (14 miles) of 84.7, 87, and 94 mpg, depending on wind, etc. The digital readouts on the dash keep challenging you to get better mpg and result in driving in a much more efficient manner. It almost becomes like a computer game. It's truly a sensation piece of automotive engineering.