hello. clean and sharp forums, i'm glad they're here.
my wife and i test drove the insight (2003|mt|A/C) some weeks ago, as we have planned on owning one for some time, and fancied actually driving one at least once prior to the signing. we don't like red, usually, but for some reason, red fits on the insight.
the insight exceeded all my expectations, quite smartly. i own an '86 civic si and a '93 civic si, so was going into the experience with a mind to compare it to them. she owns a '99 saturn L, so we are also accustomed to a decent mpg.
the balance of the insight felt superior to both civics, which surprised me. the suspension was far more taut than i anticipated. the rear window visibility was startlingly less than i had expected as i sat in the parking lot; but on the road, it was no issue - especially as the side view mirrors ( more viewing area than the civics ) coupled with the car's short length compensate more than enough to make it seemingly of no concern.
the power is no disappointment. with us two fat monkies in the car, my wife was still able to pants the unsuspecting cars at the few redlights we arrived at. i look forward to finding its character with only one body in-cabin.
of note was the bold character of the ECU's upshifting decisions. in rochester ny, on rt 15, heading south, there is a relatively steep grade north of the road which breaks east towards the i90; while driving up that, after settling into third; i was surprised to see the UP light come on. i thought, gee, that's gutsy of you, little insight; and gave it what it asked for.. put it into 4th and it *continued* to accelerate... (*blink*), ok. so this car rul... wha? UP lights up again... ok, nutcase, .. whatever you say! (clink, 5th)... and it is still happily chugging along, not sounding like it is upset at me or life in general, with the ASSIST bars filling up over to the right. what was remarkable was that the engine did not sound like is what being too heavily loaded. impressive technology!
later, we had driven south on the 390 and taken the first exit with intent to loop around to go back to the dealership. the exit is one which leads to a transverse overpassing state route; the T is one where the right hand lane gets a leader lane off with a YIELD, so that you do not _have_ to wait at the redlight... well, there was some large flatbed semi *backing up* down the leader lane, so we opted to go straight. it was one of those rare moments where what you're "supposed to do" didn't work out, and by virtue of the leader lane's existance, i could tell my wife wasn't certain she "could" turn right there. given that there are no "Don't Do It" signs, i suggested we do anyway. it happened to go green right then, so as we pulled out to turn right, my wife turned the car and flipped out as the car had executed a 90 degree turn before she had yet even put a period on her thoughts to turn the car. "omg, i love this car" was the exclaimation; "can we get two?" was the question. <G>. a far cry from the saturn which actually gave me the impression of _insecurity_ and _unsurity_ while taking at 65 a corner that either civic can handle at 80 without pulling a muscle.
we could *not* get the car to give us less than 50 mpg, in despite of trying to beat the tar out of it and finding out just how much 6000 there is to be had up there in the tach.
i'm 6'10" and actually fit in the insight better than either civic ( the posture of my legs in the insight is much better ) - and the ___only___ shortcoming the car has ( that i find ) - that the steeringwheel is non-adjustable, is only a trivial matter, as my view of the dash console is not obstructed in any way by the steeringwheel. it will just take a bit of getting used to holding the wheel at 11' and 1' rather than a '9 and '3 where i typically have them return to. whatever. those near and above my height can surely agree - you get used to things not being made with your height as a design consideration. at all.
plus the drink holder is MUCH more functional than the little popup "i can only hold cans and 12oz styrofoams" of the '93.
yay honda. it is a CRX.
make no mistake about the insight. it would be a sweet car even if it only got 38 mpg. for anyone curious about the insight; it is _not_ a plumpo puffa soggy wet gutless econosquodge that you might expect. and it is not ugly as sin, as the fatbaby's sneaker of the prius seems to have been designed to be. it is a little dart of shockingly unexpected agility, poise, and as silly as it might sound about a car with a 1.0l 3cyl, seemingly enough: power
jared
my wife and i test drove the insight (2003|mt|A/C) some weeks ago, as we have planned on owning one for some time, and fancied actually driving one at least once prior to the signing. we don't like red, usually, but for some reason, red fits on the insight.
the insight exceeded all my expectations, quite smartly. i own an '86 civic si and a '93 civic si, so was going into the experience with a mind to compare it to them. she owns a '99 saturn L, so we are also accustomed to a decent mpg.
the balance of the insight felt superior to both civics, which surprised me. the suspension was far more taut than i anticipated. the rear window visibility was startlingly less than i had expected as i sat in the parking lot; but on the road, it was no issue - especially as the side view mirrors ( more viewing area than the civics ) coupled with the car's short length compensate more than enough to make it seemingly of no concern.
the power is no disappointment. with us two fat monkies in the car, my wife was still able to pants the unsuspecting cars at the few redlights we arrived at. i look forward to finding its character with only one body in-cabin.
of note was the bold character of the ECU's upshifting decisions. in rochester ny, on rt 15, heading south, there is a relatively steep grade north of the road which breaks east towards the i90; while driving up that, after settling into third; i was surprised to see the UP light come on. i thought, gee, that's gutsy of you, little insight; and gave it what it asked for.. put it into 4th and it *continued* to accelerate... (*blink*), ok. so this car rul... wha? UP lights up again... ok, nutcase, .. whatever you say! (clink, 5th)... and it is still happily chugging along, not sounding like it is upset at me or life in general, with the ASSIST bars filling up over to the right. what was remarkable was that the engine did not sound like is what being too heavily loaded. impressive technology!
later, we had driven south on the 390 and taken the first exit with intent to loop around to go back to the dealership. the exit is one which leads to a transverse overpassing state route; the T is one where the right hand lane gets a leader lane off with a YIELD, so that you do not _have_ to wait at the redlight... well, there was some large flatbed semi *backing up* down the leader lane, so we opted to go straight. it was one of those rare moments where what you're "supposed to do" didn't work out, and by virtue of the leader lane's existance, i could tell my wife wasn't certain she "could" turn right there. given that there are no "Don't Do It" signs, i suggested we do anyway. it happened to go green right then, so as we pulled out to turn right, my wife turned the car and flipped out as the car had executed a 90 degree turn before she had yet even put a period on her thoughts to turn the car. "omg, i love this car" was the exclaimation; "can we get two?" was the question. <G>. a far cry from the saturn which actually gave me the impression of _insecurity_ and _unsurity_ while taking at 65 a corner that either civic can handle at 80 without pulling a muscle.
we could *not* get the car to give us less than 50 mpg, in despite of trying to beat the tar out of it and finding out just how much 6000 there is to be had up there in the tach.
i'm 6'10" and actually fit in the insight better than either civic ( the posture of my legs in the insight is much better ) - and the ___only___ shortcoming the car has ( that i find ) - that the steeringwheel is non-adjustable, is only a trivial matter, as my view of the dash console is not obstructed in any way by the steeringwheel. it will just take a bit of getting used to holding the wheel at 11' and 1' rather than a '9 and '3 where i typically have them return to. whatever. those near and above my height can surely agree - you get used to things not being made with your height as a design consideration. at all.
plus the drink holder is MUCH more functional than the little popup "i can only hold cans and 12oz styrofoams" of the '93.
yay honda. it is a CRX.
make no mistake about the insight. it would be a sweet car even if it only got 38 mpg. for anyone curious about the insight; it is _not_ a plumpo puffa soggy wet gutless econosquodge that you might expect. and it is not ugly as sin, as the fatbaby's sneaker of the prius seems to have been designed to be. it is a little dart of shockingly unexpected agility, poise, and as silly as it might sound about a car with a 1.0l 3cyl, seemingly enough: power
jared
