[Delta Flyer]

This article on the 2001 Insight was favorable but more importantly, it did a much better job of describing the kind of car the Insight is than the two MSN articles: http://www.autoweb.com/content/research ... howarticle

 

[Will M]

After you've viewed this site, you might want to download and install either Spybot or Ad-Aware to remove the spyware that the site adds to your computer.

Ad-Aware is available at:

http://www.lavasoftusa.com

Spybot is available at:

http://security.kolla.de/

Nice review, but I really think the serupticious downloading of tracking software onto your PC should be punishable by public flogging.

 

[Tim Maddux]

This was a well-written and thoughtful review. Their conclusions were quite similar to mine about the relative cost to a similarly-equipped (non-hybrid) Civic, which for me coupled with expected gas savings made the Insight a favorable purchase on price alone.

Looks to me like they got 31 mpg and had a half-drained battery, in the tiny screenshot of the dash.

Smart comment worth quoting: "This is a momentum car. Much of the joy of driving it comes from driving in an efficient manner, using some of the same techniques a professional driver uses to maintain momentum in an 18-wheeler or in a showroom stock race car: Brake only as much as necessary, carry momentum through corners and over hills. Use the brakes, gas and steering wheel in a smooth, fluid fashion."

Finally, web browsers that don't get nailed by the ActiveX hole Will M mentioned:

http://www.mozilla.org/
http://www.mozilla.org/releases/
http://www.mozilla.org/projects/firebird/
http://channels.netscape.com/ns/browsers/download.jsp
http://www.opera.com/download/
http://www.apple.com/safari/
http://www.icab.de/dl.php
http://lynx.browser.org/

And if you must use MSIE, you can disable the automatic downloading and installation of ActiveX controls by going to Internet Options, choosing Security, then Custom Level, then disabling everything in the ActiveX-related section.

 

[The Citrus Smoothie]

Are other people now catching on?

Talking of a favourable Insight review, is it me or are more people catching on to the benefits of Hybrid Cars, such as our Insights?

Yesterday I saw the second newspaper motoring article in as many weeks, talking favourable about the Insight and other Eco cars. The London Congestion Charge and the Insight's exemption of this charge also helps here.

Then to my surprise, I was flicking through the TV channels yesterday and came across Lucy Liu on the Dave Letterman show (we get it on digital TV) - she was talking about driving a hybrid car that was part petrol and part electric. Her and Dave talked about it quite a bit. However, I missed the beginning of their chat and I am not sure whether she was talking about the Insight or the Prius. Does anyone know?

 

[Tim Maddux]

Well, Lucy's costar Cameron Diaz drives a Prius and talks about it a lot. If you Google around you'll find articles talking about Hollywood and the popularity of the Prius. I imagine that will become more common when the new Prius comes out...

 

[ucffool]

Prius is about to sell a hell of a lot of cars... popsci and popmech, as well as a handful of online and print magazines/tv/etc are pumping out Prius interest... There is a heavy marketing blitz, and they've got the product to back it up...

This are looking good for Toyota coming soon, and for hybrids in general.

 

[Delta Flyer]

Re: Are other people now catching on?

...The London Congestion Charge and the Insight's exemption of this charge also helps here....

Then to my surprise, I was flicking through the TV channels yesterday and came across Lucy Liu on the Dave Letterman show...I am not sure whether she was talking about the Insight or the Prius. Does anyone know?

In a market economy, we are usually charged according to our usage. Factoring in the weight and greenhouse emissions of a vehicle makes good economic sense to me. Trucks and SUVs stress roads more with potholes and uneven settling.

I did not see Letterman, but the Washington Post had a list of stars driving the Prius. Did not find a mention of Lucy Liu in http://www.shell.linux.se/treggy88/Leo/ ... prius.html.

 

[Will M]

PC Magazine featured "Future Tech" this issue (July 2003, v22n12). Under an article called "Fuel Cells" with a picture of a Honda FCX V3, the author clearly doesn't understand fuel cells well enough to describe them, at one point saying, "... this type of cell works by converting chemical energy directly into electricity." I hate to break it to them, but ALL batteries do that.

Anyway, later in the same article, they describe hybrids and state, "Toyota is already selling a hybrid model, the Prius, and others are expected soon." I wrote to them to inform them that I bought a Honda Insight, a hybrid, three years ago, and my neighbor just got a Civic Hybrid. I suggested that they stop writing about future technologies until they learn more about current ones.

Dumb as rocks. Why is it that most of the small wedge of people who know that hybrids exist only know about the Prius?