Honda Insight gen1

[Mudgey]

Hello guys,

Gone from a Jag S-Type 3ltr to a Prelude Type S, although the economy of the Prelude is better around town its about the same on the motorway, it turns out I am still spending about £250/m on fuel and am thinking about getting a Honda Insight to pootle to work and back and using the Prelude Type S for weekends and track days. I have always driven a car based on its morals, so for instance all my vtec hondas have been driven with a heavy foot and anything economical has been driven carefully to save as much fuel as possible. After looking at Insight forums I would love to get an Gen 1 Insight and try to mod it so I can join the 100mpg club, a post 2001 model is tax exempt, does anybody here have one? and does anybody know of any for sale? They seem to be a very rare car and hard to find!

Cheers!

[peterperkins]

I have three. Get yourself onto www.insightcentral.net forum for a start.

Keep your eyes peeled on e-bay autotrader and on here. Then be prepared to pay, it's a sellers market.

There are only 250 in UK, anyone with half a brain is keeping hold of them as when fuel hits £10 a gallon apart from EV's and company Prius it will be about the only car driving around. I managed a relaxed 112mpg yesterday from Birmingham to Thirsk following a nice lorry at 56mph on the A38/M1/A1

Note most UK insights need a new IMA battery now (Being around ten years old) so factor that cost £2000 into the price.

[nottyash]

peterperkins said:

I have three. Get yourself onto www.insightcentral.net forum for a start.

Keep your eyes peeled on e-bay autotrader and on here. Then be prepared to pay, it's a sellers market.

There are only 250 in UK, anyone with half a brain is keeping hold of them as when fuel hits £10 a gallon apart from EV's and company Prius it will be about the only car driving around. I managed a relaxed 112mpg yesterday from Birmingham to Thirsk following a nice lorry at 56mph on the A38/M1/A1

Note most UK insights need a new IMA battery now (Being around ten years old) so factor that cost £2000 into the price.

When petrol is £10 a gallon I dont somehow believe at all that everyone will want a Prius/ Insight, I for one wont. You shot yourself in the foot with your £2000 battery change every 10 years and your comment about following a lorry at 56MPH. Thats not driving and enjoying it is it? I would rather drive the lorry! Its already been proven that in the real world at real speeds they do not achieve as much MPG as claimed.
How can frequent battery changes be good for the enviroment? and its still got a petrol engine at the front.
Technology has already moved on from these, Hydrogen is the future.

Edited by nottyash on Wednesday 28th December 12:23

[ALawson]

I think you are missing the point when petrol is £10 a gallon driving will be the preserve of company car drivers. £2k batteries are peanuts compared with some of the newer hybrids. Motoring will soon cease to be a pleasurable past time.

[nottyash]

ALawson said:

I think you are missing the point when petrol is £10 a gallon driving will be the preserve of company car drivers. £2k batteries are peanuts compared with some of the newer hybrids. Motoring will soon cease to be a pleasurable past time.

It is already a pain trying to get from A to B sometimes with traffic, but there are occasions I have clear roads and enjoy driving.
I actually like the look of some of the newstuff, Liked the original Insight, hated the Prius but the CRZ is a smart looking thing.
Sitting behind a lorry at 56mphtrying to save money is not me though.

[JonnyVTEC]

nottyash said:

It is already a pain trying to get from A to B sometimes with traffic, but there are occasions I have clear roads and enjoy driving.
I actually like the look of some of the newstuff, Liked the original Insight, hated the Prius but the CRZ is a smart looking thing.
Sitting behind a lorry at 56mphtrying to save money is not me though.

Sit at 75mph and you'll still get 70mpg... like me.

[JonnyVTEC]

nottyash said:

How can frequent battery changes be good for the enviroment? and its still got a petrol engine at the front.
Technology has already moved on from these, Hydrogen is the future.

Edited by nottyash on Wednesday 28th December 12:23

10 year change is 'frequent' ?!

The Insight has less than 1kWh of NiMH so in objective terms thats less than 6kg of Nickel and 75kg of CO2 to produce the battery.

Ive just swapped my battery at 175k miles on my 51 reg car. Its kind of nothing considering my kitchen has more nickel in and 68mpg average over 175k petrol miles makes the conjecture comment of 'better for the environment' rather moot if you factor in the CO2 or fuel use saved.

The petrol engine at the front remains one of the best engines created in that sector, (Internation Engine Awards 2000-2006) and sits at a light 56kg (lighter than the Aygo lump). Its


The petrol engine with lean burn is its trump card and offers potential of 1000 mile tank range rather than the honda EV+ before it. I just wish it had direct injection aswell along with some heat recovery technlogy!

1.0 3cyl thay drives like a 1.5 Honda Coupe was Honda plan with the IMA system, thanks to that ally body they have met that IME.

Edited by JonnyVTEC on Tuesday 3rd January 10:44

[niall1717]

It's bloody good fun to throw around corners at 800+kg as well! Wasn't expecting that when I bought mine. Mine is 10 years old and battery is fine, by the way.