It's just over two weeks since we picked up our long-term 2010 Insight from Honda, and as of today we've put just over a thousand miles on the car. So far, the Insight is working out really well. My wife Robin -- the Insight's primary driver -- is settling into the car nicely. She's happy with the Insight's modest powerplant: "Does 80 up the Conejo Grade, so that's good enough for me." And the 15.9 cubic foot cargo bay is proving to be more than enough for all the junk stuff she hauls around. I was concerned that our 13-year-old son Robert, who is 5'10" and growing rapidly, would find the back seat too tight, but he says he's more than comfortable enough back there.
So far, we've only discovered a few downsides. The biggest problem, believe it or not, has to do with seat adjustment. Because of the Insight's split dash, you can't simply adjust the steering column height for comfort; you have to position it so that you can see the speedometer, then adjust the seat height to get the driving position right. Problem is, Robin and I don't share the same seating position in the Insight the way we do in most cars, so every drive starts with a litany of re-adjustment. This is where a power seat with memory comes in handy, but alas, such a feature isn't on the Insight's option list. The other big issue is that when the car is in Econ mode, the air conditioning compressor doesn't run when the car is sitting at a stoplight. (I know it's cooling off in most areas of the country, but it's still plenty warm here in Southern California.) Ergo, Robin refuses to drive in Econ mode. 
But even with her storming up 6% grades at 80 MPH with the A/C blasting and Econ mode disabled, the Insight is still averaging 40.3 MPG -- a nice improvement from the mid-to-high 20s we're used to getting in the wagon. And from what I hear from other hybrid owners, our fuel economy may well improve once we have a few thousand miles on the car.
So far, our experiment in downsizing is going well; neither of us misses the extra space in our wagon, and as the official family cheapskate, I'm loving the lower fuel bills. Will the love affair hold out for an entire year? Ask me that in 50 weeks. Meantime, I'll have a full end-of-month report at... well, at the end of the month. -- Aaron Gold
Photos © Aaron Gold
When I spoke with the head service writer, Russ at Escondido Honda recently, he told me to be wary of driving the Insight with a lead foot. He said that it would result in worse gas mileage than a Civic driven the same way(they average 34 in mixed driving). If Robin continues her aggressive driving style, it’ll be interesting to see if Russ was right.
Just a question here…I was at the Honda dealer last weekend looking at the Insight and noticed it had a CVT (continuously variable transmission) AND paddle shifters on the steering column. I was a bit dumbfounded by this. Aaron, does your car have the CVT and paddle shifters? Am I missing something?
Thanks.
Kent, a few cars have this feature. When you use the paddle shifters, the CVT emulates a fixed-ratio transmission by stepping through 6 or 7 steady ratios, rather than doing its continuously-variable thing. It’s basically a band-aid because people can’t get used to the odd sounds that come out of a CVT. Our Insight has the paddles, but it also has a “low” range for the transmission, which I prefer. I have yet to take the Insight out on the Top Secret Curvy Test Road. When I do, I’ll give the paddles a try. — Aaron
Your son is 5′10″ at 13 years old? Is your mailman tall…?
Tim: Seems the Gold family spawns one tall person every generation. Whether it’s rogue jeans or crafty wives is anyone’s guess. — Aaron
Was your son’s mom wearing rogue jeans? Is that what makes your son so tall?
Based on Aaron’s very favorable report on the Honda Civic, among other things, we purchase a 2009 model. Overall, we are very happy with the car, but one thing that gnaws on me is lack of creature comforts in a small car like the Civic. The car companies force the consumer to upgrade to an Accord to get power seats, heated seats, computer read out for mpg, direction, outside temperature, etc. Many of can afford to pay for these extras, but we want a car sized like the Civic, and we want to conserve fuel both for the environment and our pocket book.
Aaron, we have an ‘06 Honda Civic Hybrid. I am a salesperson on the road all the time. We love the mileage but it went down a full 10% when I switched from the OEM Bridgestones to Michelin Primacy MXV4 tires. Michelin claims to have a better tire for hybrids but it’s too late for us. Hybrid owners beware.
Best to you, Robin, and “shorty” with the Insight. I’ve driven it at a Honda event at the “Honda Ponda” in Anaheim. I like it. Well, I did get an Insight hat out of the drive, at least.