The 2001 Honda Insight:

In response to ever increasing fuels costs, Honda Motor Cars has developed the Insight. One part suburban econo-car and one part rechargeable flashlight, the Insight’s hybrid power plant is derived from new developments in Second World War U-boat technology.

Operated on the open road the Insight runs on a small gasoline engine originally designed to power Honda Motorcycles. The motor both propels the car and simultaneously recharges a bank of on-board batteries, which can also boost power to the wheels. Interestingly, should the car ever be submerged, it would be able to run for several kilometres under its own battery power. However, the owner’s manual does not recommended this, as it tends to corrode the paint, change the presets on the radio and drown the occupants.

A first glance at the Insight reveals front-end lines somewhat reminiscent of the graceful Honda Civic, but this front end is spot welded to an aero-dynamic rear end resembling an over-cooked hard boiled egg with fender-skirts. Inside, the car’s two seats are firmly bolted to the floorboards, offering a comfort level just above padded milk crate. And in keeping to with U-boat theme, egress and ingress is not unlike entering a small deep-diving bell.

The Insight is only a two seater and that’s lucky, the car has nearly no stowage or trunk space—a drive-thru McDonald’s requires a roof rack. The sloped rear window does lift to access the area behind the seats, but the nickel cadmium batteries take up all the space except for a tiny compartment not even large enough to forcibly squeeze in two sedated
poodles.

Once snugly seated inside though, the instrument panel does not disappoint. Behind the wheel is a simple digital/analog design that revels in passing useless information to the driver. Diligently, LEDs report whether the engine is charging or draining the batteries. Other helpful indicators tell you when the engine is running and whether or not the airbags have recently been deployed. Another dash mounted LED prompts the driver when to shift gears – a particularly handy feature for those who find keeping their eyes on the road, a needless distraction. We had to refer to the owner’s manual just to locate the power window switches, which are unlabeled on the dashboard next to the steering column behind the wiper/washer wand. The factory-installed radio was loud enough, but difficult to tune with its tiny toy-like buttons all pre-set to Tokyo’s top ten gospel stations. (However, I soon learned to enjoy the soothing orchestral melody of undulating white noise.)

Driving the Insight is a masochist’s pleasure. So I completely recommend it as a thrill ride. Far cheaper than renting a Slasher movie, the inherent fear of sitting in the Insight while looking up at the spinning Ben Hur hubcaps of passing SUV’s sent a flurry of knotted chills up my uncomfortable spine. Beyond the fear factor, I found the way the gearshift clunked awkwardly from first through fifth nicely complemented the stereophonic white noise. At times the Insight’s batteries will engage to offer a power boost to the motor. But conversely when the car breaks or stops, the engine shuts off allowing the batteries to maintain the car’s systems. This also forces the air-conditioning to turn off automatically at traffic stops to conserve battery power. Thankfully once the car is put into first gear, the engine (and air-conditioning) quickly restart providing both forward motion and cooling air (assuming of course the driver has not fallen unconscious from heat exhaustion.)

To sum up, the name Insight is a perfect match for this car. It would be near impossible for the Insight to ever zoom its way out of sight. Honda has apparently purposely designed a car for those seeking an uncomfortable commute from home to office. Its single saving grace is that after one week of driving, it only cost $7.26 to refill the gas tank. And with this fuel economy, the Insight is a car you could drive all the way to the bank, but the bank would most likely be closed by the time the Insight arrived.