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Old 04-07-2009, 09:53 AM   #5 (permalink)
braisler
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Location: Midway, KY
Quote:
Originally Posted by shakran View Post
First off, hypermilers suck. They drive like idiots, blowing stop signs, coasting down hills at 70, going up hills at 10, taking corners damn near on two wheels, doing almost anything they can think of to increase efficiency at the cost of traffic safety. I don't mean to sound like an asshole, but I really don't care what they think. It's a road, not a video game.
Wow, generalize much? I don't know who you have been driving with, but I don't know a single hypermiler that drives like that. I'm sure that there might be some out there that do, but most of the people that I know who are interested in maxing out fuel economy do not do so at the expense of traffic safety.

Quote:
Originally Posted by shakran View Post
The fact is, the insight was a proof-of-concept car that worked fine for the purpose, but no one wants a light weight non-sound insulated, blow away in a strong wind econobox that's slower than your average big wheel. If people don't buy it, then it's not going to save the environment or reduce our use of gas.
Have you ever driven an Insight? I did for 2 years. I loved mine. My wife thought it was a little underpowered on acceleration, but it would cruise along at 85 on the interstate no problem. No problems with it blowing away off the road. It was also no louder than my Subaru Legacy. It was louder than my BMW 528, but then, so are most cars.

As for people not buying it, they had a back log of people waiting to buy one year after year when they came out. And back last year when gas was $4/gallon, some of the 5 year old Insights were selling on Ebay for near their original retail price.

Quote:
Originally Posted by shakran View Post
The CRX has a cult following too. I have 3. But that doesn't mean it'd be a commercial success if they brought it back today as it was between 88 and 91 (even if they could, which they can't due to new safety regs). I'm guessing it'd be a flop. It's underpowered and under luxuried for what people want out of a car today, just as the insight was.
The last sentence there has you sounding a lot like a corporate shill for the auto manufacturers. Obviously people buy cars for lots of different reasons. Some people want a 300HP SUV that they'll never drive offroad. Others, like myself, would like to buy a car that gets much better than average fuel economy. For that benefit, I'd be willing to give up some power and some luxuries.

The point of my original post was that I am disappointed with the apparent lack of progress that has been made in the 10 years since the original Insight was released. I mean, why no newer battery technology with higher power density like LiIon or LiPolymer? Why no plug-in hybrid option with a larger battery pack of any type?

I just don't see how the new Insight fills any gap in the Honda product line? They've got a hatchback. They've got a high fuel economy sedan. The Insight used to be their flagship of fuel economy and was heralded as the technology of things to come. Now the new Insight is out, and it is a weaker overall offering. 10 years later and it is barely competitive with the Toyota Prius?
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