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| 7/15 |
| 2005/8/16-17 [Transportation/Car/Hybrid] UID:39133 Activity:high |
8/15 So I am suddenly in the market for a new car. Looking at the insight
and prius. pros, cons? urls with facts to backup opinions? The insight
is listed at 55+ mpg, whereas the prius is 45.
\_ Looks like you can't wait. If you could wait until Jan 1st,
2006, you can benefit from ~$2500 tax credit (not deduction)
for the Prius (thanks for the new Energy Bill). This should
for the Prius (thanks to the new Energy Bill). This should
offset some of the price premium.
\_ The Prius is often cited as excellently engineered in all respects.
\_ The Prius is more expensive (~ $5K) than other similarly sized
cars. Even if gas goes to $5 per gallon, you will have to buy
1000 gallons to make up the difference. You might want to consider
that when making your choice (its not like a Corolla/Civic are
bad cars on their own, they get ~ 30 MPG).
\_ You also have to include tax and feel-good benefits.
\_ There is a tax benefit to driving a prius? I didn't know
that. Do you know how much it is? (Other than the Jan 1
benefit mentioned above).
One thing I read about in the paper today is that w/ a
Prius you can drive in the carpool lane, which makes the
Prius look a bit more appealing financially.
\_ What about the Civic Hybrid? -- !OP
\_ The Civic Hybrid is ~ $4K more than a regular civic so
you probably want to take that into acct. Also the Civic
Hybrid isn't as efficient as the Prius so it will take
you longer to recover your investment.
I guess my main concern re Prius/Civic Hybrid is that
I'd have to keep the car well past 70K miles to make
back the money and I've never kept a car w/ that many
miles on it b/c I've always started to run into probs
around 65K miles.
\_ I'm not knowledgeable enough about the details to informatively
comment, but, philosophically, I think the Insight is the
more appealing car. The Prius seems to be trying to be all
things to all people -- it's more or less a normal Corolla size
automobile with a hybrid engine; the Insight, OTOH, seems willing
to give up some of the "conveniences" of normal automobiles for
better fuel effeciency (Insight is quite small, has 3-cylinder
engine, etc), and I appreciate the gutsyness. There was a good
review of the Insight in ArsTechnica a few years back:
http://arstechnica.com/reviews/3q00/honda/insight-1.html
\_ Yeah, except the Insight is hella gay, duuuuude.
\_ Just paint some bimbo pics on the sides.
\_ Even better - bimbo mudflaps.
\_ Talk about mudflaps, my girl's got 'em.
\_ Tell her to go get a buttlift.
\_ Or an anal bleach! |
| 7/15 |
|
| arstechnica.com/reviews/3q00/honda/insight-1.html After the first few minutes of test driving my friend's n ew Honda Insight, I knew that I had to write a review of the car for Ars . The left-brain reason is that the Insight is technologically impr essive. It integrates a number of inventive fuel saving technologies - e verything from advanced materials and construction to novel engine desig n - stuff I know will interest many Ars readers. The right-brain reason is that the car is just simply fun to drive. The whole package is so wel l balanced and so intelligently engineered that its main selling point - the incredible fuel economy - almost becomes an afterthought. So here I give my driving impressions and describe the Insight's fuel-saving tech nologies. Overview Honda has a history of producing innovative, fuel efficient and low emiss ion, engine technology. Anyone out there old enough to remember the Civi c CVCC (1973)? The CVCC or Compound Vortex Controlled Combustion system burned fuel so completely that it passed California's emission standards without a catalytic converter. In '84, the 13 liter Civic CRX achieved an impressive EPA reading of 51/67 mpg (city/hwy). In '92 the Civic VX could get 50 mpg without sacrificing performance by using a lean burning engine with variable lift intake valves (VTEC-E). After '92, Honda like most other car manufacturers developed alternative fuel vehicles such a s the natural gas burning Civic GX and the zero-emissions electric motor EV Plus. However, while important for research and development, these c ars never became commercially successful due to cost, issues of performa nce, and lack of supporting infrastructure (ie Gas stations don't have EV outlets or natural gas hook ups). With the Insight, Honda has again up'd the ante with regard to fuel efficiency and emissions, by producing a technologically interesting and commercially viable stepping stone be tween today's combustion engine cars and the potential "super green" car s of the future. At a glance Vehicle type front-wheel drive, 2-person, 3-door coupe Fuel consumption (hwy/city) 70/61 mpg Acceleration (0-60 mph) 11 sec Transmission 5 speed manual Body construction Aluminum alloy Curb weight 1887 lbs. Aerodynamic drag 025 cd Price w/ AC $20,080 US The Honda Insight is an ultra-low emissions, hybrid gasoline-electric car that gets an impressive 70 miles per gallon. In comparison, my Volkswag on GTI-VR6 burns twice as dirty and gets less than half the gas mileage (28 mpg), and a typical SUV (eg Ford Explorer) gets less than 1/3 the gas mileage (20 mpg). At first glance, the Insight looks like a moderniz ed Honda CRX, but the car is chock full of technology and materials you won't find in any conventional car. The Insight is powered by a highly e fficient 10 liter combustion engine, and a compact electric motor. The car never needs to be "plugged in" like a traditional electric vehicle, because the batteries are charged by regenerative braking and the gasoli ne engine. Since the Insight runs primarily on gasoline, which has a muc h higher energy density than batteries, it has a much farther cruising r ange than any electric car - 600 miles on one full tank. With gas prices at an all time high since the 70's, Honda's introduction of the Insight couldn't have been more timely. |