Honda Insight Concept to Debut at Paris Int. Auto Show

[SVOboy]

No one complains that planes all look the same,

The price we pay for efficiency, na?

[atomicradish]

I love it! At $18,500 I can realistically consider buying it also. I have to drive people around all the time and they can sometimes be tough critics... so it's great knowing that I can get a stylish hybrid at a reasonable price.

wow, it's hard to get me this bubbly at 3:30 in the morning, but Honda has done it!

[groar]

Originally Posted by MazdaMatt

Look at the line along the side of the car. I assumed that line was horizontal like on all cars. The line starts barely above the front wheel and FAR above the rear wheel.

I looked at cars in the street this noon and this "look how fast I'm..." look is very present on recent cars. The "horizontal" lines aren't. My 1997 megane has it also but much less pronounced.

Sad they removed the rear skirts and didn't put moon disk hubcaps

Denis.

[Funny]

Originally Posted by SVOboy

No one complains that planes all look the same,

The price we pay for efficiency, na?

The reason that all planes look the same is because there are two major manufacturers of commercial airplanes Boeing and Airbus. Most planes in the US are Boeing, most planes in Europe are Airbus.

And these two companies have a different styling to their respective planes. Usually Airbus has a more Bulbous nose cone, whereas Boeing is more missile shaped.

[MazdaMatt]

...but they still look pretty much the same because function wins over fashion.

[NeilBlanchard]

Hiya,

The nose looks pretty good, except for the large "fog light" openings. The upper grill appears to be mostly closed, and the windshield and hood are almost on the same plane, and they form a pocket for the wipers.

The lower front corners seem to have pretty substantial "wedges" leading into the front tires -- this is especially noticeable on the right side in this image.

It is too bad that they didn't do a front wheel opening like the original Insight; with the trailing edge curved in behind the tire. And yes the rear wheel opening should have been shaped like the Mercedes "Boxfish"; or have skirts.

The side view mirrors are fairly far back from the 'A' pillar, and they are quite slim (vertically).

I think that the "beltline" on the side of the car slopes downwards in the front; forming a subtle wedge with the line of the rocker panels. The window sills are also sloped down in front.

They hopefully will share more details at the show: Cd (and CdA?), and more details about the power train and dimensions. I love the price!

[Edit: I wonder if part of the cost savings is coming from them using EE Stor batteries/ultracapacitor? These are possibly 1/2 the size and ~1/5th the cost of other cutting edge lithium ion batteries.]

[SuperTrooper]

We've already seen pics of the camoflaged prototype. The wheels look the same size to me.

Honda's Prius fighter - spy shots

[cfg83]

SuperTrooper -

Originally Posted by SuperTrooper

We've already seen pics of the camoflaged prototype. The wheels look the same size to me.

Honda's Prius fighter - spy shots

Yup, you're right :

2009_insight.jpg

The plot thickens!

CarloSW2

[greenitup]

what is the mileage, i would rather have an ev, but this is a good step and affordable.

[MazdaMatt]

i'm interested in the weight.