[trikkonceptz]

Well guys ... Say goodbye to the Lady in Red, the Camry is no more. The wife and I are now proud owners of a Honda Insight.

It is new, we bought it in Silver and it is the EX model non navigation. Price on the car was $18864 before tax tag etc ... We got a great deal on the car ..

Now my first reviews about the vehicle;

-It is a totally different driving experience compared to the Camry or the Prius. For one, it does not have a dedicated EV mode. It constantly runs the gas engine until you come to a complete stop. At that time the engine shuts off religiously.

-It's fuel efficiency then comes from the assist that the electric motor gives it throughout its speed range.

-It has an EV mode which restricts engine performance and optimizes the a/c for efficiency but reduces coasting distance by increasing brake regen, kinda dumb but not so bad really.

-As far as looks, it kills the Prius, the inside and outside are a nicer car.

-Underneath it has a front pan that covers the entire engine up to and past the front suspension and aside from the exhaust has a flat pan all the way to the back, so underneath it is a very clean car ...

-Dealers should be sued for what they do to your tires. I got the vehicle home and checked all four corners to discover that I was running @ 28psi at all four corners ... That changed, running 50 psi fronts, 44psi rear.

With 200 miles on the clock already, I am averaging 50.4 mpg highway. I am hoping that as I get more comfortable with the car, change fluids to synthetic and break it in I should be able to sustain 55 mpg or better. One can hope.

It is going in for a leather seat upgrade and a navigation / bluetooth / dvd combo going in shortly after.

My plan is to slowly convince those that I know that a smaller car is more fun to drive and can save them alot of gas thus proving that for most large SUV's are not necessary. My wife is still baffled on how a smaller car can fit more than her Camry.