Honda Insight 2019 Aero

[MetroMPG]

Is transportation fuel demand in the US really rising? I'm sure I've seen gov stats that show fuel use has plateaued while miles travel has increased in the last couple of years, revealing the effects of a more efficient vehicle fleet. (Oh and of course all the ecomodders and ecodrivers!)

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Honda, in a way, is doing the smart (conservative) thing with this car: Instead of a bespoke single-model platform developed from scratch like the 1st & 2nd gen Insights, they're putting Insight lipstick on a Civic pig. Just hammer out some new body panels and raid their existing parts bin (Clarity/Accord hybrids) for the oily and zappy bits!

If & when it fails to catch on in a meaninful way (the gas price gamble), a lot less has been risked than the first two go arounds.

[ksa8907]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Is transportation fuel demand in the US really rising? I'm sure I've seen gov stats that show fuel use has plateaued while miles travel has increased in the last couple of years, revealing the effects of a more efficient vehicle fleet. (Oh and of course all the ecomodders and ecodrivers!)

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Honda, in a way, is doing the smart (conservative) thing with this car: Instead of a bespoke single-model platform developed from scratch like the 1st & 2nd gen Insights, they're putting Insight lipstick on a Civic pig. Just hammer out some new body panels and raid their existing parts bin (Clarity/Accord hybrids) for the oily and zappy bits!

If & when it fails to catch on in a meaninful way (the gas price gamble), a lot less has been risked than the first two go arounds.

I am surprised Chevy didn't do this with he volt also, maybe they are with the gen2, haven't looked.

I have seen the EIA stats but the math doesn't add up. New vehicle sales epa ratings are flat, gas consumption is flat, but miles traveled has increased? So... what kind of magic cars are they selling now'a days? Maybe there's some lag in the numbers.

[MetroMPG]

Chevy actually did it with the 2nd gen Volt: it's built on the Cruze platform. But the drivetrain is unique to the car. Not sure if they share electric components with the Bolt or not.

[aerohead]

Originally Posted by RedDevil

Notice how the back window goes slightly steeper than the template, bending the airflow down at the risk of inducing instability... but it all lands on the spoiler which still slopes down, but not as steep. That creates a high pressure area over itself and the lower part of the glass, reducing drag.

In the ideal shape the angle reduction is limited to prevent instability, which would mess up the airflow over the tail. But the tail isn't there in practical road cars...

This is why the modern sedan shape beats the classical kammback. It uses the fact that it is hatched to full effect while the kamm shape is just a truncated ideal shape, and therefore no longer optimal.

Each new generation of HONDA (as well as other makes) have been evolving closer,and closer to the more ideal forms,anticipating upcoming CAFE standards.
Automakers don't want to scare their customers off,and have worried about styling since 1928,when DuPont took GM into the 'law of the Paris dressmaker' design-obsolescence as a matter of corporate policy.
So,each generation,they tweak the shape a bit,but not too much,and over time,the general public is slowly brought along.
In 4-years we'll see the Insight morph a little bit more.Eventually,we'll catch up with 1922.