Yummy Malaysiana: Honda Insight Review A fuel-efficient hybrid car on the road!

Honda Insight Review A fuel-efficient hybrid car on the road!

I HAVE AN INSIGHT!

Ermm.. not quite.. since Honda Malaysia wont hand me the keys; and attempts at carrying the Insight off from the event proved futile! :(

A few blogposts back, I shouted out about my test drive session with the Honda Insight.
A few hundred kilometres later; Im back, smarter and better informed on how a hybrid car works.
So heres it is, my thoughts as a young (ahem), female, urbanite driver on the Honda Insight.

What is hybrid technology? What is the fuss about green cars ? Are they powered by solar?

From the start of our day at Jaya One, the term fuel efficiency was on the fly.
After all, the MAIN reason to drive a hybrid (God, doesnt it sound like like some Biochemistry term there?) is Youll boost your coolness quotient. Going Green & Saving Green aka $$.

Below: Harv, our drive consultant briefed us through the myriad of buttons and whats important for us to note of during our drive.

Going green =

* Hybrids can run on alternative fuels (in this case motor), decreasing our dependency on fossil fuels
* Less guilt for polluting the environment:
> Low emission -Emits Co2 at 109g/km instead of 180g */km that normal conventional car emits.
> Fuel efficient- 29km/L** compare to a normal car 15km/L
* Drivers do not need to change their habits at all. You are not required to learn or do anything differently to drive a Hybrid though there are certain points you should consider (points under DRIVING TIPS below)

Saving green aka $$ =

* Fuel efficiency = less fuel burned per kilometre and more bang for your buck.
So from one year of driving a Hybrid, the difference of of total fuel consumption can fuel your first/next pair of sexy Jimmy Choos!OH YEAY! Motivated to drive a Hybrid yet??
* Also, theHonda Insight which was launched in 2010 is themost affordablehybrid in Malaysia that costless than RM100, 000.

So the first thing for anyone seeking to understand hybrid cars is to know how the car work.

************************************************

HOW THE HONDA INSIGHT ENGINE WORKS:

Hybrid = engine and electric motor = fuel efficient vehicle

1. And NO, its not solar-powered. At least the current hybrids on Malaysian roads arent.

2. POWER comes from MOTOR (Electricity la) and petrol. YUP, we still need petrol.

Different stages of driving : What the motor does, when it assisted the car and when fuel is used.

Interesting yea? So as you can see, the motor assist at times, and thats when less fuel is burned. And thus you save fuel + money ($$)!
But all that in theory. How do you know its actually working while youre driving?
Easy!
Theres this screen on the dashboard for you to keep in- sight (pun intended) of what your Insight is up to.

EXAMPLE: Stage 3. Acceleration - Engine operates with motor assist

EXAMPLE: Stage 5. Braking/Slowing down - charges IM! A batter y

EXAMPLE: Stage 4. High Speed Cruising - Engine operates alone

Note: Pics above taken while the Insight is on the move to illustrate the motor + engine mechanism.

*************************************************

HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF YOUR HONDA INSIGHT:

Driving tips:

1. Step on the accelerator NOT!!!!
The key to fuel efficiency is GOOD driving habits and steady acceleration/slowing down.Be light footed & steadily build up the momentum to get to the speed that you want.

2. Brake hard. Thats what the brakes are for right??
NOPE!! Release the accelerator, allowing the car to slow down as you approach your desired stopping point while pressing the brakes gently.

3. Fast and furious driving. Drift it!
DONT drive like a mad man. This is NOT to say the Honda Insight cant be fast, I have driven it at 151km/hr on the highway (see below) and it was smooth enough. However, the Insight is not made for racing. Its optimised for CITY-DRIVING.

Below: Thanks to Nik for taking the pictures as I pushed the Insight for speed on the highway.

******************************************************************

Now, with some basic insight on the Honda Insi! ght out of the way, are you ready to take a ride with me?

THE CAR:

A lot of us agreed that the blue colour Insight is such a doll...

Sporty lights.

I thought the front was spacious enough, though there were grumbles around from the fat.. ermm..I meant tall ones that their legs kept bumping into the dashboard.

The panel that tells you everything you need t! o know a bout your car.

Way too many buttons for me. But useful, I'm eerr..sure.

More buttons to make your life/driving easier.

Control buttons on the steering wheel audio, cruise control and Multi-Information Display

Space for more junk! Let's see..this will fit my lipgloss, pens, hairclips, vitamins...

Compartments for F & B. Chocolates anyone?

Oh, I love these infographics .
Its so nice and colourful and concises the necessary information without too many words! Heres one that illustratesthe design:

Infographics 3C - Features and Benefits of Honda Insight

************************************************

Next up!

THE RIDE:

And we are off!!

The pre-planned route took us on diverse terrains in order for us to get a feel of the car handling in different situations.

Winding roads.

Rural areas, where the motocyclist drives on the middle of lane and think they own the road.

Patience Becky..patience Grrrrrr

Through police road blocks

Heavy traffic at some stretch. Im happy to report that there were no casualties.

On the highway.

Narrow lanes.

**********************************************

Comfort factor during the drive:

I could work on the go (minus internet connectivity cos I forgot my YES dongle) on my trusty Acer Aspire S3!

You can reach for your stuffs from the boot without stopping the car and opening the boot.

The drive was long and we alternatively took the wheel as there are 3 bloggers per car. I took a nap at the back seat and snoozed peacefully til it was my turn again.
(Picture not posted for obvious reasons..)

**********************************************

Safety first!

As with all their vehicles, Honda ensures that optimum safety features are in place.

Infographics 3E - Features and Benefits of Honda Insight

************************************************************

And the last COOL feature that Im going to share with you isssssssssssssss

The ECON Assist feature a! nd Econ Mode button.

Now this is extremely cool.
Ok, I admit Im darn jakun la. This is my first time driving a hybrid car. To top that off, the interactivity of the car to driver is amazing. The panels tells you so much about your car and its behaviour. I thought that makes it a very driver-friendly car, and perfect for normal driver on the road.
ECO ASSIST

Insight is thefirsthybrid model in Malaysia that hasEco Assistthat helps driver to achieve fuel-efficient driving in three ways:

a) ECON MODE BUTTON:

Below: That littlegreenbutton is the key!

And this navigational buttons controls what you see on the panel in front of you.

These are the screens that youll see as you navigate the buttons. There are all 7 interfaces as below.

Note: The Honda Insight was stationary when I took these shots as I interviewed Harv so the readings will be different when its in DRIVE mode.

Note: Screen 1 -7 Description TBA by Honda Malaysia. Will update once I have the proper description.

****
Below: Me behind the wheel.

Below: The panel shows your average speed.
Ok, I was just starting up the Insight ok. I dont usually crawl at 7km/hr!

Below: Average consumptionof fuel of our Insight on the first leg of the drive was 17.5km/l of fuel.

b) GUIDANCE FUNCTION:(Daily/Short term): Color on speedometer changes color according to driving style

i.Blue Uneconomical driving
ii. Blue-Green moderate fuel-efficient
iii.Green fuel-efficient

Below: I managed to shoot the speedometer in different colours at the same speed. This is to illustrate that its not all about speed (though speeding does affect fuel efficiency), but rather the style of driving. At the same speed, it can be uneconomical driving (you could be accelerating); and it can also be economical (you could be cru! ising st eadily).

BLUE.

GREEN.

c) SCORING FUNCTION:(Cumulatively/Long Term):

i. When ignition is ON Grow leaf while driving. The more fuel efficient driving style will encourage leaves to grow

ii. When ignition OFF The grown leaves will accumulate and gradually form a trophy to indicate fuel-efficiency driving level: Beginner, Advanced, Congratulations, which is the final level.

Below: See how my leaf grew??
Look mamma! Ive got green fingers!

Last but not least, heres a video the whole trip summarised!!

Sing with me baby!
Oooh oohhh.. I havea feelingggggan Insighttttttt..oh yeaaaa
(Soundtrack: I have a Feeling by Flo Rida)

Honda Insight Bloggers Drive Jan 2012 from RebeccaSaw on Vimeo.

The Honda Insight has won the 3rd most fuel efficiency car in its class at theAsian Auto Fuel Efficiency Awards 2011dinner on 12th Jan 2012, which wasjust a day before the drive. And yes, thats Jordhatt.

Honda is certainly not a new player in the fuel efficiency compartment. The Honda Freed; launched a few years back, won 1st prize under the Compact MVP category. And yes, thats Jordhatt again.