Powered by a 1.3-liter, 88-horsepower gas engine and a 13-horsepower electric motor, the car averaged 38 miles per gallon even when I was ignoring its warnings. Mileage shot up to the low 50s when I engaged the car’s three gas-saving features, detailed on the next page. See Mike Spinelli’s video review of the 2010 Honda Insight:
Eco Driver’s Ed
- Bad-Driver Override Press a green button on the dash to engage Econ mode, which adjusts the car’s systems to maximize fuel savings. For example, the Econ controller converts jittery acceleration into smooth throttle adjustments — although you can still floor it to get out of a jam. In this mode, cruise control saves gas by accelerating more slowly to the dialed-in speed, and the air conditioner slows its fan and recirculates air.
- Real-Time Updates One of two driver-feedback systems on the Insight, Eco Assist displays a glowing arc above the digital speedometer. The arc’s color varies from blue (wasteful) to blue-green (somewhat efficient) to green (efficient), depending on how a driver accelerates or decelerates. A separate screen near the tachometer displays twin bar graphs that show drivers how their starting and stopping habits affect fuel consumption.
- Kudos For Being Green The Insight’s Eco Guide makes sensible driving as entertaining as playing a videogame. Starting with empty graphical “stalks” shown on the multi-information display, efficient drivers can earn “leaves” that fill out the five branches. Over the car’s lifetime, a thrifty pilot can accumulate a second tier of leaves, then a flower on each branch. When a driver grows all five plants, the screen displays a trophy.