Honda Insight vs Toyota Prius: classic hybrids go head-to-head - DrivingElectric

Honda Insight Mk1 meets Toyota Prius Mk1: www.drivingele...
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Back to where it all began: we revisit two classic hybrid models from the late '90s and early '00s, the quirky and unusual Mk1 Honda Insight and the surprisingly conventional Mk1 Toyota Prius. Both made important contributions to the development of electrified cars, but which does Vicky Parrott prefer?
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[@lucaparker1084]

I love it when these car review channels show us cars from the past.

[@IcyUpNorth]

I really like your channel, it's really nice to watch electric car and eco-reviews from people that Actually are interested in cars and haven't only got the interest for the environment and techy stuff. Keep it up, you're doing great!

[@tiers2002]

I have had my 2002 Honda Insight for 4 years now and absolutely love it...Coming up on 300000 Kms and still drives like new! Simply Amazing car I spend less then 20$ a month Canadian (expensive gas avg. 1.50 a litre) on fuel...This car is so rare here in Victoria have only heard of one other out driving around so it is a real head turner and am stopped everywhere asking what it is...Battery life after 18 years is still going strong after I learned about adding a grid charger to recondition the battery...Simply put this was and is an AMAZING hybrid...

[@aledaabraham1810]

The new ones aren't as fuel efficient. I've got a 2019 Touring which means the mpg is a little less than the others. 55mpg city and I think 48mpg hwy. Realistically I've only got 50+ on 1 long trip. Avg is about 47 mpg city/hwy mixed, 42mpg hwy only. But 10gal = 400+ miles. Car never takes more than 8 gal even on "low fuel" light. Boy do I wish for 70 mpg! And yeah, in 8+ mos, I've only seen 1 in the state above me and heard about 1 other person's mate having the 2019 as well.

[@saturndesigns2339]

My favorite part of the insight is manual

[@mindspinn311]

Love the color of that Insight. I always noticed them on the road but never wanted one, but now I could definitely see myself buying one as a modern classic, as well as driving a current Prius or Insight.

[@CreRay]

What a great test of 2 absolute landmark cars! Full points from me👍👍👍👍👍

[@earthling9913]

Here in America, I still see the old prius being driven by people. I've also only seen the old insight once, but the old prius more.

[@Perry_Fan]

Love the Insights styling cues

[@een-stoom-liefhebber]

I just hate the insight for not being common in the Netherlands it's a ultra rare car! And i really just love it's style! Wish I could ever drive one just to experience it myself

[@jorakarandas6592]

Amazing classic review. Thanks for that! Your topic chooser is a real conoisseur!

[@JNahumHernandez]

I have this exact Prius model 😭🙏🏽, and it’s so cool how it’s well maintained

[@S700KYFPV]

I owned the Prius MKII for 7 years and did 110K in it. Sweet as a nut. I now own the Prius MKIII with 70K on it, and still sweet as a nut. Around 50mpg in Winter, and 65-70mpg in Summer. Massive boot, under boot storage, 2 glove boxes, and as comfy as an armchair.

[@praisebewibble]

I drive a 2010 insight. It is a very normal car to drive, good road holding . I get 57mpg without trying.

[@aledaabraham1810]

2019 Insight...mine is about 48mpg mostly city. 46 mpg both. 41-42 total hwy... These older models sound way better...😔

[@instasingingvids3529]

Aleda Abraham do you drive with heat or ac on? If so that impacts your mpg. However sometimes it’s necessary to have them on.

[@praisebewibble]

@@instasingingvids3529 ac off mostly, no need for ac in Ireland. Heat comes from engine so it has little or no effect on mpg.

[@SnowyPup]

I have two 2000 Honda insights. One is a base model which gets about 65mpg without trying. The other one is a fancier over, but seems to only get 50mpg without trying, however it is in the shop to get the brakes fixed which might be the issue

[@mav48185]

Aleda Abraham mines getting 36 average but I think it’s because of Michigan winter. It was great in summer

[@hsvcommodore4111]

Amazing video! More like these please!

[@rogerhudson9732]

The Honda was great but the big difference is: Toyota is parallel motors, can run electric only but Honda is serial motors so can't run electric only, but it did introduce stop-start.

[@VeritasEtAequitas]

The big difference is the all-out efficiency engineering of the 1st gen Insight. Fully aluminum car with magnesium touches, insane Cd, double overdrive, etc. Very different from any other car ever made aside from concept cars. It was essentially a concept car homologated.

[@x1tekja]

The insight die and aftermarket is extensive. There are new builds dropping a fomoco 47kw battery which does support full electric driving. Of course coupled with the petrol engine , some people have been getting over 200 mpg and range easily over 1000 miles per tank using that configuration.

[@mr88cet]

Great historical perspective! Thanks. A lot of people describe the Prius as having frustratingly sluggish acceleration. Having a (second-generation) 2008 Prius, and a (fourth-generation) “Prius Prime” (North-American name; “Prius PHV” in most of the rest of the World), I have completely the opposite feeling about its acceleration: I’ve found the Prius to be surprisingly, downright, in fact I’d go so far as to say quite amazingly and yes, even powerfully... “adequate.”

[@Ka_Gg]

I currently have a 2001 insight (manual). The engines and transmissions are very solid. They obviously get great mpgs and ok if you only have 1 passenger. The all aluminum body is great too for people in rusty areas. IMO though, this car isn't that comfortable. It's like riding a gokart. Some people now are starting to put small turbos on them to give them a small bump in power and that would have been awesome as a factory option. I've only driven 1 prius and at the time I was a prius hater. Now, I think it's a good car. Far more comfortable than the insight and easier to find parts, but gets nowhere near the same mpgs. Doesn't have lean burn like the insight either. Both cars seem to be very reliable and for a used car, they are better than the rest. IMO, if the insight would have sacrificed a few mpg for comfort, it would be a lot better. Personally, I like the functionality of the 4 door hatch style that the Prius (newer model) has. Just so much room. Very little room in the insight, but insight is fun to drive. I'm not a fan at all of the gauge cluster on the Prius. It just has that old technology look that looks like an old crappy mp3 player. The insight has a lot better looking cluster. Like the s2000.

[@pdken3081]

Fascinating review, thank you. I had the mk1 Prius for over 250,000 miles and loved it, now have the mk2 which is equally good although I think the current mk4 is even better. Pity Toyota aren't making an EV.

[@mrquordlepleen]

PD Ken not yet....but there is one being developed. Completely seperate fro mm their Fuel Cell development. When it does eventually hit the road it will be spot on n. As with all Toyota's it might not be the most 'exciting' choice but it will just keep going and keep going....and keep going.

[@alanmay7929]

They are already making the lexus ux300e and many more to come

[@Mybwain]

Honda insight is a win for me with the manual box. Would be the best car for me to replace my gas guzzling 1.0 yaris work horse. But at todays prices I'm better off keeping what I got as it would take years to get the fuel save to pay for its self. I would like to upgrade the battery to lithium ion battery to make the car even lighter.

[@robb5522]

I have owned 3 of the 369 Gen 1 Insights ever sold in Canada. I also have a 2001 Prius. They are both amazing vehicles. But, when a Prius traction battery poops the bed, it's scrap at that point. Insight doesn't care. It'll still run and drive. Insight is the most overbuilt car you will ever drive in your life. You have to really look at one up close to understand just how dialed in they are. Honda lost a lot of money on each one they sold. You can see it when you see one in person.

[@danielchaffin2420]

I bought a 2000 for cheap with the intention of replacing the battery. Once the battery went out, I decided to just keep driving it because it functioned well enough without it. 1.5 years later, and my G1 is still kicking (weakly) and I think I'm just going to keep driving without a working hybrid battery. I still get about 45 city, 65 highway

[@robb5522]

@@danielchaffin2420 It's true, they aren't speedy, especially without the assist motor working. And if you want to drive into the mountains, you need to really like downshifting. One of mine had 370k KMS on it, it ran fine. They are a lot of fun.

[@alanmay7929]

Toyota prius are still better than Hondas, the battery thing is not an issue tho, people have been living and travelling with their prius and the AC is another advantage of the prius too

[@jamesw5719]

Great idea to look at used electric cars, would be great to get a drivers eye view of the dashboard.

[@VeritasEtAequitas]

True, the gauges are one of the coolest things on the Insight.

[@mark1968]

I had a Mk1 Prius. It never once broke down and had all its original drive gear/exhaust, and so on. It had over 250,000 miles on the clock until the day it was stolen. :-(( I just loved how it kept on going and always felt new. They really built them to last, and over engineered them. Fantastic car.

[@gasolinefumes]

I have two Mk1 Insights and one Mk1 Prius!

[@huwjones2056]

A nice review. I’m lucky enough to have had one of each for a few years now. Old cars, but very reliable, economical and fun to drive. The insight is more fun, but very bumpy unless on a perfect road; the prius is extremely comfortable, but less sporty. I would call it a very gentle, pleasant car with nothing to dislike. Nice to have 5 seats and a decent boot too. Very difficult to say which I prefer overall, I think they are both brilliant.

[@gldstone]

just on the bumpy ride issue of the Insight - I just fitted Gaz rear shocks and the uprated springs from Hybrid Revolt this week and it has transformed the car. No bottoming out and a much smoother ride. The shocks are adjustable so can be set as soft or as hard as you like. It's a massive improvement

[@rodoherty1]

Really interesting! Thank you!

[@micheals1992]

The original Honda insight is very similar in design to GMs EV1

[@FM60260]

The Insight is the closest thing we can get to an EV1

[@x1tekja]

Funny you mention that. There are a couple of honda insights that have been fitted with the ev1 divetrain and lithium batteries.

[@DaBossk]

I get like 42 mpg combined in my automatic CVT with the hybrid battery removed. Not a bad little car at all. I've personally put 100,000 miles on my car which makes its total mileage 230k now :D

[@VeritasEtAequitas]

Insight then? I'm getting 50s to 60s in this weather, 5 speed with IMA being flaky.

[@ABCDEF-yf4yu]

The shape of the Prius is dull, but with four doors it is more practical than the Insight that looks like a coupe, and a very old Citroen looking rear like a CX with only half the wheel visible.

[@bdeithrick]

Amazing the Prius wasn’t Self Charging back then. I wonder what changes Toyota made to get it charge itself. They we’re happy with Hybrid synergy drive but must have dumped that.

[@1958plymouth440V8]

Byron Deithrick you do realise that “Self Charging” is just a marketing gimmick right? Toyota’s hybrid system has always been able to “charge” itself by recuperating lost energy through braking and storing it in the battery.

[@kentonian]

I think he was joking 😉

[@BHBeckenbauer]

Nice idea!

[@ThomasDwyer187]

excellent video :)

[@micheals1992]

I don't see why electric assisted engines never took off.

[@danielpopescu130]

where are thoose people who claim second gen of insight copy prius at design? Well, is actually reversed :)

[@Jamal_Tyrone]

I bet my D4D Toyota Yaris could do more MPG than a Prius.

[@alanmay7929]

Diesel is more complicated than gas engines, also pollution is worse

[@alanguile8945]

Mild hybrid, any good??

[@rogercrier]

I thought the insights CDA figure is still better than any current production car? Any one know what beats it?

[@RennieAsh]

Roger Crier 0.25, don’t the newer Prius have that and the Tesla is lower? Also Mercedes has some and one is down to 0.22

[@rogercrier]

Rennie Ash Yes, lower cd figure, but the true rating for power required is when you multiply the cd figure by the frontal area of the car to get the cda! So as a Tesla is bigger it still does not beat the insight as far as I know. Perhaps the Merc beats it?

[@RennieAsh]

Roger Crier the Insight is a tiny car, so newer offerings will need a very low CD or they’ll need to be small cars.

[@rogercrier]

Rennie Ash Yes, exactly right. You cannot compare cd figures from one car to another, but you can compare CDA figures! You have to also remember that the area increases x4 to the dimensions making the area very important indeed....twice the size, four times the area!!!!!

[@aledaabraham1810]

The new Insight is bigger, 4 doors. Roomy seats for a smaller "civic" with a nice trunk. Looks small from the outside, but comfy on the inside...

[@MiniEggs1999]

Great video....So we can see the ICE is still working after nearly 20 years. What was the battery performance/%charge retained like ? ....

[@VeritasEtAequitas]

Most are dying but can be limped along for daily driving by resetting them or using a "grid charger" once a month. There's a small but very strong community for the 1G insight with bypasses, Li-Ion conversions, manual IMA controllers, etc.

[@alanmay7929]

People have been converting prius to plugin for decades now

[@micheals1992]

I get 70mpg in my Toyota Aygo, I like to think of my car as proof to how badly modern hybrids are designed. Although I wouldn't mind a hot coolant storage tank like the Prius has!

[@pdken3081]

I guess it might have done 90mpg if it was a hybrid. Whenever I've hired the latest Prius it has always returned at least 70mpg (UK).

[@VeritasEtAequitas]

Not available in North America, sadly. I wish the diesel Lupo was available here. 70+ mpg easily without a turbo or hybrid drive.

[@noahh914]

@@VeritasEtAequitas The 3L Lupo had a turbo.

[@user-su8ux4yv6q]

The Prius is one of the most hated cars on the internet. I love the insight tho

[@conogrady9254]

Each car can be got with from the options list a GUIDE DOG!

[@oldmcdonald1759]

They all driving on the wrong side of the road

[@ethanthulin1692]

I got 260k miles on my insight

[@jhanpgarcia2725]

2006 red 5 speed 261k lol on my toaster as my coworker call it. 58 mpg on cold weather 70 on summer.

[@JDMCOWBOY92]

@@jhanpgarcia2725 2006 5speed manual as well. Only 85k miles on mine. Somehow I do not achieve that gas milage though. I do about half city half highway. Air pressure is at 50psi per tire. I shift around 2.2k rpms unless I'm getting on the highway and need to get up to speed. The most I have got on a tank of gas was 59mpgs what am I doing wrong

[@jhanpgarcia2725]

@@JDMCOWBOY9259mpg it's still super good. It's as much as a cost of a ev car without the depreciation. I bought mine with 166k n I replaced spark plug n clean the egr plate, but also my commute its 90 percent highway.

[@JDMCOWBOY92]

@@jhanpgarcia2725 I guess I should give her a tune up with new plugs and wires. And my next tires will be low rolling resistant tires as well.

[@peterspencer6483]

with a bit of luck .it will be good if toyota a company I used to admire but now hope they go broke. because they do not support electric vehicles.

[@snapperjw]

Oh it’s one of those self charging cars 🤦🏻‍♂️

[@TheSynecdoche]

They both are. Both generate their own auxiliary electric power, in the case of the Honda even extremely little. But it works really well.

[@schuadam]

😂😂😂😂😂😂

[@dickmartino9933]

If it needs a mechanic to stand over it and say "it's gonna cost you" then no thanks. Full electric for me and you too.

[@VeritasEtAequitas]

The Insight doesn't. Sure, the battery packs are pretty expensive, but you should see the mods that the community (of maybe only 5000 cars left on the road) has come up with! Li-Ion upgrades, a manual assist/regen/lean burn/engine-off control joystick, a circuit to bypass the IMA entirely so you can still get 70+ mpg on the highway if you don't want to bother fixing a dead hybrid battery, etc. Otherwise, a used engine is like $300-400. Fixing them is cheap. Most parts are very cheap, even for Hondas. Only a few things are expensive for the rarity.

[@amywalker7515]

I can hardly watch this for fearing for the woman's safety parking both cars in the middle of the street at the top of a hill with decreased visibility from below

[@PrimiusLovin]

All of the limitations inherent to both technologies and terrible performers in both categories mixed with a design made as uninteresting and ugly as possible... no thank you! At this point, unless there's some very specific need for owning a hybrid, you either go fully electric or keep driving ICE!...

[@pdken3081]

I agree, go fully electric but what limitations and terrible performance exactly?

[@PrimiusLovin]

@@pdken3081 The BMW i8 is a good example, the additional cost, weight, and size of a larger battery pack while still delivering very limited power and range in EV mode combined with the regular maintenance of a small 1.5L turbocharged I3 engine gasoline which is nothing extraordinary by itself and the whole complex package working together is only about as fast as a Subaru BRZ and only slightly faster than a 2007 Chevrolet Cobalt SS/TC!! BMW has created a slightly good looking endless money pit on wheels!!

[@baryonyx9642]

First! And I am driving an insight!

[@IcyUpNorth]

What's it like? =)

[@baryonyx9642]

@@IcyUpNorth its really 'meh'.

[@VeritasEtAequitas]

@@baryonyx9642 But those sweet, sweet mpgs on the 1st gen manual. My car will literally pay for itself in a year of occasional driving.

[@Poxenium]

what are gas cars doing on this channel?

[@pdken3081]

It covers all 'electrified' cars unlike some channels which just cover EVs.

[@Worstenboer]

They are HEV’s not gas cars

[@VeritasEtAequitas]

Then you don't know how unique and insanely engineered the 1st gen Insight is. It's incredibly rare, more rare than many Ferraris and other "exotics", fully aluminum construction when only a few supercars had that, still the most fuel efficient car ever sold in America, best drag coefficient until the Tesla model S which isn't quite comparable because it doesn't have an engine coolant radiator... it's essentially a homologated concept car, and that alone is awesome.