2012 Honda Insight revealed ahead of Frankfurt show

By Brett Davis | September 02nd, 2011

FIND DEALS

Honda has revealed some details and an image of the new facelifted 2012 Honda Insight it will unveil at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show on September 13. The updated Insight hybrid will feature more advanced aerodynamics which will push CO2 emission figures down below the 100g/km mark.

The 2012 Honda Insight will feature a revised front end that will bring improved aerodynamics, including a new front grille and slightly revised lower air intakes in the lower corners. Honda says the rear spoiler has also been reduced in size, improving rear visibility.

The main changes that will help get the emission figure down include a redesigned CVT transmission will which sap less power from the engine and a redesigned air-conditioning system that will also place less load on the engine. Overall emissions will be rated at 96g of CO2 per kilometre.

Honda says some changes to the suspension have also been made to the new 2012 Honda Insight, bringing an improvement to ride comfort and stability. Inside, the facelifted Honda Insight will feature a slightly refreshed layout promising higher quality materials and finishes.

Full details of the 2012 Honda Insight will be revealed at the 2011 Frankfurt Motor Show which starts on September 13. Stay tuned for our full coverage.

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Lucii Pooky

Personally I would rather own a Insight over a Pruis.
I know the Pruis has Better Hybrid tech but I just seem to think that the Insight is a bit cooler and has a bit more soul….. And i like this new facelift

My 2 cents….
Alexander

I don’t know why Honda still clings onto IMA, it’s just a glorified Stop/Start system with light electrical assist. I know the Prius isn’t everyone’s favourite car, but I wipes the floor with the Insight! It’s quicker, bigger, more powerful and easily produces better economy in the real world. Honda’s IMA system should go full hybrid or not bother at all.
- PS
  
  Alex, if you’ve driven a car with Honda IMA back to back with Toyota’s full hybrid you’d understand why. Driving with Honda’s IMA feels a lot more driving a normal car… its sound, power delivery, braking and handling.
  
  As far as engineering goes, it is a much subtle way to reduce fuel consumption without sacrificing driving performance. Compare the current Prius and Insight for example… you’ll see 1.8L + 60kw Electric Vs 1.3L + 10kw Electric and 0-100kmh figures of 10.6s and 10.4s… Honda’s IMA yields better driving performance for a lot less.
  - Alexander
    
    I’ve driven the current gen Civic Hybrid, Insight, gen 2 and gen 3 Prius, and own an gen 3 Prius. The insight does have an upper hand in the sense that it is more ‘normal’ to drive, handling wise I’d say it’s lighter weight does also give it an advantage. I find the gen 3 Prius in power mode far, far more responsive than the insight, especially when the insights battery is drained. Honda lists the Insight as hitting 100 in 12.5, but I’m not sure what independant tests have achieve, although a gen 3 Prius is said to have done it in 9.7s independently.
    
    The IMA hybrid system is extremely limited in what it can do in comparison to HSD. The start stop cuts out after a minute and the aircon cuts out when the engine is off due to Honda’s failure to use an Electric aircon compression. In a Prius, when your foots not on the accelerator, the engin turns off, so by the time you arrive at the lights, the engine is already off and the aircon can still be blasting. The engine can stay off for more than 10 minutes like this. The IMA electric motor cant also directly power the car, it can, on flat ground, spin the engine (which is spinning with no fuel in it), creating an EV-like mode, although this is nothing like the Prius’ ability to cruise with it’s engine disconnected to the wheels and at 0rpm at speeds of up to 70km/h.
    
    When the Prius was $10,000 more than the Insight, then the Insight made sense, but now it’s only $5,000 separating them (in other markets around the world, even less separates them), the Insight makes no sense.
    - PS
      
      I completely agree on all the merits of HSD but its biggest drawback is cost and weight. Cost to manufacture and cost to maintain. Yep, Honda still makes money on every Insight sold and Toyota decides to still go for market share instead. This sort of business is not sustainable.
      
      IMA’s biggest drawback is its limited power. It’s major advantage is more conventional feel, lightweight and cost.
      
      Each company is quick in reducing this drawback on each new generation. Honda has finally adopted Lithium Ion batteries and double IMA for more power, and I’m sure Toyota’s HSD will become closer to an EV implementation in the future. This market differentiation is good in today’s market where everyone is following everybody else.
Μr Gaspo

Insight is dumpy looking, has a cheap looking interior and is not a good hybrid like the Prius. This face lift is better but not good enough. It’s not just me… Look at the woeful sales figures. Now if performance and fuel economy where better it may do better.
Μr Gaspo

Alexander… Your assessment is spot on.
aa

Alexander, the Insight is more environmentally friendly if you include the manufacturing process. It also costs more. That only leaves bigger and better drive as clear advantages. Cheers
- Alexander
  
  A base insight costs $5,000 less than the Prius, the top level insight that’s specced closer to the base Prius costs $1,000 less, Whig isn’t much considering you’re getting more car for the money. In other markets the Insight and Prius are Even closer aligned price wise. Prius’ are build in a solar powered, natural light using factory that has c02 absorbing exterior paint, the factory plants trees around the local area, the car has bio plastic interior plastics and it’s shipped around on a solar/diesel/electric ship. As far as I know the Insight has none of such manufacturing processes and makes no effort to offset the extra c02 used to build it.
Able

An Insight or a Golf Bluemotion (which actually has some sort of performance, torque, interior quality and so on and so forth)… Even a Golf 103TDI does a better job of being a car! NEXT!
- Alan
  
  Golf BlueMotion manual 0-100 11.3 secs. Prius hybrid auto 0-100 10.4 secs. Data source Redbook – no contest.
  The Prius doesn’t feel as fast because of its very linear acceleration compared to the Golf diesel’s peaky torque band.
  - Jake Williams
    
    The point Able made was not about the Prius it was about the Insight duh…
mrxandthexfactor

Ugly than a Prius.
mrxandthexfactor

Uglier than a Prius.
PS

Toyota HSD vs Honda IMA (From engineering perspective)

This still remains a hot topic amongst Hybrid buyers, with both sides drumming on its advantages over the other – all of which are true. All of these are of course due to the fact that they are fundamentally different. Toyota’s approach would have stemmed from a full EV implementation approach (and what they can do in the meantime) while Honda’s approach is more about making the current technology more efficient than ever.

In Toyota’s approach, the normal ICE engine will eventually be replaced entirely by a bigger electric motor. So they start with implementing a largish Electric Motor to supply power to the car, then supplement it with a normal ICE to sustain the electric motor’s operation. This approach is highly fuel efficient, until the electric motor runs out of juice then the ICE will have to carry the weight of 3 engines. Toyota spreads this weight across the entire car… with having 2 electric motors: Motor 1 right next to the ICE and Motor 2 underneath the body of the car. This is a complex system to ensure seamless transition from electric to power power delivery. In theory, they will gradually increase the power output of Motor 1 and reduce the size of the ICE and do away with Motor 2 altogether. However, this has not been the case as the weight of the entire system is drawing power from the electric batteries (technology limitation) so what they’ve done is increase the size of the ICE in Prius Gen 3 from 1.5L to 1.8L to rectify this problem.

In Honda’s approach, the normal ICE engine works as per normal, but where it usually consumes a lot of petrol (start-stop) the electric motor assists in torque. Fuel efficiency in this approach is highly dependant on the driver’s driving habit as normal engine characteristics still applies (i.e. you rev it high, then it will drink petrol). Honda is betting on simplicity and cost efficiency in their implementation but in doing so they are subjecting themselves into huge limitation. Its small electric motor can only produce limited power compared to Toyota’s larger motor. This coupled with different rev range of the two (electric motor: high torque and low rev, Honda’s ICE: high rev low torque), they found that they have to compromise on things such as electric power and rev range ceiling to avoid overheating. Honda’s implementation is ridden with cost cutting measures that does diservice to their engineering efficiency.
jansjetta

I just don’t understand. Premium prices for all hybrids, more than average depreciation, buckets loads of energy consumed to dig, ship and build from the resources and then powered by a source of energy from a coal fired power station. How can that be environmentally friendly? Are we all being conned?