It’s only been on sale since April 2009, but Honda has already revised the Insight with changes to the suspension, interior and spec levels.
Apparently, critical feedback didn’t make much of Attempt One, so here’s Attempt Two.
The big changes are mostly down to suspension tuning – the recoil rate of the springs has been wound back so the Insight isn’t as stiff as before.
When you hit a speed bump now, the Insight is more absorbent, so town driving is far, far more comfortable.
There are still issues, though, as the “evisions haven’t been as successful at higher speeds. Admittedly, it’s more settled at moderate velocities, but above 50mph, the tyres still chatter with tarmac imperfections, and the Insight never flows over bumps.
Inside, the trim has been tweaked and you can now get this EX model with leather and satnav as standard.
But this new variant starts at 25,215 euro in the European markets, which is a lot of money for what Honda had originally billed as a cheap way into hybrid ownership.
The fatal blow, however, is that these alterations still don’t make it better than the Toyota Prius (20,695 Euro) — the Insight feels like a half-hearted hybrid next to that car.
