Toshi
10 kW
[nb: this was written by yours truly after test driving the below cars today, june 21. for what it's worth we were the only people in the entire honda dealership besides salespeople, and there were less than half-dozen customers at the toyota dealership.]
my wife, jessica, and i test drove a few cars today: a 2009 Honda Fit Sport, a 2010 Honda Insight EX, and a base model 2010 Toyota Prius. we test drove them just for fun, as her 2001 Toyota Corolla LE is showing few signs of slowing down even as it passes through 120k miles on the clock, but we thought we could do some advance homework for the day that it does go kaput.
2009 Honda Fit Sport
price: $16,260 MSRP + TTD without navi
mileage: 27/33/29 city/hwy/combined mpg for the manual, 27/33/30 for the auto (or 28/35/31 for the base model slushbox)
fuel costs for 1 year per fueleconomy.gov: $1263
curb weight: 2520 lbs
passenger capacity: 90.8 cubic ft
cargo capacity: 20.6 cubic ft
impressions:
- the base model is unacceptable content-wise, with no cruise control even available and steelies
- exterior packaging is just about perfect for a 4 seat car
- interior accommodations are generally fine, and the flip-up/fold-down rear "magic seat" is awesome
- dashboard is really chintzy, unfortunately, especially the center stack (navi fixes this, but the navigation package adds a solid $1850!)
- windows in front of the front doors in the A-pillars actually work well
- 5-speed manual version actually gets 1 mpg less city/hwy than the 5-speed auto. how? the manual has a 0.727 5th gear with a 4.62 final drive ratio while the slushbox has a 0.552 5th gear with a 4.56 final drive ratio.
- completely silent at idle, moderately raucous under acceleration
- feels solid, rides nicely, smooth brakes, very slick and short throws from the manual gearchange
- rear window has no bar across it but is very short vertically for a somewhat compressed view of traffic behind oneself
verdict: quite a compelling little car, but feels like the cheapest honda that it is. in particular jessica was appalled by the center stack on the dashboard, and she's usually not one to complain about such things. it drove fine, however, and we'd probably get mid to upper 30s for mileage in it with the conservative way that we drive.
2010 Honda Insight EX
price: $21,300 + TTD without navi
mpg: 40/43/41 city/hwy/combined mpg
fuel costs for 1 year per fueleconomy.gov: $893
curb weight: 2727 lbs
passenger capacity: 85 cubic ft
cargo capacity: 15.9 cubic ft
impressions:
- just as with the Fit the Insight's base trim (LX) is unacceptable content-wise, with no cruise control and steel wheels as dealbreakers
- looks great on the exterior actually, with the way the taillights blend into the Kamm tail looking very honda-ish and futuristic simultaneously
- interior room is disappointing. very high luggage area floor with the seats only folding down flat to that level, with not much room at all between the high floor and the low, swoopy roof. not a useful hatchback when compared to either the Fit or the Prius!
- dashboard looks quite a bit nicer than that of the Fit, with nicer plastics and less obsession with circular forms
- the real-time feedback with the growing leaf logos (i got 10/10 half-leaves!) and the blue to green color shift behind the speedometer are actually quite fun, and do inspire one to drive more efficiently. jessica really got into it, and i already was on board from having driven my parents' Prius.
- driving dynamics feel much like a Fit, with perhaps a touch more road noise. nothing to write home about, and certainly doesn't feel as awful as many a recent magazine review would have you believe
- interior sightlines to the rear are compromised by the split in the rear window
verdict: not a bad car, and better in some ways than a Fit. not compelling, however, especially with the interior packaging and $6k price differential for a vehicle that is based off of the same platform. finally, even though the dashboard is nicer and less cluttered visually than that of the Fit it still is somewhat horrid.
2010 Toyota Prius
price: $22,000 MSRP + TTD for the base Prius II trim level
mileage: 51/48/50 city/hwy/combined mpg
fuel costs for 1 year per fueleconomy.gov: $732
curb weight: 3042 lbs
passenger capacity: 93.7 cubic ft
cargo capacity: 21.6 cubic ft
impressions:
- base trim on a Prius is livable, with cruise control, stability control, alloy wheels, power everything all standard, so the comparison between the Insight EX and the Prius base model is actually a fair one
- i can't say that i like the new stock 15" alloy wheel design, and the 17"s are only on the top-trim model
- interior room continues to be adequate, with a floor height much lower than that of the Insight with a higher roof: it's a more substantial car for sure
- the new dashboard layout is somewhat jarring, with a center console that basically hugs you, and a slightly higher perceived cowl height with a low roofline and sharply raked windshield. it's mildly claustrophobic, actually, and i can't say that i care for it much. the center console design does make room for a handbag underneath, however, a feature that jessica immediately picked up upon.
- the dashboard layout is simple and clean, and one can choose to suppress much of the extraneous information on the display. Touch Tracer controls are cool, too!
- driving dynamics are great. power was adequate, throttle tip-in can be adjusted from really sedate in Eco mode to brisk in Power mode, and its operation is very, very smooth and silent. it was much more refined feeling than either the Fit or the Insight.
- EV mode is good until 25 mph, at which point it shuts off. i was able to drive for the better part of a mile at 24 mph on the way back to the dealership without draining the battery appreciably. acceleration was really slow in EV mode but it works and is undeniably geeky.
- body motions seem a bit more controlled than on my parents' non-Touring 2006 Prius, but then again we weren't on an autocross course and the salesman was in the back seat
- interior sightlines are similarly compromised to the rear as in the Insight but both jessica and i found it less objectionable for some reason
verdict: we liked the new Prius quite a bit, and felt it was the strongest of the three vehicles when price is ignored. its dashboard layout is clean even if i'm still not sold on the new center console setup, its interior layout is sane and usable without the high floor of the Insight, its mileage is unparalleled, and its driving dynamics we actually felt to be quite good. price-wise the Prius does line up quite well with the Insight EX, as the base model Insight LX doesn't even have cruise control available as an option, a true deal-breaker, and looks the stripper with steel wheels. thus it's a no-brainer that we'd pick the Prius over an Insight.
the real question is whether we'd buy a Prius over a Fit: the Fit is a solid $6000 cheaper and it'd take over 10 years to make back the difference in gas prices alone. on the other hand, the Prius would retain more residual value than a Fit after being used for an equivalent amount, but any way you slice it the Prius is going to be a more expensive lifetime proposition. at this point it really would be a judgment call, and i think for us the smoothness, silence, EV mode, and clean, non-chintzy dashboard of the Prius would sway us in its favor. your priorities may well differ, but this is what we'd spend our hypothetical money on.
my wife, jessica, and i test drove a few cars today: a 2009 Honda Fit Sport, a 2010 Honda Insight EX, and a base model 2010 Toyota Prius. we test drove them just for fun, as her 2001 Toyota Corolla LE is showing few signs of slowing down even as it passes through 120k miles on the clock, but we thought we could do some advance homework for the day that it does go kaput.
2009 Honda Fit Sport
price: $16,260 MSRP + TTD without navi
mileage: 27/33/29 city/hwy/combined mpg for the manual, 27/33/30 for the auto (or 28/35/31 for the base model slushbox)
fuel costs for 1 year per fueleconomy.gov: $1263
curb weight: 2520 lbs
passenger capacity: 90.8 cubic ft
cargo capacity: 20.6 cubic ft
impressions:
- the base model is unacceptable content-wise, with no cruise control even available and steelies
- exterior packaging is just about perfect for a 4 seat car
- interior accommodations are generally fine, and the flip-up/fold-down rear "magic seat" is awesome
- dashboard is really chintzy, unfortunately, especially the center stack (navi fixes this, but the navigation package adds a solid $1850!)
- windows in front of the front doors in the A-pillars actually work well
- 5-speed manual version actually gets 1 mpg less city/hwy than the 5-speed auto. how? the manual has a 0.727 5th gear with a 4.62 final drive ratio while the slushbox has a 0.552 5th gear with a 4.56 final drive ratio.
- completely silent at idle, moderately raucous under acceleration
- feels solid, rides nicely, smooth brakes, very slick and short throws from the manual gearchange
- rear window has no bar across it but is very short vertically for a somewhat compressed view of traffic behind oneself
verdict: quite a compelling little car, but feels like the cheapest honda that it is. in particular jessica was appalled by the center stack on the dashboard, and she's usually not one to complain about such things. it drove fine, however, and we'd probably get mid to upper 30s for mileage in it with the conservative way that we drive.
2010 Honda Insight EX
price: $21,300 + TTD without navi
mpg: 40/43/41 city/hwy/combined mpg
fuel costs for 1 year per fueleconomy.gov: $893
curb weight: 2727 lbs
passenger capacity: 85 cubic ft
cargo capacity: 15.9 cubic ft
impressions:
- just as with the Fit the Insight's base trim (LX) is unacceptable content-wise, with no cruise control and steel wheels as dealbreakers
- looks great on the exterior actually, with the way the taillights blend into the Kamm tail looking very honda-ish and futuristic simultaneously
- interior room is disappointing. very high luggage area floor with the seats only folding down flat to that level, with not much room at all between the high floor and the low, swoopy roof. not a useful hatchback when compared to either the Fit or the Prius!
- dashboard looks quite a bit nicer than that of the Fit, with nicer plastics and less obsession with circular forms
- the real-time feedback with the growing leaf logos (i got 10/10 half-leaves!) and the blue to green color shift behind the speedometer are actually quite fun, and do inspire one to drive more efficiently. jessica really got into it, and i already was on board from having driven my parents' Prius.
- driving dynamics feel much like a Fit, with perhaps a touch more road noise. nothing to write home about, and certainly doesn't feel as awful as many a recent magazine review would have you believe
- interior sightlines to the rear are compromised by the split in the rear window
verdict: not a bad car, and better in some ways than a Fit. not compelling, however, especially with the interior packaging and $6k price differential for a vehicle that is based off of the same platform. finally, even though the dashboard is nicer and less cluttered visually than that of the Fit it still is somewhat horrid.
2010 Toyota Prius
price: $22,000 MSRP + TTD for the base Prius II trim level
mileage: 51/48/50 city/hwy/combined mpg
fuel costs for 1 year per fueleconomy.gov: $732
curb weight: 3042 lbs
passenger capacity: 93.7 cubic ft
cargo capacity: 21.6 cubic ft
impressions:
- base trim on a Prius is livable, with cruise control, stability control, alloy wheels, power everything all standard, so the comparison between the Insight EX and the Prius base model is actually a fair one
- i can't say that i like the new stock 15" alloy wheel design, and the 17"s are only on the top-trim model
- interior room continues to be adequate, with a floor height much lower than that of the Insight with a higher roof: it's a more substantial car for sure
- the new dashboard layout is somewhat jarring, with a center console that basically hugs you, and a slightly higher perceived cowl height with a low roofline and sharply raked windshield. it's mildly claustrophobic, actually, and i can't say that i care for it much. the center console design does make room for a handbag underneath, however, a feature that jessica immediately picked up upon.
- the dashboard layout is simple and clean, and one can choose to suppress much of the extraneous information on the display. Touch Tracer controls are cool, too!
- driving dynamics are great. power was adequate, throttle tip-in can be adjusted from really sedate in Eco mode to brisk in Power mode, and its operation is very, very smooth and silent. it was much more refined feeling than either the Fit or the Insight.
- EV mode is good until 25 mph, at which point it shuts off. i was able to drive for the better part of a mile at 24 mph on the way back to the dealership without draining the battery appreciably. acceleration was really slow in EV mode but it works and is undeniably geeky.
- body motions seem a bit more controlled than on my parents' non-Touring 2006 Prius, but then again we weren't on an autocross course and the salesman was in the back seat
- interior sightlines are similarly compromised to the rear as in the Insight but both jessica and i found it less objectionable for some reason
verdict: we liked the new Prius quite a bit, and felt it was the strongest of the three vehicles when price is ignored. its dashboard layout is clean even if i'm still not sold on the new center console setup, its interior layout is sane and usable without the high floor of the Insight, its mileage is unparalleled, and its driving dynamics we actually felt to be quite good. price-wise the Prius does line up quite well with the Insight EX, as the base model Insight LX doesn't even have cruise control available as an option, a true deal-breaker, and looks the stripper with steel wheels. thus it's a no-brainer that we'd pick the Prius over an Insight.
the real question is whether we'd buy a Prius over a Fit: the Fit is a solid $6000 cheaper and it'd take over 10 years to make back the difference in gas prices alone. on the other hand, the Prius would retain more residual value than a Fit after being used for an equivalent amount, but any way you slice it the Prius is going to be a more expensive lifetime proposition. at this point it really would be a judgment call, and i think for us the smoothness, silence, EV mode, and clean, non-chintzy dashboard of the Prius would sway us in its favor. your priorities may well differ, but this is what we'd spend our hypothetical money on.
