Body Doubles

WERE THE ECONOMY what it was

a year and a half ago when Wall Street was in full Go-Go-Mode, it’s doubtful anybody seriously shopping for an all-new Prius would give Honda’s new Insight a second glance. Sure, they look an awful lot alike, but understand, these are two starkly different automobiles. Different in size: Dimensionally, the Insight is a confirmed compact while the new Prius has expanded its interior volume enough to place it somewhere midpack in the midsize category. Different in hybrid technology: What they mainly share is battery chemistry. And different in cost, with a price spread big enough to drive a couple of mortgage payments through. Unfortunately,

THE AIRFOILERS

ALEX TREMULIS, best remembered as the designer of the Tucker, once emplored his colleagues to “stop torturing air!” Maybe they’re fi nally listening. The hacked-off-tail look, typifi ed by double rear glass panels, is a modern interpretation of the ideas of Dr. Wunibald Kamm and Baron von Koenig-Fashsenfeld in the 1930s. Together they recognized that most of the aerodynamic value of an ideal streamline shape could be had in a fairly practical vehicle by slicing away the trailing end once it’s tapered to about 50 percent of the car’s maximum cross-section. While all four of these modern hybrid, or plug-in hybrid Kammbacks, are impressively aerodynamic, the new Prius appears to have done its homework particularly well. Note its very low nose and wind-defl ecting front corners. Both it and the upcoming Volt also feature sharp-edged rear corners to facilitate a clean departure of the airstream. The new Insight is a puzzle, however, as its Cd is actually 0.01 higher than the (admittedly, rather slippery) Civic Hybrid’s. A lapse of attention to detail? Or was Honda’s goal simply to mimic the Prius’s popular appearance? Either way, the Kammback—or “Prius Profi le”—will become increasingly common as the EPA’s 2020 mandate for a 35 mpg fl eet average draws nearer, a thought that would make Alex Tremulis smile.

2009 Toyota Prius Cd: 0.26

turbulent cavity

2010 Honda Insight Cd: 0.28 (est)

2010 Toyota Prius Cd: 0.25

2010 Chevrolet Volt Cd: 0.27 (est)

turbulent cavity

turbulent cavity

turbulent cavity the economy has subsequently put this sort of simple thinking into a coffee grinder and pressed the top down.

Today, most folks’ household budgets are getting the fine-tooth-comb treatment, and the sound of having most of the Prius’s mileage bang for a lot less buck has a rather nice ring to it. And to complicate things, Honda has baited its Insight’s hook with bodywork that’s so Prius-like it borders on copyright infringement.

A while ago, our late friend and Toyota hybrid guru, Dave Hermance, admitted Honda’s Integrated Motor Assist (IMA) was the better approach for low-cost cars (though he was quick to add that Toyota’s Hybrid Synergy Drive gains the upper hand as size and price increase). Well, Honda has finally pulled the trigger and built Toyota’s o worst nightmare.

The Insight is the car your accountant would recommend—and maybe demand after reading that disastrous 401K statement of yours. Imagine paying $24 for a fill-up that gives you a 435-mile driving range. That got your interest, didn’t it? With a base price somewhere around $20,000 (neither car’s prices have been announced) and a combined EPA mileage rating of 41 mpg, the Insight has to be the ultimate financial hedge against this wacko economy and seesawing oil prices. Whatever the hell happens, you’ll endure it nicely in an Insight.

And so should Honda. Powered by the pancaked combination of an 88-horse,1.3liter four-cylinder engine and a 13-horse electric motor masquerading as a flywheel, l the Insight’s mild hybrid machinery would at first appear to be fairly typical IMA fare. t But it isn’t. Honda has gone berserk with the details, wringing cost out every way it can: miniaturizing components, axing the Civic Hybrid engine’s third i-VTEC cam mode, cutting the piston’s costs in half, and shrinking the battery pack. The result is that the Insight’s “hybrid premium” has been slashed 40 percent compared with the Civic Hybrid’s. Wow.

Unfortunately, the cost-cutting is equally apparent on the road. In addition to its road noise (higher than you’d expect even in a sub-$20,000 car), the little engine adds a distinctive racket all its own when you put the stick to it. And the ride isn’t exactly spongeville t either, as was astutely perceived by my threet year-old rear passenger strapped in his car seat: “Dad, you’re driving really rough!” It’s the car, young dude, it’s the car.

A lot of us raised our eyebrows when the Insight’s mileage numbers were officially

INSIGHT'S nose is FCX Clarity-inspired. Inside, its dash is wildly frenetic; paddle shifters add a sporty touch.

released as they’re actually lower than the older-tech Civic Hybrid (Civic-40/45, Insight-40/43). The culprit? Well, sacrificing the three-stage i-VTEC mechanism on the altar of the Insight’s squeaky-tight IMA budget probably hasn’t helped. However, we’re completely baffled by the car’s drag coefficient, which somehow or another is slightly inferior to the Civic’s.

This third-generation Prius represents a powerful stride along the compassheading established by the current edition. The iconic Prius Profile has been retained, but with its arching roofline’s apex shifted noticeably aft to improve rear headroom. The underbody is almost fully streamlined, except for two very strange stalactite fins hanging just aft of the rear axle. Purpose? “Directional stability,” we’re told. (Note to evil twin: We’ll have to find out if the Prius is directionally unstable without them.) The aerodynamic slickness concludes with crisply creased vertical rear edges that act as forced breakaway lines for the departing air. The Insight lacks these creases, and we think it contributes to its one bad angle. Conversely, the new Prius is a handsome piece; I doubt this one will be enduring many rolling-appliance jokes. Inside, the Prius is noticeably more spacious, gaining 1.1 inches of front shoulder room, 0.3 of rear headroom, and 0.8 of aft knee room. It’s a spacious place, very different from the Insight’s claustrophobic rear quarters, which is scaled for maybe 14-year-olds.

Underhood, the Prius’s powertrain is 90 percent new, with everything you never understood before there again, but better. Displacement rises from 1.5 liters to 1.8, and contrary to what you’d think, this actually benefits efficiency by letting the engine spin slower, with a bit more lazily achieved torque. The Prius’s main electric motor is now more powerful too, though it’s physically smaller thanks to an added planetary gearset that lets the motor spin faster, multiplying its torque. Two other changes are a gearset (instead of a chain) connecting the motor to the differential and beltless electric drive for both the water pump and air-conditioning compressor (facilitating a new feature whereby the A/C can be started from the key fob without having to fire the engine). Also, the previous "Thermos bottle" that circulated hot coolant through the block while the engine was paused has been replaced by coolant tubing coiled around the exhaust system.

DOUBLE-DECKER center stack places controls on top and a bin beneath. Powertrain is 90 percent new.

The driving experience between the two cars is simply chalk and cheese. Where the Insight has you reaching for the radio’s volume knob, the Prius is dramatically quieter than its predecessor. It also feels immensely more solid—Lexuslike, even— which bodes well for the Lexus HS 250h that’ll share this architecture.

The difference in the two cars’ drastically different NVH levels is peculiarly mirrored in the design of their interiors. Whereas the Insight’s dash is crazily frenetic (you could imagine the designers shaping its clay buck with machete blows), the Prius is serene and flowing. Even its hard-plastic textures have an odd, contemplative quality.

Of its instrument display’s numerous and beautifully rendered graphics, the one that impressed most was a graphical reproduction of the steering wheel’s buttons. Just touching the buttons causes the graphic to appear, while pressing any of them adds a highlight to the graphic. BMW’s iDrive could certainly learn an ergonomic thing or two here. Speaking of novel features, the Prius is loaded with these, including a refined version of the Lexus LS’s assisted parking, radar-based pre-collision (including automated braking), and a rooftop solar panel that powers a fan to circulate ambient air throughout the interior while parked. And I can confirm that the lane-centering system is effective (letting go of the wheel left the Prius glancing off of the lane markings—not that we’d advise this, of course).

New to the 2010 Prius are three buttons affording a trio of operational modes. Pure EV Mode attempts to keep the engine sleeping up to 25 mph for a halfmile (though any significant throttle tip-in awakens it).

Eco Mode dulls any herky-jerky accelerator-pedal behavior and reduces throttle opening by 11.6 percent. And Power Mode does pretty much the opposite, particularly enhancing mid-range response. Oddly, the Insight proved to be a hairbreadth quicker to 60 mph, 10.4 seconds versus 10.6, despite its numerically inferior weight-to-power ratio.

Although the Insight’s EV-ness appears to constitute no more than idle-stopping, in fact, it can ghost along at nearly 30 mph on the motor’s 13 horsepower with the valves sealed to prevent pumping losses (I verified this by logging the OBDII port’s air-mass flow sensor). This valve-closure

trick also occurs extensively while braking or coasting, and indeed, I saw it while lifting off the throttle at even 70 mph. The EPA pegs the Prius’s combined mileage at a U.S.-best 50 mpg (51 city, 48 highway), confirmed on a Toyota-designed test loop where the Prius easily achieved 52 mpg (notably, on the same loop, the Insight reported 46 mpg, considerably better than its EPA label).

You’d expect the lighter Insight to be the hands-down handling champ, but its languid steering ratio (3.3 turns lock to lock) and light effort left me actually preferring our heavier-feeling, faster-steering Prius (fitted with optional 17-inch wheels, it’s worth noting). Offsetting this, though is the Insight’s seven, paddle-operated, synthetic gear ratios that give you a convincing sense of authority over its belt-type continuously variable transmission.

So you’d think that, after uncovering several chinks in the Insight’s presentation— and next to none in the Prius’s—we’d have ourselves an easy default winner here. Well, yes, the Prius definitively retains its crown as king of the hybrids. It’s a profoundly impressive car, perhaps the densest concentration of engineering virtuosity on the road today. If you can afford it, buy it.

But which is the more important hybrid? That leads us back to the issue of price. Although the Prius will eventually entail such far-reaching technologies as lithium batteries and possibly plug-in capability, that’s in the future. Not now. And when these two go on sale, the price spread is likely to be at least $3000.

Star ting at under $20,000 (excluding destination charge), the 41-mpg Insight is the first hybrid that’s simultaneously within the reach of just about every pocketbook and also a solid business proposition for its builder. Amazingly, it delivers nearly identical mileage as the current Prius at about 85 percent of the price. The incremental value of 50 mpg versus 41 mpg—whether you judge it by gasoline cost, greater national security, or CO2 reduction—seems dwarfed by the benefit of its potential sales volume. It’s a milestone that can’t go unnoticed. ■

1ST PLACE HONDA INSIGHT

An imperfect car, loud and coarseriding, and also perhaps the most important hybrid ever built.

2ND PLACE TOYOTA PRIUS

The world’s best hybrid has become more solid and refined, yet has somehow upped its fuel economy as well. It’s an engineering triumph for the textbooks.

P O W E R T R A I N / C H A S S I S D R I V E T R A I N L AY O U T E N G I N E T Y P E

VA LV E T R A I N D I S P L A C E M E N T P O W E R ( S A E N E T )

T O R Q U E ( S A E N E T W E I G H T T O P O W E R B AT T E R Y T Y P E B AT T E R Y C A PA C I T Y T R A N S M I S S I O N S U S P E N S I O N , F R O N T; R E A R

S T E E R I N G R AT I O T U R N S LO C K-T O - LO C K B R A K E S , F ; R

W H E E L S T I R E S

D I M E N S I O N S W H E E L B A S E T R A C K , F/ R L E N G T H X W I D T H X H E I G H T T U R N I N G C I R C L E C U R B W E I G H T W E I G H T D I S T, F/ R S E AT I N G C A PA C I T Y H E A D R O O M , F/ R L E G R O O M , F/ R S H O U L D E R R O O M , F/ R C A R G O V O L U M E T E S T D ATA A CC E L E R AT I O N T O M P H 0 -3 0 0 - 4 0 0 - 5 0 0 - 6 0 0 -7 0 0 - 8 0 PA S S I N G , 4 5 - 6 5 M P H Q U A R T E R M I L E B R A K I N G , 6 0 - 0 M P H L AT E R A L A CC E L E R AT I O N M T F I G U R E E I G H T CO N S U M E R I N F O B A S E P R I C E P R I C E A S T E S T E D S TA B I L I T Y/ T R A C T I O N CO N T R O L A I R B A G S

B A S I C W A R R A N T Y P O W E R T R A I N W A R R A N T Y B AT T E R Y W A R R A N T Y F U E L C A PA C I T Y E PA C I T Y/ H W Y E CO N M T O B S E R V E D F U E L E CO N CO 2 E M I S S I O N S R E Q U I R E D F U E L

Front engine, FWD Front engine, FWD I-4, alum block/head plus elec motor I-4, alum block/head plus elec motor SOHC, 2 valves/cyl DOHC, 4 valves/cyl 81.7 cu in/1339 cc 109.7 cu in/1798 cc 88 (gas)/13 (elec)/ 98 (comb) hp 98 (gas)/80 (elec)/ 134 (comb) hp 88 (gas)/58 (elec) lb-ft 105 (gas)/153 (elec) lb-ft 27.9 lb/hp 23.7 lb/hp Nickel-metal hydride Nickel-metal hydride 580 W-hr 1310 W-hr Belt CVT Planetary CVT Struts, coil springs, anti-roll bar; torsion beam, coil springs, anti-roll bar Struts, coil springs, anti-roll bar; torsion beam, coil springs, anti-roll bar 16.7:1 14.6:1 3.3 2.8 10.3-in vented disc & regen; 7.9-in drums, ABS 10.0-in vented disc & regen; 10.2-in disc, ABS

5.5 x 15 in, cast aluminum 7.0 x 17 in, cast aluminum 175/65R15 84S M+S Dunlop SP31A P215/45R17 87V Michelin Pilot HX MXM4

100.4 in 106.3 in 58.7/58.1 in 59.6/59.4 in 172.3 x 66.7 x 56.2 in 175.6 x 68.7 x 58.7 in 36.1 ft 36.1 ft 2735 lb 3171 lb 58/42 60/40 5 5 38.4/35.9 in 38.3/37.6 in 42.3/33.5 in 42.5/36.0 in 52.7/50.4 in 56.1/53.1 in 15.9 cu ft 21.6 cu ft

3.7 sec 3.4 sec 5.4 5.3 7.6 7.6 10.4 10.6 13.8 14.3 18.1 19.1 5.5 5.9 17.8 sec @ 79.4 mph 17.9 sec @ 77.7 mph 127 ft 120 ft 0.79 g (avg) 0.82 g (avg) 29.3 sec @ 0.53 g (avg) NA

$20,000 (est) $23,000 (est) $23,500 (est) $29,000 (est) Yes/yes Yes/yes Dual front, front side, f/r curtain Dual front, front side, f/r curtain, dvr knee 3 yrs/36,000 miles 3 yrs/36,000 miles 5 yrs/60,000 miles 5 yrs/60,000 miles 10 yrs/150,000 miles 10 yrs/150,000 miles 10.6 gal 11.9 gal 40/43 mpg 51/48 mpg 46 mpg 52 mpg 0.47 lb/mile 0.39 lb/mile Unleaded regular Unleaded regular