Introduction

Welcome to our detailed review of the all-new 2024 Honda Insight. A special thank you goes to Regal Honda in beautiful Lakeland, Florida, for making this review possible. Their impressive inventory and friendly staff are noteworthy. If you’re in the market for a new car in Florida, we highly recommend checking them out.

Overview

The 2024 Honda Insight shares its platform with the previous generation Civic, but it boasts a unique design and advanced hybrid technology. Despite its similarities in chassis, the Insight maintains a distinct style and a lightweight build, weighing approximately 3,100 pounds. This ensures excellent handling and driving dynamics, making it a standout in its segment.

2024 Honda Insight Exterior Design

The exterior of the 2024 Honda Insight is both elegant and modern. The front end features LED headlights with integrated LED daytime running strips and chrome trim, which blends seamlessly with the lights when illuminated. The vehicle also includes Honda’s signature six-piece fog lights and functional air curtains, showcasing a well-thought-out design.

The Insight’s metallic white paint adds a touch of sophistication, making it a head-turner on the road. The 17-inch wheels, wrapped in Continental Pro Contact tires, contribute to its aerodynamic efficiency and fuel economy, rated at 51 mpg in the city and 45 mpg on the highway.

2024 Honda Insight Interior Comfort and Features

Step inside the 2024 Honda Insight, and you’ll find a luxurious interior packed with features. The door panels offer soft-touch plastics and stitched leather, providing a premium feel. The seats are made from perforated leather, offering both comfort and style.

The driver’s seat is eight-way power-adjustable, ensuring a comfortable driving position. The dashboard features a completely digital display, which adjusts based on the selected drive mode: Sport, Econ, or EV. The infotainment system includes an 8-inch touchscreen with Android Auto, Apple CarPlay, and a high-quality navigation system.

2024 Honda Insight Performance and Handling

Under the hood, the 2024 Honda Insight houses a 1.5-liter engine paired with two lithium-ion batteries, delivering a combined output of 151 horsepower and 197 lb-ft of torque. The e-CVT transmission ensures smooth acceleration, with a 0-60 mph time of around 7.5 seconds.

The Insight offers a balanced and comfortable ride, with well-weighted steering that provides a good sense of control. The vehicle performs well in both city and highway driving, with excellent fuel efficiency and low wind noise, making it a pleasant car for daily commutes and long trips alike.

2024 Honda Insight Safety and Technology

Honda prioritizes safety, and the 2024 Honda Insight is no exception. It comes equipped with Honda Sensing, which includes adaptive cruise control, collision mitigation braking, lane keep assist, and road departure mitigation. Additionally, the vehicle features blind-spot monitoring and a rearview camera, ensuring a safe driving experience.

The 2024 Honda Insight is an impressive hybrid vehicle that combines style, efficiency, and advanced technology. Its luxurious interior, excellent fuel economy, and robust safety features make it a top choice in the hybrid segment. If you’re looking for a car that offers the benefits of a hybrid without compromising on style or performance, the 2024 Insight is worth considering.

The 2024 Honda Insight tested, more technology for the best fuel-efficient hybrid

In the middle of this year, Honda globally unveiled an updated 2024 Honda Insight, its representative in the world of hybrids. Although at first glance it appears to be the same car, in reality, we have some points of improvement.

Therefore, this slight renewal of the third generation of this model is the perfect pretext to make a reevaluation and see how this car performs two years after its original launch.

And yes, aesthetically we will have to take out the magnifying glass to find the changes. The addition of a new Radiant Red color for the body, as well as new 17-inch wheels, is the only new feature. Well, luckily, Honda also includes a few extras to provide further differentiation like black chrome on the grille or a rear spoiler.  

It seems like this is a big disappointment, but to be honest, the Insight still looks pretty current. You wouldn’t believe it, but it attracts more attention than one might believe. More than one on my way, he told me:

Ok, before judging, you should consider that Insight is not exactly the brand’s best-known car, even though it has been on sale intermittently in the international market since 1999. And the second is that technically, your observation is not entirely wrong, since it is highly related to the tenth generation of the Civic.

A Little Safer

If outside we had to resort to a magnifying glass, inside we must do the same with a microscope. In reality, the design and materials are practically identical, so it maintains that sober and high-quality image that contrasts with the exterior. But it is in terms of equipment where Honda makes a couple of quite interesting additions that add added value to the proposal, especially in terms of safety.

Thus, we have to highlight the Honda Sensing suite that integrates technologies such as Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC); Automatic High Beam System (Auto High Beam); Low-Speed ​​Follow Function (LSF) Low-Speed ​​Follow; Collision Mitigation Braking System (CMBS) Collision Mitigation Braking System; Lane Keeping System (LKAS) Lane Keep Assist and the Road Departure Mitigation System (RDMS).

However, it should be noted that the 2024 Honda Insight now adds reversing cameras with several approaches and the Honda Lane Watch, the lane change assistant that mitigates the blind spot by projecting the image of the right rearview mirror on the central screen. In addition to being attractive, it is really useful, especially in situations of compromised visibility.

This is how the equipment list would look with the highlights:

Honda Insight 2024: Equipment

• 8-inch HD color touchscreen
• Apple CarPlay and Android Auto compatibility
• Hands-Free Link interface for Bluetooth-enabled mobile phones
• Reverse camera
• 7-inch digital cluster
• 12V front power socket and USB connection for Smartphone
• Three-position electric sunroof
• Multifunction steering wheel
• adaptive cruise control
• Independent dual zone automatic climate
• Smart Keyless Access System (Smart Entry Keyless)
• Push Button Engine Ignition System (Smart Start Engine
• Tire Pressure Monitoring System (TPMS)
• Hill Start Assist (HSA) System
• Leather-wrapped seats and steering wheel

Hero of Efficiency

The 2024 Honda Insight is a car that, although its priority is to offer maximum possible efficiency, in reality, is also one of the most pleasant hybrids to drive. As we said, this is one of the benefits of sharing a platform with the Civic, one of the cars with the best dynamics in its segment.

Finding the driving position is easy. The car has three driving modes ECON, Sport, and EV. The latter allows us to travel a few kilometers in fully electric mode and at low speed. However, since it is not a plug-in model, the range of autonomy is limited.

As for ECON, it is, so to speak, the normal use mode. When we drive below 40 km/h we will try to use electric energy as much as possible, but when this limit is exceeded the combustion engine will come into action, although in the first phase, it will act more like an electric energy generator.

Finally, when selecting Sport, the car tends to make greater use of the gasoline engine, and even electric power is used to provide better acceleration. This mode is especially useful on highways or when overtaking. We had the opportunity to use it a couple of times and it is surprising for its agility. It’s no Civic Type R, but it does it very well.

Honda Insight 2024: Engine and Consumption

• 1.5 Liter Inline 4-cylinder Atkinson Engine
• Power of 107 hp and 99 lb-ft
• Electric motor
• Power of 129 hp and 197 lb-ft
• The combined power of the hybrid system is 151 HP and 197 lb-ft of torque
• CVT electronic transmission
• Urban consumption 31.5 km/l

In terms of efficiency, as is customary, we took our usual route to carry out our respective test, where we circulated both in heavy traffic environments and on twisty highways. In total, we traveled 275.5 km, for which we required 11.4 liters. This gives us a figure of 24.1 km/l!

It may be far from the laboratory figures, but I will tell you a secret. According to our data, the Toyota Prius returned 22.13 km/l, while the Hyundai Ioniq stayed at 21.29 kilometers per liter. Good for this Honda!

To complement the above, it only remains to say that the setup of the Insight prioritizes comfort. Everything in the spacious cabin passes quietly and relaxed. Although this apparent peace is appreciated most of the time, it is interrupted when passing through enormous speed bumps.

Although it is not too short, you will hit those that are close to being classified as walls. Either way, it is an ideal car to travel thousands of kilometers.

The Best Car for daily use?

Indeed, the 2024 Honda Insight Hybrid is like a kind of hybrid Civic. It has good manners behind the wheel, it is highly safe, it has decent equipment, as well as a high-quality interior and abundant space (we didn’t mention it, but the 427-liter trunks are more than enough to go to the supermarket or carry out family trips). The design, unlike its rivals, is not exotic and is even elegant.

But the best thing is undoubtedly the efficient fuel consumption which, not counting plug-in hybrid is the best in our data from the last two years. A marvel.

But unfortunately, this has an extra cost and that is that with a sticker of 609,900 pesos, it is above the 485,900 pesos that the Prius costs or the 565,100 pesos of the Ioniq. Without a doubt, it is a more refined product than these, but not everyone will be willing to pay that extra.

Perhaps that explains why so many units are not seen on the street. Probably, with the improvements noted here, there will be more people who are encouraged to take a look at this Honda.

Smoothness is a Basic Principle Behind the wheel

The main virtue of the Honda Insight is the degree of comfort in its handling. The ride is smooth in every sense of the word and every aspect of the vehicle: damping, steering, and acceleration. 

The suspension copes perfectly with the peculiar streets of the USA and its reaction, far from producing nervousness when passing quickly through curves, transmits confidence, largely thanks to the low center of gravity and steering that, even with artificial touch, communicates correctly.

One point worth highlighting is the brakes, and the feel of the pedal is usually a topic that causes terror among hybrid and electric vehicles. They tend to worry about regenerating rather than stopping the car. The feel in the Honda Insight is quite good: you don’t have to press the pedal more than you should to feel that the car loses speed.

The level of soundproofing draws a lot of attention. It is well known that electric motors do not produce noise, so in most cases, at less than 25 km/h, we will not hear the combustion engine in action, except when the battery charge level is low. The interesting thing is that even with the combustion engine operating, the cabin is very well isolated from vibrations and noise; At times, the only sign that it is working is that the EV Mode light is off.

Let’s talk about your engine or engines. The answer, in general terms, is good. The torque of the electric motor available from the first touch of the accelerator helps with quick starts. On the road, it is easy to maintain good rhythms, although with ascending slopes you miss a more capable power source. Without feeling slow, it doesn’t feel as thirsty to gain speed as the first tap of the accelerator suggests when starting.

The combustion engine is Atkinson cycle, has 1.5 liters of displacement and generates 107 hp and 99 lb-ft. The electric motor generates 129 hp and 197 lb-ft. Altogether, the hybrid system advertises 151 horsepower and 197 lb.-ft. The brand speaks of a performance of 31.5 km/l. We, under normal traffic and driving conditions, obtained an average of 22.5 km/l, not bad for the size and performance of the car.

Abundant Equipment and Lots of Technology

The 2024 Honda Insight has greatly raised the overall cabin quality of its cars in recent years thanks to the adoption of soft materials and the use of leather in major areas of the dashboard. The Insight is a clear example. The center console and a piece on the passenger side are covered in leather. Throughout the cabin, we will find rigid surfaces, although they are minimal.

The design is very ergonomic. There is easy access to all buttons and reading the instruments is simple. The storage compartment in the center console is extremely spacious and the space to place the phone next to the transmission controls – by buttons, without a lever – is generous in size.

The infotainment system is shared with Civic but has the great advantage of having a knob for sound control, instead of a touch panel. The steering wheel has a new design and is easy to manipulate to control the trip computer, the sound system, and the cruise control.

When we talk about equipment, we find that Honda took the risk of only offering one version of Insight in the USA: a high-end range very well equipped. There is dual-zone automatic climate control, infotainment compatible with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, smart key, digital instrument panel with 7-inch screen, electric parking brake, LED headlights, leather upholstery, reversing camera, and sunroof, among others.

The only two elements we miss are a wireless smartphone charger and an electro-chromatic rearview mirror; the one included is day and night with manual adjustment.

The most pleasant surprise comes from the driving assistance. The Honda Insight includes the brand’s full range of driving technologies as standard: adaptive cruise control with low-speed following function – ideal for traffic -, lane keep assist, forward collision warning – very nervous, therefore.

True with autonomous emergency braking and Honda Lane Watch lane change assistant, which works through a camera placed in the passenger mirror; when you turn on the turn signal, his image is displayed on the central screen. We, to tell the truth, prefer a blind spot monitor with a warning light in the mirrors, since it works permanently on both sides; the Honda Lane Watch, on the other hand, provides certainty that there is no car only on the driver’s side.