Review
We have taken delivery of a Honda Insight because we want to get behind the hybrid hype and see how such a car copes with the daily grind of fleet life.
And we’re not alone. Speaking to Lloyds TSB Autolease fleet manager Nigel Trotman reveals that he is similarly curious.
Nigel has recently taken delivery of 32 Insights. He said: “It is a really practical hybrid, and useful as our drivers prefer hatchbacks to saloons.
“I’m keen to gain early experience of how these cars perform for drivers covering relatively high mileages.”
The curiosity comes from the fact that although the Insight is a regular five-door, five-seat lower-medium car, its relatively puny 1.3-litre petrol engine doesn’t appear, on paper at least, to be the best companion for high-mileage motorway fleet work.
Experience of the car on its launch (Fleet News, February 5) revealed the Insight to be fine around town, but out on the open road it struggled – primarily because the continuously variable automatic gearbox would hold gears for an inordinate amount of time before changing up when you pressed the accelerator down fairly hard.
And we also expressed some concern at the rattly plastic trim on certain parts of the interior.
Over the next six months we’ll be reporting back on life with a hybrid to see if really does warrant the hype.
And if you run a fleet of Insights yourself, please get in touch at fleetnews@bauermedia.co.uk to share your thoughts.
