[vox] [OT] Alternate Vehicle Advice

[Ken Herron]

Richard Crawford wrote:

> Last time I looked at the Honda Insight they were fairly inexpensive.
>
> 'Course, you have to be the size of your average anorexic midget to fit
> into one of them.
>
I used to drive a Honda Insight. If you'd asked sooner I would have been 
glad to show it to you, but the lease ended in February and I turned it 
back in to Mel Rapton Honda. If you were to call them, they might be 
able to tell you what happened to it.

The Insight is a small car, but it's only a two-seater so none of the 
space is taken up by a rear seat. I always had enough room. I'm 5'8" and 
there was room to move the seat further back. The cargo area isn't huge 
but there was enough room for my needs.

The car was a lot of fun to drive. The steering is very precise, the 
shift pattern (5-speed standard) is tight, and it accelerates well in 
the first three gears. 4th and 5th gear are more like overdrive gears. 
When you stop at a stoplight the engine shuts off. When you want to go 
again, shift into first and it instantly starts back up.

The car was rated for 60/68 MPG, and I was able to get that at first. I 
saw a slight drop in mileage from the switch from MTBE to gasohol, and 
toward the end I was getting more like 55-60 MPG in my daily commute. 
The only problem I ever had with the car was one time the hybrid control 
computer overheat and shut off during a long drive; I had to take it to 
the dealer to have it reset.