2012 HONDA insight 1.4L CVT FWD (98 HP)

Vehicle Overview

After escaping the world financial crisis with some models cut out from production, Honda managed to survive and introduced a facelifted version of the Insight lineup.

Honda introduced the second generation of the Insight Hybrid as a five-door hatchback in 2008 at the Paris Motor Show. Yet it didn’t start deliveries until 2009 when customers were looking for fuel-efficient vehicles. The Insight was just like that, but, unfortunately, the car market crashed. Three years later, in 2012, the Japanese automaker introduced a well-deserved facelift for the car that managed to survive the world financial crisis. At the same time, the European Accord and the sporty CR-Z didn’t.

On the new version, Honda introduced a blue line inside the headlights, emphasizing the carmaker’s marketing strategy, “My Earth Dreams.” Moreover, the grille was redesigned with a thicker upper slat than the previous three-slat layout. In addition, the lower bumper received LED daytime running lights and new fog lamps. Finally, at the back, the bumper got a new fog lamp integrated into the redesigned rear diffuser.

Inside, the most significant difference was for the infotainment unit that received a 16 Gb flash memory for the navigation system instead of the DVD-based sat-nav unit. Moreover, the materials’ quality was enhanced. At the same time, the rear seats’ arrangement was slightly modified, improving headroom. Finally, the carmaker added more sound-deadening materials. The 2009 model lacked most of them, and the car was very noisy at highway speeds, especially during rain.

Under the hood, besides the 1.3-liter-powered hybrid system, the 2012 model also received a 1.5-liter version that pumped up the power value from 98 to 122 hp. Thus, the time of 0-62 mph (0-100 kph) dropped from 12.4 to 10.3 seconds.