So Honda finally gave us some pictures of this small hybrid sports car, found here:



The question is: Who would buy one?

My wife already said she would. I can't say I blame her


Oh, here's some additional technical details on the upcoming vehicles (including the FCX and Honda's Clean Diesels).

Cheers;

MSantos

I'm being picky, but I've seen a number of cars with the bling-bling SUV-sized wheels. Well, it's a concept car and things could easily change if it goes to the show room....more moderate-sized tires would probably be more fuel-efficient. That is unless those are bicycle-like tires.

61.5mpg lifetime - 82mpg in recent months

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"fanatic" is what the lazy call the dedicated

Good point.

I couldn't help notice the wheel clearance and how much of the vehicle's body work wraps around the wheels. By the way, it is supposed to be equipped with special LRR tires.

http://world.honda.com/Geneva2007/Sm.../pages/13.html

In principle, I see some merits in the overall design including the replacement of the side mirrors with cameras. Overall, it seems a good exercise in reducing the CoD and I could see myself in a production derivative of this model.

Cheers;

MSantos

I also would not be suprized if the roof has more metal added, since it's lighter than glass.

Bumpers will probably have to be more substantial.

Yes, I'd get the car - just nitpicking.

61.5mpg lifetime - 82mpg in recent months

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"fanatic" is what the lazy call the dedicated

Nice links, MSantos!

About the tyres
From the article: The Hybrid Sports Concept is equipped with 165/60 section tyres mounted on 20-inch distinctive rims. Their dimension supports low rolling resistance without compromising sporty driving.
Not quite bicycle-thin Delta, but pretty thin, especially for 20's. These would cost a fortune, I bet. But true high performance tires do anyway.

I'll take mine in RED, please.

Steve

STOP terrorism - Drive a HYBRID

Vehicles:
350 miles a week ------------ 2006 HCH II, Magnetic Pearl, w/NAVI (born on May 25, 2006)
350 miles a month ---------- 2003 Mazda Tribute ES-V6
350 miles a year (for now) - 1986 Mercedes 560SL

Looks very aerodynamic to me. If it is lightweight and low in drag, it might give the Insight a run for its money, in terms of FE. What do you guys think? Of course, sports cars aren't the typical type of vehicles that get hypermiling numbers, because people drive them like, well, sports cars. Did I miss something, or did they not even give an estimated mpg?

The information is still limited.

I have no doubt that a car could be made that goes considerably farther on a gallon (30%+) than a Honda Insight - if anyone was willing to do so - it's seven years later.

61.5mpg lifetime - 82mpg in recent months

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"fanatic" is what the lazy call the dedicated

No I don't think you missed anything.
There's a fair amount of chatter on the channel about what this car is likely to use for a powertrain. The folks that are making the claims state that the vehicle is said to have target weigh of less than 900 Kg; with an envisioned SOHC four cilinder engine sporting an already familiar volumetric capacity of 1.3 liters (surprising ins't it ?). No word on the electric side of it.

Now, based on this rather vague information, we could speculate that it could do no worse than the HCH-2 in fuel economy (likely to surpass it if driven for FE). And unlike the HCH-2, it could provide a sporty driving experience because of its wheelbase, low CoD and good power-to-weight-ratio.

Indeed, an encouraging recipe and definitely within reach.

Cheers;

MSantos

I'd be VERY interested in something like that (um, with different wheels - those are way too showy to be practical). If it had a 'fun' factor and got in the 40's MPG it would almost be a no brainer. So long as it was comortable. I don't know if any of you have sat in an S2000, but I did recently and the seat was so narrow I could not imagine spending any time in it. I'm average height and weight too (5'10").

*** Retired after 65,000 outstanding miles ***

Tim,

What little I know about the S2000 is it shares the same steering wheel as the Insight.

61.5mpg lifetime - 82mpg in recent months

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"fanatic" is what the lazy call the dedicated