Its probably fair to say the jury is still out on the contribution that hybrids are able make to CO2 savings, especially as the best only match the fuel economy figures of a modern European turbo diesel. And that's likely to remain the case until an affordable plug-in is market-ready.
On the petrol hybrid's side, there is a case to be made around the provision of diesel-like economy without the nasty particle and NOX levels produced by compression ignition engines. And frankly I'm tiring of the rumbly vibes that a tdi generates; there really is nothing like a good petrol engine for raising the hairs on the back of your neck.
Having said that I've always had a soft spot for Honda. Even post Soichiro they appear to have retained engineering integrity, and have developed a great track record for commercials (even though their actual track record has been frankly a bit of a disaster recently). After breaking the market with their pre-CDDti Insight - a 2 seater coupe - Honda went pretty quiet and the current RoW based Civic hybrid misses the mark by a long way.
The new model looks to be much more successful, its a a lower price-point compared to Toyota, and is clearly defined seperate model, not a modified Civic. At least, until the next one!
Here's the commercial for the new Honda Insight* - enjoy.
SS7
*PS Wonder if I can borrow one for a weekend?
917 ON THE ROAD IN NNORWAY
10 months ago
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment