I'm thinking of buying a used Insight as a second commute car. (I already have a Ford Escape Hybrid for winter four wheel drive needs.) My concern is that I commute 35 miles over a 1700' coastal mountain pass twice a day. How do you folks think the Insight would hold up with a daily climb?

 

Are you saying you go up a climb from 0' to 1700' every day?
Or is the climb less than 1700' because you start at some higher elevation (say 1000')and then go higher to 1700'?

 

Hi Ogakor:

___Given your climb, I do not think you will be happy with the Insight. There are some nuances about driving for high FE with steep grades that are not very pretty and I do not know if most would take the time vs. pedal to the medal all the while watching a pack’s capacity and longevity dwindle on a daily basis until failure at some point in the future. I would be very very careful what you wish for in your particular locale given the terrain.

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net

 

While I don't know the answer, my gut feeling is a 5-speed Insight would have a hard time in the mountains. I base this on the experiences of my 1988 CRX HF on I70 just west of Denver. My best guess is my Insight would start a long climb just fine - until the battery recalibrated. The CVT version (which I don't have) might fare better. A friend with a Prius did OK in Colorado.

In a month I plan to drive from Dallas to Denver. That should shedd light on this.

 

Thanks for the replies. They confirm what I've heard elsewhere. I drive from sea level, up 1700' and back to sea level again on my Santa Cruz-San Jose commute. I also drive about 240 miles to my Lake Tahoe cabin about every other week, cresting a 7800' mountain pass. The all-wheel drive Ford Escape Hybrid handles everything very well and gives me an average of 30 mpg. I was considering a used Insight to cut the daily wear and tear when AWD was not required.

 

I rhink a CVT may handle it better than the 5 speed. Mainly because with a 5-speed if you kept it in, say, 5th gear the whole time, without any downshifting, you could deplete the battery. You would probably be a bit more attentive in a 5 speed so that you don't overuse the pack on the daily climb. Downshifting and letting the ICE handle more of the load would be better. Having a lot of full discharges of the batteries can shorten their lifespan.