Whatever your feelings about the outside, its interior design is well executed. The motif is futuristic, yet shouldn't completely alienate traditional Honda owners. Creature comforts are kept to a minimum to save weight, although the convenience of power locks and windows, plus the luxury of air conditioning (optional) are appreciated. Oddly, the conventional cassette player clashes with the high-tech nature of this type of car. A standard CD player seems more appropriate. Overall the performance of the stereo, an important feature to those who would consider buying a sporty two-seat coupe, was not up to the quality of competitive stock audio systems. This is a weakness in the Honda vehicle line-up overall.

So how about living with a Honda Insight on a day-to-day basis? The major area of complaint is its lack of space. One has to question whether the initial market that will buy an alternative hybrid vehicle will opt for a car with only two seats as apposed to a sedan or CR-V size sport utility. Even as a second car the Insight is off limits to those with children, as Honda neglected to include a switch to turn off the passenger airbag (a major disappointment to my 7-year old that wanted a ride in the Jetson's car). The rear shelf however, is large, holding a reasonable amount of cargo for weekend trips, with a small yet deep covered compartment underneath, handy for valuables.

If you don't have kids and don't taxi friends and family around town, the Insight might be your perfect car. Its sporty nature, gas pump benefits and general peace of mind brought from its low emission output will make it a sure winner with the young environmentally focused, budget conscious crowd.