Last Cars Reviews Blog: featured

Filed under: Detroit Auto Show, Hybrids/Alternative, Green, Hatchbacks, Honda

Click above for high-res image gallery of the 2010 Honda Insight

2009 is shaping up to be a big year for hybrids as Ford launches the Fusion and Milan hybrids, Toyota brings us the third generation Prius and the new Lexus HS250h and Honda revives the Insight brand. The original Insight was the first hybrid to make it to the US market but it was never very commercially successful. Honda only managed to sell about 18,000 Insights worldwide over 6 years. The new Insight is a whole different story.

This time around, Honda has created a five seat hatchback that it says will be the most affordable hybrid in the world. Honda is targeting world wide sales of 200,000 Insights a year with half of those going to North America. AutoblogGreen spent a day driving the new Insight in and around Carefree AZ just before the holidays. Unlike the Prius which is efficient but has never been particularly appealing to drive, the Insight makes good use of its Fit based chassis for fun steering and handling and still manages to get outstanding fuel efficiency. ABG managed to achieve an average 63.4 mpg on an efficiency drive and 44 mpg on a mountain road pleasure drive. Read all about the new Insight at AutoblogGreen.

Gallery: ABG First Drive: 2010 Honda Insight

Gallery: 2010 Honda Insight

Live Photos Copyright (C)2009 Sam Abuelsamid / Weblogs, Inc.
[Source: AutoblogGreen]

ABG First Drive: 2010 Honda Insight, 63.4 mpg! originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 11 Jan 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Motorsports, Etc.

Click above for high-res image gallery of Team Tinkerbell Rosso at LeMons

The "24 Hours of LeMons" is an event comprised of low-budget $500 race cars, i.e. lemons. The so-called "crap-car enduro" has enticed various members of the Autoblog team over the years into covering, and more recently participating, in the event. When asked to join Team Tinkerbell Rosso for an upcoming race, we knew it was time to take up the cause again and now find ourselves booked for the "Thunderhill Arse-Freeze-Apalooza." The event, scheduled during the last few days of December, promises dreadfully cold weather but plenty of offbeat racing fun. Our six-part weekly series takes you behind the scenes with our new race partners, the Tinkerbell Rosso racing team and their 1996 Crown Victoria "Police Interceptor."

Our earlier posts (Part I - The donor vehicle, Part II - The teardown, Part III - The build and Part IV - Panic in the final stretch) introduced you to our car and tracked the build progress as we readied for the race. Last weekend, we raced our beloved Crown Victoria to a top-10 finish! Read all of the madness after the jump.

Gallery: LeMons 2008: Team Tinkerbell Rosso