Photo: X-Tomi Design
The automotive equivalent of having your cake and eating it is called the performance hybrid. Cars like the BMW i8 or Golf GTE are supposed to be just as fun as standard motors yet more enjoyable to drive.
Of course, that can't happen unless the hybrid in question is a million-dollar Ferrari. But manufacturers still have to find a way to hold onto their performance badges in the face of ever-stricter emissions regulations.
At the 2018 Detroit Auto Show, Honda previewed its production 2019 Insight with a pre-production prototype. The car is set to go on sale in a few months and looks quite sedate. That's probably why X-Tomi Design decided to add the Type R treatment on top.
The Type R nameplate is seemingly just as popular now as it was decades ago. We keep remembering all the glorious VTEC rascals of the past while imagining new ones for the future.
The Insight's transformation includes a blacked-out grille with red badging, a chin spoiler, side skirts and trunk wing. It looks cool, but the appearance is ironic if you know what's under the hood.
Power will come from a two-motor hybrid system which features a 1.5-liter Atkinson-cycle engine, an electric motor, and a lithium-ion battery pack. Honda hasn't released any performance figures, but we expect somewhere around 120-140 horsepower and a 0 to 62 time of around 10 seconds.
Ironically, Honda recently discontinued a sports car that also had a 1.5-liter engine, the CR-Z. That won was even upgraded with a supercharger and featured numerous aftermarket kits, including one from in-house tuner Mugen. Known how much the Japanese like to play with their hybrids, the Insight might actually end up looking like a Type R.
The whole point of this car is to save the purity of the Civic. That's why they discontinued the Civic Hybrid and instead focused on a calmer car to eek out 50 mpg.
“The Civic is lightweight, sporty, fun-to-drive, and if you electrify the Civic I think you kind of take a lot of the character away, so it was a smarter idea to bring back an older nameplate from before and make it kind of a whole new vehicle," explained Honda's Henio Arcangeli on the sidelines of Detroit in a recent Wards Auto interview.
At the 2018 Detroit Auto Show, Honda previewed its production 2019 Insight with a pre-production prototype. The car is set to go on sale in a few months and looks quite sedate. That's probably why X-Tomi Design decided to add the Type R treatment on top.
The Type R nameplate is seemingly just as popular now as it was decades ago. We keep remembering all the glorious VTEC rascals of the past while imagining new ones for the future.
The Insight's transformation includes a blacked-out grille with red badging, a chin spoiler, side skirts and trunk wing. It looks cool, but the appearance is ironic if you know what's under the hood.
Power will come from a two-motor hybrid system which features a 1.5-liter Atkinson-cycle engine, an electric motor, and a lithium-ion battery pack. Honda hasn't released any performance figures, but we expect somewhere around 120-140 horsepower and a 0 to 62 time of around 10 seconds.
Ironically, Honda recently discontinued a sports car that also had a 1.5-liter engine, the CR-Z. That won was even upgraded with a supercharger and featured numerous aftermarket kits, including one from in-house tuner Mugen. Known how much the Japanese like to play with their hybrids, the Insight might actually end up looking like a Type R.
The whole point of this car is to save the purity of the Civic. That's why they discontinued the Civic Hybrid and instead focused on a calmer car to eek out 50 mpg.
“The Civic is lightweight, sporty, fun-to-drive, and if you electrify the Civic I think you kind of take a lot of the character away, so it was a smarter idea to bring back an older nameplate from before and make it kind of a whole new vehicle," explained Honda's Henio Arcangeli on the sidelines of Detroit in a recent Wards Auto interview.
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