Matt Farah Reviews 2000 Honda Insight "Superleggera" With 250,000 Miles

Matt Farah has been reviewing a lot of powerful or expensive cars- McLarens and BMWs with the best tune. But the old Insight is worth pennies, yet we loved every minute of the video, including when he calls it the "Superleggera" for having no air conditioning.

The problem with some fans of hybrids and EVs is that they want to have the latest model with all the best features. But buying a new Tesla every year is not exactly good for the environment.

But here we have a car that's about as old as some of our readers and can theoretically get 70 mpg if you know what you're doing (40 if you are beating on it). A streamlined body and super-lightweight chassis (1,850 lbs total weight) are what it takes to be truly efficient. There are no emissions cheats here, but Honda can't build a car like this ever again; crash tests would never allow it.

The Insight doesn't strike you as the Honda for people who like cars. But the owner did quite a bit of work to it, including changing the front suspension, a short-shifter mod from the prelude and reconditioning the battery. He also says he's looking to installing new lithium batteries in the car this year.

Apparently, 17 years after the car was made, you can drop eight cells from a Nissan Leaf. The fact that it's a manual Honda also makes this a little cooler than the Prius, but you won't get chicks with your battery-refurbishing skills.

Speaking of the Honda CR-Z (they mention it at the end of the video), that coupe is the true successor to the Insight, since it has a manual. Five or ten years from now, it's going to be reasonably cheap, but will people be impressed with its mpgs? That's a tough one to answer.