#PRODUCTWATCH: 2021 HONDA INSIGHT TOURING

Happy Holidays! So honoured to be the first Canadian Media Outlet to review the 2021 Honda Insight Touring. This is the star of Honda‘s electric lineup, it is unique enough on its own, but possesses some of the sleak sportiness of their Civic and also the sophistication of the Accord.

With the province being on lockdown, sadly our opportunities to be together with our family and friends was limited. We’re just like you and have had to get creative to ensure that some “Holiday Hellos” be done as safely as possible, or delayed till we’re in a better place. We’re all in this together and well overcome this together.

That being said we owe it all to the 2021 Honda Insight Touring, guiding my sidekick beanie and I safely through the Holidays, whether it be running errands, picking-up essentials and gifts and what we called The beanie Wong Driveway Tour, where we dropped by quickly on our friends’ driveways and homes to deliver socially-distanced and safe holiday cheer!

Operating on a 1.5-litre, 16-valve, Atkinson cycle DOHC, i-VTEC^® 4-cylinder engine and up to 151 @ 6000 rpm combined horsepower, the Insight Touring is as much about performance as it is about fuel economy and environmental consciousness with versatile SPORT and ECON modes for whatever your needs might be. With a Fuel Economy of 4.6/5.3/4.9 (city/highway/combined), we couldn’t believe how far a full tank of gas got us as our beanie Tour took us on Regular fuel from the GTA to Halton and Durham.

In addition, we live for thoughtful features like Proximity key entry and pushbutton start. Fumbling for keys is a thing of the past for us!

We were impressed thoroughly by the Insight Touring‘s clean aesthetics. Seats have perforated leather-trimmed surfaces with heated options in the front and back, because we love our passengers (beanie approves!). The driver’s seat is adjustable eight ways as well. Gears are navigated by push button versus a gearstick. Lighting is ambient and we adore its moonroof. Upon turning on the push-button ignition, the car comes alive with this glorious hum which at times is hypnotic.

Honda has a mastered perfect, user-friendly interface on their Display Audio System with Honda Satellite-Linked Navigation System™ and bilingual Voice Recognition. HandsFreeLink™-bilingual Bluetooth^® wireless mobile phone interface with steering wheel-mounted controls made it super-easy to navigate communication and entertainment safely. In addition, listening to audio with the Insight Touring‘s 452-watt AM/FM Premium audio system and 10 speakers including subwoofer, is a thing of bliss. Spotify, MP3s, SiriusXM, AM/FM. The Insight Touring can play it all! While there isn’t a wireless charging plate for your phone, there are more than enough USB charging ports to alleviate your battery anxieties.

The user-friendly Climate Control is another example of the level of customization and thoughtfulness your passengers get. You get a SYNC option which is great if you want uniform temperatures throughout, but if your friends and family are like mine, they have different thresholds and tolerances, and the Insight Touring lets them control their own temperature.

Bells and whistles mean little if safety isn’t first and this is where Honda continually brings it home. The Insight Touring is a car for any conditions and over the Holidays we witnessed it all, despite this being a somewhat mild winter. It is packed with active and passive safety features including: i-SRS airbag system; Side curtain airbags with rollover sensor system; SmartVent™ side airbags; Lower Anchors and Tethers for Children; rear childproof locks; Lane Keeping Assist System; Blind Spot Information system; Rear Cross Traffic Monitor system; 4-wheel Anti-lock Braking System; Collision Mitigation Braking System; Electronic Brake-force Distribution; Forward Collision Warning system; Road Departure Mitigation; Vehicle Stability Assist; Traffic sign recognition and Auto high beam. The latter two are particularly handy in rural conditions, which aren’t always well-lit and sometimes we need especially where a speed limit can go from 80 km/hr to 50 km/hr rather quickly.

One thing about the Insight Touring is that it sits rather low to the ground, hence a bit of extra caution is needed if your passengers are challenged in terms of mobility or when making this left-hand turns and your line of sight is blocked by an SUV or a truck on the opposite side of the intersection. Carefulness however is something we all should be exercising regardless.

Some fantastic holiday memories beanie and I created in a less-than-ideal year:

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A post shared by Mr. Will Wong 📸 (@mrwillwong)

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A post shared by Mr. Will Wong 📸 (@mrwillwong)

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A post shared by Mr. Will Wong 📸 (@mrwillwong)

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A post shared by Mr. Will Wong 📸 (@mrwillwong)

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A post shared by Mr. Will Wong 📸 (@mrwillwong)

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A post shared by beanie wong (@beaniewong)

More on the 2021 Honda Insight Touring here.

We’re thankful for Honda Canada‘s support, craftsmanship and intuition. We wish you a happy and safe new year and can’t wait to see what exciting offerings are in store from Honda in 2021!

(Photo credit: Mr. Will Wong)