Honda Insight Facelift - RM99,800 OTR !

After a period of 'huu-haa' with the launch of Toyota Prius C, which is currently Malaysia's cheapest hybrid car, Honda unveiled the facelift version of its Insight, priced at RM99,800 OTR. 5-year or 140,000km warranty is given to the battery, for your information. This is not a mere facelift exercise involving cosmetic changes only, and you'll have to read the below to find out.

We'll start with the design changes. Exterior has new front and rear bumper, blue tinted headlight and new front grille with a hint of blue reflector. Some Insight owners might notice that the size of rear wiper motor has been reduced, resulting in reduction of the tailgate garnish and improving the rearward visibility.


While Honda still stick with the same powertrain, it is said that the 1.3litre IMA system had minor modification in the CVT gearbox and air-conditioning system to make it more efficient. Safety wise, Honda added hill start assist into the Insight. Dual SRS airbags, ABS, EBD, BA and Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA) as standard.
Besides that, Honda added insulation into the cabin to improve noise, vibration and harshness (NVH) of the Insight. The fabric for the seats are new upholstered, while the rear passenger's headroom is increased by 15mm with some adjustment made to the roof lining and hip point of the rear seats. This is certainly a good news because the rear headroom of the pre-facelift Insight is hampered by the sloping roofline, although I'm not sure how much can the increment of 15mm helps in terms of rear headroom, I guess we have to drop by the showroom to check it out!

In the meantime, Honda is going to launch its Jazz Hybrid soon! It will go head-to-head with Toyota Prius C!