Professor Elam

Terry Box

Auto Reviewer for the dallasnews.com/autos

Your review of the Honda Insight Hybrid

The whole make over of the auto industry began with the Honda 750 four cyl motorcycle. Nest thing you knew all four Japanese manufacturers were making air and then water cooled fours, and that, boys and girls, is how they learned to make really reliable well performing 1.6-3.4 L auto engines. Same layout, four cylinders with dohc and four valves per cylinder. GM still has not figured out what happened. 
Honda still makes great enthusiast bikes, why can't we say that about their cars?  Honda will not hear of a turbo or supercharger, even BMW is on that band wagon now. And so we get the  197 bhp VTEC Civic that has the automotive appeal of a dentist drill, high rpm, no torque. Let's face it, turbo fours from mazda, mitsu, VW, subaru, are all about replicating that nice smooth thrust one got from any pre air pump detroit V 8. I mean Honda has even canceled the prelude, wasn't that the name, and even that was sort of a poser to a sporty car. My Honda Valkyrie had a woderful 1500 cc flat six, with six carbs and six exhaust pipes no less. Hmmm, let's bring back an aggressive del Sol, drop in that flat six with 1800cc pop on some four valve heads, and mate it to a close ratio five speed, there's the ticket, the affodable boxster would be born.
Honda, please, the S 2000 may be a great track car but the miata outsells it every day, there is a reason, power to the people, build the rest of us a car, now that you have an entire fleet for Al Gore.