Re: The Triples are Coming! The Triples are Coming!
(Score: 1, Normal)
04-02-2012 18:37
Well, the article does state "The cars can get 40 miles per gallon in traffic and 50 on the highway, and they're not expensive hybrids." So it's not really hybrid 3-cylinders that are the point of this article.
My brother owns a 2000 Insight that he drives every day, and it very much relies on that IMA to give it any sort of useable power. Just recently he had a glitch where the IMA stopped working, and he said the car was so weak it was almost scary/dangerous to drive. And that's in an 1800lbs car. So I'd say the Insight's IMA powertrain and overall vehicle package are great, but the 3-cylinder gasoline engine alone would not be something you'd use to try to sell people on their viability.
As for your "Honda just happened to be 13 years ahead of the game" comment, let's not forget that Honda's first U.S. bound vehicle had a 2-cylinder engine. But I would not go so far as to say Honda was 40 years ahead of the game, in that respect.
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