So I’ve had the tires on my Insight pumped up to 50 PSI on each corner since the day I bought it. I’ve enjoyed the gas mileage, but have noticed that performance was very poor over snow and ice, and even taking corners it felt a little slippery.
Before heading out on our near-disaster New Year’s trip in our family van, I deflated the Insight’s tires back to factory-spec 38 PSI front, 35 PSI rear so that my very-pregnant wife, who was remaining home, would enjoy a smoother ride and better traction.
What I didn’t realize was exactly how much of a difference it makes.
Nine hours after we left, we limped back home due to a blizzard forcing closure of the freeways. I was tired and despondent, and decided to take my Insight out for a shopping trip to help me feel better. Getting 14 MPG in a big van against a sixty MPH headwind can make you feel down like that after driving the Insight Anyway, within a few moments of driving it out of our driveway over the left-over slush on the roads, I was amazed to find it seemed to actually handle slush well! Better than the van I’d been driving for nine hours, as a matter of fact. I was surprised!
Snow was threatening on the horizon in the darkness, blotting out the stars, so I decided to test how my Insight handled dry, windy conditions, with patches of ice and water.
Oh. Wow.
I accelerated from a dead stop and did 180’s in an empty parking lot at twenty miles an hour without going more than two parking stalls wide. I whipped around 90-degree corners at nearly thirty miles an hour — hard enough to smash my shoulder against the driver’s door, yet not a squeal or complaint from my tires. I floored the car from an icy entrance to the highway in “S” mode, and only one tire skipped for a second before gripping hard and shoving me in the back of my seat. I slammed on the brakes at fifty, and seemed to stop almost immediately — easily hard enough to kick in the seat belt restraints and push the air out of my lungs. I was really impressed.
Realize, the only performance vehicle I’ve ever driven was a 2002 8-cylinder Ford Mustang convertible as a rental on a business trip one time. Of course, that one had more power, but I was just flat amazed at how a simple change in tire pressure can transform this little red buggy from a genteel commuter vehicle into a fun, sporty toy.
snow toys
if you thought that insight did good in the snow, you shoulda gone up to visit your buddy with the sleds, that would have flat out floored your snow ideas, with complete shock at the speed and handling they have.
Naw, the Insight stinks in the snow
The Insight still stinks in the snow. I mean, it’s better than some, but lots worse than others, unless you put snow tires on it. Even then, with only about a foot of clearance, it’s still not very good, though in light snow it’s passable.
And yeah, the sleds would have been cool. I’ve ridden snowmobiles once before, and doing seventy-five miles an hour over snow is definitely a thrill. Too bad about the blizzard, and by the time it was clear, it was really too late to go. Gotta get to a new job on Monday.
We’ll try again soon; hopefully this time the weather will cooperate!
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Matthew P. Barnson