How well does the Insight deal with mountain driving conditions?
The Insight deal very well with climbing hills. In fact, some owners have commented on being surprised when the Insight is able to maintain its speed on steep grades when other cars around them begin to loose speed. Depending on the steepness of the grade and the battery state of charge, the down-shift light may illuminate to ask you to shift down to fourth or third gear. The Insight is also a lot of fun to drive on twisty mountain roads. For some reason, the Insight gets extra good mileage in mountainous areas. This may be because, while it takes extra gas when climbing a hill, this is more than offset by the fact that the Insight is smart enough to use no gas at all when you’re going down hill. If the car is primarily driven in mountains conditions, Honda recommends following the “severe condition” maintenance schedule for oil changes.
