As a previous owner of Honda S2000s and an NSX, along with several faster, more exotic cars, Ewan revels in the joy of driving such as cost-effective, and quirky example of Japanese engineering: “This is another end of the scale. Driving a slow car is an interesting thing, if you're interested in the mechanics of driving. It's all about preserving momentum, staying off the brakes as long as possible, and enjoying the little innovations.
“Even stupid little things. There's a lean burn mode on it. If you're cruising along it switches on and adds a lot more air to the fuel mixture, and that means you can get much better mpg, sometimes up to 150! The problem is that it overheats the cat. The ECU and the engine decides to turn up the wick for a few seconds and it fires a load of exhaust gasses at the cat to settle it back down, then it goes back to lean burn mode. Little things like that. It’s just a lot of fun.”
It certainly isn’t the fastest car at Breakfast Club, and it won’t be the most talked about, or photographed either, but it surely must be one of the most endearing.
How would Ewan sum up his strangest car? “I've got a lot of respect for Japanese engineering. The way they do things differently from a lot of other people. It's interesting. This is just an excellent example of that.”
We couldn’t agree more, and after talking to Ewan, we’ve done a few quick sums around running costs, and a Honda Insight is now right at the top of our shopping list.
Photography by James Lynch