Off Duty, Automotive - Marine Corps Times

Tops for 2010: Hybrids that save you gas and cash

• 2010 Honda Insight

Base MSRP: $19,800

The whole point of owning a hybrid is to save money by spending less on gas. But if the hybrid costs a fortune, its gas mileage doesn’t much matter. Money spent is money spent — whether up front or at the pump.

The new Insight saves you money both ways. It is priced $2,200 less (to start) than its main competitor, the otherwise similar Toyota Prius. Down the road, its EPA-rated mileage capability of 40 city/43 highway should help ease the pain at the pump.

Like the Prius, the Insight is a five-door hatchback sedan with a gas-electric powertrain that can operate on its batteries/electric motor alone at speeds up to 30 mph. The gas engine also will typically turn itself off when you are stuck idling in traffic. Restarts are just as automatic — as are the rolling transitions from full electric to gas engine only to gas engine boosted by the electric motor/battery pack. There are displays in the instrument cluster to help you keep track of what’s happening — including green and blue backlighting that fades from green (maximum economy) to bright blue (maximum power) according to how you’re driving.

The back section of the Insight is a lot like what used to be called a Kammback layout, meaning the roof slopes gradually backward where it meets up with a fairly tall/vertical tail section. This provides more room (and access) than the typical hatchback layout — and also gives the Insight’s interior a wide-bodied, open feel.

• 2010 Ford Fusion hybrid

Base MSRP: $27,270

Here’s the first American-brand hybrid car that can go toe-to-toe with import hybrids like the Honda Insight and Prius on gas mileage, and beat them up and down the street when it comes to performance and driving fun. The Fusion hybrid offers 41 mpg city, 36 highway — and 191 horsepower under the hood, enough to reach 60 mph in the mid eight-second range. That’s quick for a hybrid — and its gas mileage is on par with the much slower Insight hybrid’s and not far off the real-world pace of the Prius.