We showed you blurry images of a leaked JDM Insight brochure last month, but we’ve received a set of leaked images ahead of the 2010 Honda Insight’s official debut on January 11th at the Detroit Auto Show. What’s shown is a European-spec model that will likely be very similar to our own U.S. version, though in left-hand drive configuration.

What we can see from these new photos is that the production Insight has lost some of the Paris Motor Show Insight concept’s flashy lighting features and it’s also toned down the rear design quite a bit. Overall the translation from show car to production has served Honda’s earth-saving hybrid well.

We’ll bring you the full story on the U.S. market car in a little over a week or when someone else breaks Honda’s Detroit Auto Show embargo.

[via CarScoop]

We showed you the front three-quarter shot that Honda provided of its production Insight earlier this month and we just recently received these scans from a poster at the Temple of Vtec. Depicted are the first shots of the production Insight from the rear three-quarter as well as its interior.

While the front design of the 2010 Honda Insight goes largely unchanged from the Insight Concept, the rear design is tidied up a bit and loses some of its show car flair. The interior is also very similar to what was shown in the Paris Motor Show Insight Concept, but it loses some of the neat capacitive touch button surfaces in favor of traditional push buttons.

Also shown is what appears to be the sportier Modulo version – an accessorized version outfitted from the factory. The Modulo Insight is shown wearing a sportier bodykit including a front-lip spoiler with fog lamps, side skirts, lower rear fascia and a set of larger alloy wheels.

Below we have an as-yet unofficial spec sheet listing the different models and options, but we’ll wait for further information from Honda before trusting this information completely. Honda is expected to release the production Insight for worldwide sale in the spring of 2009 at an entry-level price of $18,000 to $19,000.

Features common to all Japanese Insights:
• Ecological Drive Assist System
• multi-information display
• full-auto air conditioner
• projector-style headlights
• remote-control body-colored external mirrors
• tinted rear windows
• security alarm
• immobilizer (ignition system verifies chip in key)
• 15-inch steel wheels
• solar-heat-reducing/noise-reducing glass
• active front head-rests
• tilt/telescoping steering wheel
• seat-height adjuster
• three rear-seat head rests
• flat-tire repair kit (the new Insight carries no spare tire)
The L model adds:
• high-intensity discharge headlights with auto light control
• turn signals in the external mirrors
• leather steering wheel
• rear speakers
• front/rear arm rests
• variable-speed windshield wiper
• map light and luggage-area light
• driver’s seat back pocket
The LS model adds:
• 16-inch aluminum wheels
• Vehicle Stability Assist (VSA)
• front fog lights
• 7-speed paddle shifters
• sun-shade tinted windshield
Optional accessories:
• navigation system with 7-inch screen and hard disk drive (this system may also display additional fuel economy information and in Japan it may include a TV tuner and ECT, an electronic highway toll payment system)
• Honda smart key system
• side-curtain air bags
• 15-inch aluminum wheel for L class
• High-intensity discharge headlights
• comfort view package plus rear window wiper
Body color options:
• Spectrum while pearl (also a Civic hybrid color)
• Milano red (also a Fit color)
• Premium deep violet pearl (also a Jazz color, but not a US Honda color)
• Crystal black pearl (also an Accord, Civic, and Fit color)
• Polished metal metallic (also an Accord and Civic color)
• Alabaster silver metallic (also an Accord and Civic color)
• Brilliant sky metallic (also a Jazz color, but not a US Honda color)
Interior color options:
• Blue
• Warm gray
Other data:
• Length 4390 mm (172.8 inches)
• Width 1695 mm (66.7 inches)
• Height 1425 mm (56.1 inches)
• Wheelbase 2550 mm (100.4 inches)
• Weight 1180 kilograms (2601.5 lbs)
• Minimum turning radius: 5 meters (16.4 feet)
• Engine type: inline 1339 cc SOHC 4-cylinder
• Engine generates 88 horsepower @5800rpm and 12.3 kgm torque @4500rpm
• IMA motor generates 14 horsepower @1500rpm and 9.4 kgm torque @500rpm
• Japanese 10.15 mode fuel consumption test: 30.0 kilometers per liter (which is greater than 70 mpg, but the EPA tests will return lower numbers; the Toyota Prius rates 35.5 km/l or greater than 83 mpg in this test.)

[via Temple of VTEC]

Click here for a high-res picture of the 2010 Honda Insight.

12/03/2008 - TORRANCE, Calif. -

The all-new 2009 Honda Insight hybrid will make its world debut in January at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The five-passenger, five-door Insight will go on sale in the spring of 2009.

The Insight is expected to have annual global sales of 200,000 units per year - approximately 100,000 in North America - and will utilize a new interactive, driver-focused fuel economy enhancement technology named the Ecological Drive Assist System (Eco Assist™).

A leader in the development of cleaner, more fuel-efficient mobility products, Honda introduced to market the first mass produced low-emission gasoline vehicles; America's first commercially produced gas-electric hybrid car and the world's first EPA-certified hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle, the FCX. In 2007, Honda was named "greenest automaker" by the Union of Concerned Scientists for the fourth straight time.