1000 Mile review of my '26 Si
Straight to the meat and potatoes:
Ride quality: Drove it off the lot with 20 miles on the odometer. Took some of my usual commute roads home, and I ended up kinda shocked and confused on that first drive. When I had test drove a '22, the ride felt very similar in comfort to my old insight, apart from being significantly less floaty. Driving my new 26 on less than stellar roads was shocking at first. Insanely bouncy and crashy and didn't feel like any honda I'd driven in the past, including Type R's. I questioned my memory pretty hard. However, somewhere between 300-400 miles, I noticed the suspension really start to calm down. The excessive bounce is now completely gone. The ride is still a tad firm, don't get me wrong, but it's much more tolerable now. Guess the break in period also goes for the shocks? Idunno, but I'm glad it's better now.
Power: It's fine. I've had faster cars, but power isn't why I bought this thing, though it does have at least 50HP more than the insight I traded it in for. Big power gets old on the street unless you're just insanely reckless, and I almost never go to the track. I don't think anyone would disagree that an extra 50hp would have been nice, but for my use case, I'll tolerate 200hp and keep it stock. I love the MPG I'm pulling in this thing and don't want to compromise reliability.
Handling: Great! I've never had a car with such good dynamics, and I've had a couple of actual sports cars in the past. Pushing this thing to its limits is not scary to do at all! You're never worried about the car suddenly snapping and losing grip since the all season tires start complaining well before anything like that can happen. What's even better is that the car is still fun when you're not pushing it. Just casual day to day driving is a ton of fun with this thing.
Fuel Economy: This thing is nuts. If i'm just cruising on my commute, I can easily punch above 40MPG. I can't believe a traditional ICE car with 200HP is this efficient! It's like they actually implemented a small displacement turbo engine properly! Not like an Accord or CR-V where it has to dip into boost for any type of acceleration. This thing can be driven practically without having to rely on the turbo to keep up with the pace of traffic, and you're not punishing your wallet at the pump for wringing it out either.
Interior: Everyone loves to glaze the 11th gen interior, and I get why. It's the ideal modern car interior. Has decent infotainment without giving up every single function to a touch screen. I will say that I have had a couple of rattles come and go and I couldn't track any of them down, which is frustrating. The seats, while the most comfortable in the class for me, aren't incredibly relaxing, but that's to be expected.
All this said, I'm starting to realize that this car isn't for me.
Now you might be thinking "WTF is he saying?! he just spent paragraphs drooling over his car and he says it's not for him?!"
I hate to say it, but I think my interest in performance cars is waning. I'm not sure why, but my best guess is that I'm just getting older. I'm 32, so I'm not quite antique status to most people yet, but I don't find myself incredibly excited to get behind the wheel of cars and go carve up corners. I really loved my insight because of how practical the car was and how relaxing it was to drive. Power delivery was so smooth, and the ride was so soft that it felt like I was floating. 50mpg was a huge plus as well. Yet, I somehow managed to convince myself that I was missing something and should trade it in. Overall, I do regret that decision.
On the flip side, this is probably the best car to own and have buyers remorse! I obviously don't hate the car, and the Si holds its value insanely well! I'll likely hold onto it for a year at most, and then get something a bit more appliance like. It feels depressing to write that, but hobbies and interest do change over time for some folks. Maybe I'll fall back into it when I hit my mid-life crisis? Who knows!
TL;DR, car is fantastic, but it isn't for me and I didn't realize it 'til now
Anyways, thanks for coming to my TED talk!