World Cup of Cars: Japan vs. Greece
Tonight’s World Cup matchup, live from Estádio das Dunas, Natal, pits the squads from Japan and Greece against one another as both look to stay alive in Group C play. In their first matchups in our World Cup of Cars, Japan was represented in a losing effort by the Daihatsu Tanto while Greece was brought to victory by the Opel Corsa. Tonight, the odds are a bit more even (and a bit less ugly) with the Honda Insight facing off against the Toyota Aygo. It’s our World Cup of Cars: Japan vs. Greece. Have at you!
Japan vs. Greece – Honda Insight (Japan)
The 2014 Honda Insight
The Insight is something of an odd looking bird, like the offspring of a Prius and a Civic more like, but it’s a damned efficient car. Honda’s hybrid gets 41 mpg city/44 mpg highway. The Insight uses a Ni-MH battery to power a DC brushless motor and a inline-four i-VTEC® engine to a respectable 98 horsepower. It’s a safe, practical, and technologically sound vehicle that offers a wealth of options.
Japan vs. Greece – Toyota Aygo (Greece)
The Aygo city car comes in either a three-door or five-door body and in five unique flavors in Greece: Cool, City, Plus, Plus Sport, and Plus Sport Black & White. The Cool comes standard with all the amenities you’d expect of a city car, but only if you upgrade to City will you get a radio/CD player and power locks; at the Plus level, you get handles and mirrors in body color and Bluetooth®; Plus Sport gets fog lights and 14” alloy wheels; and the Plus Sport Black & White gets a unique two-tone (you guessed it…black and white colors) body and roof. So there’s some variation, but not much groundbreaking stuff here. The Aygo is powered by a 68-horsepower 1.0-liter petrol or 54-horsepower diesel engine.
The all-new Toyota Aygo would win hands down, but the 2013 Aygo ain’t it.
Were it that we were comparing it to the much more customizable 2014 Aygo, which debuted at the Geneva Motor Show in March, then we’d be telling the Insight to go fun itself. However, since the Aygo is a little less exciting, it falls just short of the fuel-efficient Honda.
Be sure to check out Japan vs. Greece in just a short while at 6pm EST on ESPN.
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