I think it is wrong to compare a CVT to a manual transmission car. They feel totally diffrent to drive. I own a 2007 Jazz with CVT, and I just love the car. I also love the smooth feeling when you are accelerating. No judder, no twitching or jerking, no trowing around in the seat (if I'm taking a corner that is...), but it is total smoothness.
I have had it for two years now and I'm still impressed every time I get into the car and start driving. The easiest way to explain it is like driving in the first gear all the time. Without the engine revving to high.
If you always like to have a quick acceleration and feel the pressure against the seat and hear the tires screeming, then the CVT is not for you.
For normal driving I just like to drive to a place and pay attention to the surroundings while driving and not mess around with the stick and clutch pedal
But if you want the CVT can accelerate quick too, just that the engine is revving a bit high when it downshifts.
And a bonus with CVT is that you have many modes to the transmission; full automatic, automatic with 7 steps, manually with 7 steps, sport mode (quicker acceleration), low gear for steep hill start.
In manual mode you use the F1-like handles one each side of the steeringwheel to step up or down between 7 steps.
The manual mode is good for engine braking down hill. It is the only time I use it.
I have tried measure the fuel usage with diffrent speeds and find the full automatic to be the best for low fuel usage.
But back to the Insigth; I will agree about the stiff suspension. I think they saved some money to many places on the Honda Insight. It feels more "plastic" on the inside than the Jazz, even if a Jazz is a cheap car in comparison
