Long time fuel miser - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

Mainebikah · 01-11-2017, 10:34 PM

Always owned efficient cars, and after a 1970 Ford Maverick in college, I bought a Civic CVCC hatchback. From there I went on to own mostly Civics, with only a few deviations that included a '79 Golf diesel that I bought in Germany (48 to 55 mpg monster) and brought back to the states in 1980 just in time for the "oil shock", followed by a couple of small minivans when the kids were young, including a couple of interesting Civics as second cars, the first Shuttle/Wagovan and then the second version with part time all wheel drive. My favorite Honda is still in my garage... a black 1993 Civic Coupe EX-O with few limited nice weather only miles on the odo. The 1.6L in this car can get 40 mpg.

After the kids moved out, my wife and I dumped the kid mobile and bought a 2nd Gen 2005 Prius. Traded it in for a 3rd Gen 2011 Prius as distance travel car in early 2012. The 2nd Gen Prius was a 50-52 mpg car, and the 3rd Gen, a much better road car averages 52-55 mpg. We fell into a super deal on a trip while we killed time during a Prius oil change, walking the Honda store next door. We had been looking for a second hybrid and found a leftover 2013 Insight EX and couldn't believe the deal they offered on it... so it became my daily driver. EPA sticker be damned... the Insight easily delivers over 50 mpg and has hit 57 mpg (calculated) on several tanks during mild weather.

That covers many years of trying to be an efficient driver. Never felt the need for large cars or big engines. Always appreciated light, good handling cars, and until I bought the Insight, all of my cars have been manuals.

So, I'm a lurker no more. I find this forum very interesting and will try to pop in when I can.

ThermionicScott · 01-11-2017, 11:48 PM

Always good to hear from someone who's been at it a while.

Daox · 01-12-2017, 11:09 AM

Welcome to the site! It sounds like you've have a plethora of great MPG vehicles. You'll have to share pictures when you have a minute.

Mainebikah · 01-12-2017, 01:04 PM

Thank you for the welcome. Will post pictures soon. Nothing special, but I do enjoy these cars quite a bit.

cRiPpLe_rOoStEr · 01-12-2017, 09:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mainebikah

Always appreciated light, good handling cars, and until I bought the Insight, all of my cars have been manuals.

Wasn't the Insight also available in manual? What led you to choose the automatic?

Gasoline Fumes · 01-12-2017, 10:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr

Wasn't the Insight also available in manual? What led you to choose the automatic?

Only the 1st gen Insight (2000-2006) was available with a manual.

cRiPpLe_rOoStEr · 01-12-2017, 10:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gasoline Fumes

Only the 1st gen Insight (2000-2006) was available with a manual.

I understand it's reasonable for Honda under economics of scale to have focused on an automatic-only 2nd-gen since it ends up catering more to urban drivers who benefit more from a hybrid, but maybe if they had retained the manual as an option it would be somewhat easier to convince some die-hard manual advocates who are hesitant to take a hybrid because they're mostly automatics.

Mainebikah · 01-12-2017, 10:51 PM

Correct. 2nd Gen Insight is CVT only. Would be nice to have a manual, but in this case, considering the mild Honda hybrid system they chose to use, the CVT is probably the only transmission that could allow good MPG numbers.

Honda's Insight hybrid system is fairly basic, compared to the way more sophisticated Prius mechanicals, which is really more like inspired engineering art, so to speak. The CVT in the Insight gets the job done, and I've gotten used to it.

I really wanted to get a first Gen Insight, but I was a year too late to the party when I was ready to buy a car. The first Gen went out of production way too soon. It was a brilliant car. I test drove a manual and was in love with the size, concept and performance.

Daschicken · 02-20-2017, 04:27 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cRiPpLe_rOoStEr

I understand it's reasonable for Honda under economics of scale to have focused on an automatic-only 2nd-gen since it ends up catering more to urban drivers who benefit more from a hybrid, but maybe if they had retained the manual as an option it would be somewhat easier to convince some die-hard manual advocates who are hesitant to take a hybrid because they're mostly automatics.

Those people are almost non-existant, it wouldn't make financial sense for honda to do that. I am in that group though.

However, the 2nd gen insight uses the same engine series as the 2003-2005 civic hybrid, which had an available manual. So theoretically it is possible to swap a manual into your 2nd gen insight.

cRiPpLe_rOoStEr · 02-22-2017, 09:05 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Daschicken

Those people are almost non-existant, it wouldn't make financial sense for honda to do that. I am in that group though.

However, the 2nd gen insight uses the same engine series as the 2003-2005 civic hybrid, which had an available manual.

They had an off-the-shelf system already available, and meanwhile the American market is more biased toward automatic transmissions there are other countries where manuals still outnumber the automatics. So it doesn't seem to not make financial sense at all.