Quote:
Originally Posted by Eric
I'd like to not take such a big fuel economy hit in the winter - so I'm adding a PriusII thermal storage tank to my Insight, and maybe putting a heater core in my exhaust to heat up my coolant with waste heat a la PriusIII. My commute is very short, so it is all about the initial thermal transient...
|
Welcome to the forum, Eric! It's always good to see another first-gen Insight modder. Btw, the car already has an exhaust heat retention scheme in the head/exhaust manifold casting, but I'm sure it's possible to do better.
I suppose my goal for 2009 was to get a more economical car. Mission accomplished. For 2010, I want to meet my project goal of 70mpg overall while exceeding the speed limit. That's 32% over EPA Combined, which was easy in the Subaru, but difficult in the Insight in the winter.
It's too cold out to work on aeromods right now, but a rear view camera or two is in the cards for 2010, along with front-to-back underbody coverage. I also plan some temporary roof extensions for fuel economy competitions and road trips.
Aeromods will provide the big gains on the highway, but electrical mods will help more on my commute. I intend to install MIMA_L, and, if possible, go PHEV with the tiny stock battery pack. If I plug in the Insight every night, I'll also run a 12V battery charger so I can deep-cycle my 12V battery, and maybe run a block heater. In any case, I'm going to electrify the garage once the ground thaws.