I got his reply in email because I'm subscribed to the thread. I'm not sure if he deleted the post after making it, or vB ate it somehow, but here's what I was emailed:
Quote:
The Insight 1G is still alive and well. I use it as my daily driver up here in the Pacific Northwest. Based on the hilly terrain around these parts I generally average around 80mpg.
A while back I was working pretty hard to come up with a set of Michelin Energy Saver tires from Europe to see what they would do for fuel mileage. They really didn't make the amount of difference I was hoping for compared to the Bridgestones that came as part of the original vehicle. The Michelins might be good for a mile per gallon or two. They didn't make enough of a dent to justify the time and cost that went into procuring them. The one good part about the set I got is that they're H rated so I don't need to maintain another set of tires for trips to Bonneville.
Speaking of Bonneville, I missed this year's event based on a work commitment. Next year I'll be deployed with the Navy so I'll miss that event as well. Hopefully I'll make 2013 to crack the 100mph barrier. The run out to Bonneville might also serve to motivate me to do some additional tuning on the hybrid side to get a little more efficiency out of the car. Right now electric assist comes on too early at highway speeds. It might be worth incorporating a hybrid multi-mode feature or some other way to adjust the levels of electric assist available to the driver. Mike Dubrowski's MIMA system is pretty slick but I don't know if I need all the flexibility. I also wonder if I'd be asking for trouble implementing another system on top of what is already in the car.
That's the quick and dirty. I can say the car has been very dependable and is regularly returning fuel mileage numbers on the order of 20-30% better in the hills of the Pacific NW than what I was getting with the gasoline engine in the very flat lands of Southern Maryland. What's next? I don't know for certain but a picture of MB's 900cc Smart Car turbo diesel in Diesel Power magazine has me wondering what taking 0.3L off engine displacement would do for fuel economy.
Best wishes,
Jake
|