Quote:
Originally Posted by jamesqf
How about a Metro, or the Honda CRX? I got 40+ mpg in my CRX, but get 70+ in my Insight.
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Not really equivalent except in general shape and that they were both designed incorporating the fuel saving technologies that Honda was willing to sell to the public in their respective decades (mid 80's and late 90's) . The Insight has a much lower Cd (0.25), CRX Cd is 0.30, and the CRX uses engine technology that is a decade older than that of the Insight. I was getting upper 40's out of my 1992 Civic CX in normal driving before I started hypermiling or aeromodding it. The CX is a car larger and heavier than either of the above two cars, with no lean burn and with a Cd of 0.31, but it did have newer engine technology than the CRX.
When the guys at Cleanmpg made their single tank world record distance in an Insight in Oklahoma in 2006 (and in all of their other mpg record attempts using either the Prius or the Insight), they deliberately drove it in a manner that avoided using assist or regen, in other words deliberately avoided using the hybrid system in order to get the highest possible mileage. This tells me that an EQUIVALENT non-hybrid variant of the Insight could have beaten this record since it would have been a hundred pounds lighter and wouldn't have had the added transmission drag of the unused electric motor spinning in the drive train.
A hybrid reduces the mpg hit of urban driving or any driving where you have to use either friction or engin braking, but in pure rural driving where you never have to use braking, a manual non-hybrid with its lighter weight and the reduced drag of its simpler transmission would get a better mileage. Unfortunately, since the auto manufacturers need to recoup the money invested in developing their hybrid systems, they will never field a non-hybrid variant of their hybrid model that would get a mileage even close to that of the hybrid, otherwise people would be less likely to spend the extra money for the hybrid. They will always handicap their non-hybrid offerings by giving it shorter gearing and worse aerodynamics so the hybrid will be the mpg star of their lineup.