Quote:
Originally Posted by blownb310
You can. I can send you the route instructions and you can drive the course when ever it's convenient for you. Just let us know how you did!
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That's an idea. Of course it would be nice to meet some other ecomodders too.
But by all means PM me the route, might make a good foliage cruise.
Quote:
Originally Posted by blownb310
That's interesting. I know very little about how the hybrids can be tweaked. Are you talking about the original Insight, or the newer Honda hybrids? How far will they go strictly on the battery pack?
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Hondas are series hybrids, which means they can't be driven on the electric motor alone (unlike a Prius). The motor is a supplement to the gasoline engine which is always powering the car, and electric power is mainly used when accelerating or climbing hills. On the original Insight and the 1st gen Civic hybrid (03-05) equipped with manual transmissions a switch wired to the clutch safety switch allows the hybrid system to be disabled, and adding a relay powered by the brake light switch allows the hybrid system to come back on line as soon as the brake pedal is depressed. This allows selective use of assist. If none is used, regenerative braking will eventually fill the battery to capacity, and then the assist can be turned back on and battery charge used up. So I could easily start a route like this with a full charge and use up all the assist on the hills, thus inflating my MPG. It might not make a huge difference but depending on the route it would definitely help.