[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by SpeedyCorky

OK so I saw the sexiest 2006 silver Honda Insight on craigslist, 91k miles, 1 owner (an old christian guy who used the car to commute his 120miles round trip, sold it because he retired), perfect condition, full service records, blah blah blah..... so i splurged a little and went out and bought it!

Wow! Congrats! 5-speed??

1) can you install a switch/button to manually enable 'auto engine stop"?

Yes. It's at first glance a basic "kill switch" like every other car, but it's very slick with the Insight because the engine will restart automatically (via the quiet motor/generator) under "normal" hybrid conditions, such as:

1) You shift back into any gear
2) You deplete the brake vacuum reserve

So you should never need to "key start" after engine-off coasting. You go to neutral while pressing your shifter-mounted kill switch to stop the engine, then restart by shifting back into the appropriate gear when it's time, and carry on.

There are 2 approaches to setting up the switch: kill all 3 injectors simultaneously via a 3-relay setup; kill spark via a simple switch. Some people prefer the more complex 3-relay setup because they're concerned about trace amounts of unburnt fuel getting into the upper cat immediately after killing the spark.

2) it seems you can install some kinda switch that disables the hybrid function of the engine - how? this would enable you to cruize on the freeway and NOT regenerate the battery, yielding superior mileage.

This is known as the "CALPOD" (the first guy to write about it on insightcentral) clutch switch mod. Of course, if you don't have a 5-speed, it's of no use to you.

The switch is installed in parallel with the factory switch that detects whether the clutch is pressed or not.

3) any general tips relating to maxing MPG via driving tips, relating to the above 2 questions and the Insight specifically?

If you're mostly cruising the car, your goal is to maximize the amount of time you spend in lean burn. Lean burn is where the magic happens with these cars. (~100 mpg US instant consumption @ ~50 mph is my experience).

Then start modifying the car to reduce aero drag even more than stock, so you "widen" the lean burn envelope as much as possible.

Everywhere else, you want to maximize the amount of time the engine is off (kill switch), just like any other car.

4) civic VX 13' rims VS insight 15' rims - which might yield better MPG? (assuming that they are interchangable, which i'd think they would be so long as they have the same bolt pattern, which i assume they would)

1st gen Insights have 14 inch rims, not 15's.

The best wheel to use is the one that has the tire with the lowest rolling resistance mounted on it. The OEM spec Bridgestone RE92's are the best I've seen so far: http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...e92-19126.html . Of course there may be better 14's out there that I don't know about.

5) the Insight has lean burn, just like my civic HX. with the HX, adding MMO (marvel mystery oil) to the fuel enables the engine to get into lean burn at much lower RPM (~1800 as opposed to 2600rpm). Can similar advantages be obtained with the Insight?

Can't comment - haven't tried it. The car's oil spec is synthetic 0W20. I'd be very surprised if adding anything to that would make it better.

I've been driving my civic HX to work for about 6 months, and generally average about 54mpg. on my FIRST trip with the Insight, i got 78MPG, AND i ended the trip with more battery charge than when i started, so some of that fuel was spent to recharge the battery - needless to say, i'm damn happy with the Insight!

I'm still amazed by the engineering in this little car every time I drive it.

I drive the car with assist (and background charging) disabled almost all of the time, and I enable regen for slowing the car down on those unfortunate occasions when I can't coast to a stop.

Congrats on the purchase! Fun car.