Quote:
Originally Posted by Daschicken
I vote civic hybrid. 1.3L with moderately tall gearing should be pretty awesome for mileage. You should be able to find one for $2000 or less, and even if you factor in that $2000 battery, you have spent $4000 on a car, not much really. The battery should last 8-10 years, maybe more if grid charged when it sits for any extended amount of time.
Civic hybrid RPMs:
70 mph: 2488
45 mph: 1599
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Problem is, I don't want a hybrid. Car will be sitting too much during the winter while I'm at college, and the battery will go bad fast.
Those RPMs look sweet.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ecky
I'll explain it right now!  |
Whaat, so you're saying I can't visit you?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ecky
Honda hybrids use a 3 phase alternating current (AC) motor in all of their hybrids, which is far more efficient than any alternator. In any IMA vehicle there will be three orange cables which run to the battery box from the engine bay. These carry 70-300v 3 phase alternating current (voltage dependent on engine RPM). Here's a picture of these three orange cables:
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Step one is to connect these three orange cables to one of these rectifiers. What this does is convert alternating current to direct current:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Amico-SQL-1...72.m2749.l2649
You'll then have 70-300v DC coming from the rectifier. You need to step this down to 14v. I opted to use this:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1
You take two output wires (carrying DC current) from the rectifier and connect them to the input on the Meanwell power supply. On the other side of the Meanwell you can connect whatever you want and get 12-14v (adjustable). There will be an always-hot cable running from the same battery box to the 12v battery up front - just connect this to the Meanwell, and you're set. Higher efficiency than an alternator, no belt losses, you can adjust the voltage and get as big or as small a power supply as you want. The motor up front can probably support up to ~15,000w. Turn the power supply off and you have virtually zero drag from the HV motor.
Here's what my config looks like: |
Ok so the three orange wires hook up to the rectifier, then the rectifier hooks up to the power supply and its set at 14 volts?
Slightly confused here - the orange wires are
sending the 300 volts directly from the engine, right? If so, how does the electricity get transferred from the power supply to the actual battery? What needs to be hooked up there?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ecky
As far as Insight vs HCH, a sedan wouldn't work well for me because you can't stick a sheet of plywood or a 12ft 4x4 post in the trunk of a sedan. It's nice to be able to put literally everything I own in the back of my 70+ mpg car. I can move a full size dresser or book case.
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Of course, YMMV. Our needs are probably not the same.  |
Tbh right now an Insight would be perfect for me, but I don't know about down the road, and once I do something like this, it's going to be something I plan on driving for years to come.
Neither option can have a battery though - I either buy one with a bad battery or I sell the battery. I'd rather buy one with a bad battery just in case I can't sell the battery or the battery turns out to be weak (and yet the selling price didn't reflect it). This is because the car will be sitting for too long while in college, which is bad for hybrid batteries.
HCH1 hybrids with bad batteries are a dime a dozen, so to speak. Insights are either autotragic or have "good" batteries and are $2500-$6000. I can't find any manual Insights with bad batteries. I'm torn. I know as of know this spring I'll be doing the manual HCH1 w/ battery bypass but I really want an Insight..
Quote:
Originally Posted by jcp123
That's an idea which occurred to me before, simplistically, a sixth gen Civic sedan with HX drivetrain and a set of coilovers to lower it.
Having seen that the lean burn stuff can be a bit finicky, I moved on from the idea, but if a cheap VX or HX trans comes along, or a set of coilovers, I would contemplate that. The D-series is such a torqueless wonder, though, that taller gearing may not really suit the car too well.
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It's got more mid-range torque than a Toyota Sienna! My dad drove me down to college in our family minivan with a luggage carrier on top - about a 4 MPG penalty. Trying to go 75 MPH with that it constantly downshifted to 3rd gear @ 4500 RPMs because it didn't have the torque - while my Civic has never downshifted on any hill below 75 MPH. It did once on a steep hill going 78 (not me driving, I promise!!!). Van got around 22.5 until he got so mad he slowed down to 60-65 lol and finished off at 23.6. Speed really does kill!