Quote:
Originally Posted by 19bonestock88
Im all for that, I’m not used to a 2004 car being worth that much, I think my Saturn books for like $1600-1800... I couldn’t hardly find a used Metro to trade down to, much less an Insight or HCH1...
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Hondas have a higher market here, and ones with their maintenance done generally fetch decent prices. Because of what I paid for it, I don't necessarily need to make over $4K on it, but $3500-$4000 should be doable.
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In response to the engine downshifting comparisons (too much talk to quote it all, so..):
I agree that it's honestly part of the tuning. My Civic goes to about 90% load before downshifting, while the Sienna goes to about 70%-ish load before downshifting. I've told my dad he needs to get it tuned.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by jcp123
All that aside, if you can make a G1 Insight work for you, DO IT! I really can't so I think folks who can, and have some interest, should.
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All about those MPGs!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ecky
It's still very possible to EoC with an Insight and a bad 2nd gear down-synchro and no battery, but frankly the hybrid system makes EoC really slick.
This is my shift knob:
...
There are 3 buttons on it.
Left button: momentary button that tells the ECU I'm moving at 2mph.
Middle button: toggle button that tells the ECU I'm pressing the clutch
Right button: momentary button that tells the ECU I'm pressing the brake
To EoC: With the car in neutral, toggle the middle button to fool the car into thinking you have the clutch in. Then tap the left button. The car thinks you're holding the clutch and slowing to a stop, and so it quietly and smoothly shuts the engine off. The 12v battery still charges, because the DC-DC converter is taking energy from the large hybrid pack.
To start the engine: Simply untoggle the middle (clutch) button. The car sees you're not holding the clutch in anymore, and silently and smoothly starts the engine, roughly matching revs even if you're at higher speed. Then just put it in gear and go.
When slowing down, the right button turns on the brake lights and applies full regenerative braking, without having to touch the mechanical brake pedal.
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DAANNNGGGG!!! >>>inset love buggy eyes emoji<<< Me want!! I swear I'll get myself a Gen 1 Insight even if I have to friggin steal it! How would I do something like that though with that crazy amazing shift knob and buttons and all???
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ecky
As for the hybrid battery, sitting alone shouldn't hurt it. There are batteries which, once grid charged, have come back to life in perfect working order after decades of sitting.
The cells will very slowly self-discharge when the car is unused. If the battery is "weak", that usually means not all of the cells are roughly equal anymore, and some will discharge faster than others. You end up with imbalanced cells. When you go to use the car after it's been sitting, you just need to attach a grid charger and slowly and gently top them all off together, to bring them back into balance.
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What usually "kills" a battery is that one or more of the cells gradually end up with more and more internal resistance, so they get out of balance from the others more easily. Once they're out of balance, normal cycling of the battery takes these higher or lower than the other cells (normally 40-80% charge range), accelerating wear on them, until they out-gas or fail in some other way. One can in theory fix the pack by simply replacing the one bad cell, but this is a time consuming process and you'll pay out the nose for someone else to do it.
Many packs which are really, truly dead (and not just unbalanced) are dead because the owner was not aware of the above and did not maintain the battery "properly". Toyota's battery management does a better job of keeping cells in balance and thus Toyota hybrids see far fewer battery failures and require basically zero maintenance.
Even packs with a bad cell or two can be limped along for years with regular balance charging.
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But what about people who leave their Prius parked and people keep saying that's bad for the battery? Is that just a Toyota thing then?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ecky
I can assemble a grid charger for about $40 in parts and an hour of soldering. These normally sell for $3-500 on eBay.
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Would something like
this work for $200?
Quote:
Originally Posted by 19bonestock88
Now you guys got ME dreaming... found two G1 Insights within a 4h drive... one was $2k and ran/drove fine but had a couple dings, and one was $1500 but with blown HG(good IMA battery though)... I think both had grid chargers...
*sigh*
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Go get it! but save me one...I'd drive 200 miles to get one.
Heck, if I was still back home I'd drive to New York and pick up the one Ecky shared the link too a while back. There's also one just two hours away from home just like it with 135K miles.
Now to hurry through the school year so I can join the 100 MPG club with an Insight.
