[mpg_numbers_guy]

Originally Posted by Ecky

I'd say that's usually the case. When it gets very near the absolute end, it can start causing the car to regenerate a lot more to keep the battery up, which won't hold a charge anymore, but often it still saves fuel at this point just from auto-stop.

Couldn't you install a switch to disable the hybrid system to prevent forced regen while driving, and enable it for when you wanted to autostop?

Originally Posted by Ecky

You'll find contention about this. I don't think there are any BSFC charts for lean burn. There are some who believe BSFC is better, period, when in lean burn, and will do things like run 3rd gear in learn burn rather than 5th gear at times. There are others who suspect lean burn just improves BSFC at part throttle, but that ultimately it's better to run the engine at lower RPM when you can - after all, vacuum is the same, but friction is lower and all of the accessories are spinning lower so you have fewer parasitic losses.

Does lean burn reduce HP output? I was thinking in regards to climbing a hill, because if downshifting to 4th or even 3rd but maintaining speed and lean burn would be more efficient than lugging it up in 5th and having to re-accelerate at the top of the hill.

Originally Posted by Ecky

I personally know of one person who averages 130+ mpg without lean burn at all, FWIW, but he's crazy. My testing has shown that it was worth at least 10mpg on my old commute, but I lean toward the 2nd camp.

Are you talking about the guy from IC who runs 120 PSI in his tires?

Originally Posted by Ecky

Good luck and happy hunting! It's important to remember that even as reliable as these are, they're still nearing 20 years old. There may be a lot of small "tune-up" items you'll want to do to maximize economy, even on a very clean one. Things like greasing the brake calipers (reduces brake drag), cleaning the EGR passages, coolant, fresh transmission fluid, the sort of stuff that really should be done on any car but is neglected on most.

Thank you, and yes, definitely keeping that in mind. I see it as a learning opportunity whereby I can have some things repaired, and repair other things myself. Obviously I won't be buying an Insight where the repairs make it not worthwhile; my goal is to come out as close to $1000 ahead on this after selling my Civic, repairs and up front maintenance included. Battery quality isn't really important to me so I should be able to get one fairly cheap, based on the prices I'm seeing.

My dad works at a Honda dealership, so what we did when I bought my current car was when we had the timing belt replaced (original one was on at 150K miles) they flushed out and changed all the fluids. Thanks to you though I now have a list specific to Insights of what to be looking out for, which will be extremely helpful.

I can't wait to get this done and show it off to my coworkers. They already laughed at my car barely having over 100 HP and next year I'll be upgrading to something like 60-70 HP.