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mpg_numbers_guy · 11-22-2018, 04:01 PM

It's official! After months of searching I finally scored an Insight.

It's a 2006 manual transmission (with AC), red, with 254K miles on it. Car has been regularly maintained and runs well. In short, here is the good, the bad, and the planned ecomods:

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

THE GOOD:

Newer Bridgestone Potenza RE92s w/ only 7K miles on them
The following were replaced 10K miles ago:
- Exhaust
- Drive belts
- Stabilizer bar links
- Engine mounts
Transmission has NO grinding when upshifting or downshifting through any gear.
Engine leaks NO oil
No wet seatbelt issue
No IMA light. IMA battery is not perfect but worked well. Working the battery hard over our 10 minute test drive depleted the battery down to 1/3 level in 6 minutes, and then it maintained that through forced regenning.
Regular maintenance has been performed through the whole life of the car
Comes with a cheap-ish looking grid charger. Haven't tested it yet to see if it works.
Came with the original window sticker. Interesting to note, back in 2006 the car was first sold from the car dealership that my dad now works at.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

THE BAD:

One wheel bearing needs replacing
Engine valves possibly need adjusting
EGR valve is suspected to be a little dirty (shouldn't be that hard to clean)
Engine bay aero panel(s) are missing
Paint is scuffed pretty bad
Fender skirts are...bolted onto the car
Left rear fender skirt is slightly bent due to minor accident 5 years ago.
Front bumper is covered in chips.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

BUT, I was able to get a good deal the car. The car was well maintained mechanically and was a one-owner car until the person we bought the car from bought it. He only owned it for a week before selling it because they didn't like the car. So I bought it! On the drive home 54.7 MPG was obtained travelling mostly highway at 70 MPH, with only 32 PSI in the tires, no hypermiling, and forced regen the whole way.

During today's test drive we worked the battery hard over a period of 10 minutes, and depleted the battery down to 1/4 level in 6 minutes. By the time we returned to the seller's house, it had returned to 40% from forced regen. When we restarted the car to drive it home, the battery showed almost full, and then depleted down again upon accelerating on the highway, and then regenned to about 50% by the time we got home. Thoughts on this regarding battery health?

Planning on replacing the wheel bearing and getting the engine valves adjusted. Then I'll clean the EGR plate when I have time and either construct a coroplast engine belly pan or order the one off of IC....would coroplast sufficiently handle the heat of the engine? Will also be working with my dad to buff the car and touch up the scuffs in the paint. I'll probably remove the wheel skirts and see if I can't attach them using the regular clips instead of having them bolted on. I'll also probably scour a local junkyard to see if they have a red Insight I can score the front bumper cover off of.

Will also be getting winter tires mounted to the HX rims currently on my Civic for the Insight. Already have the Insight's RE92s inflated to 60 PSI. Planning the following ecomods during winter break from college (or as many of them as I can do in the 4 week timeframe):

Scott's belly pan
Daox's shift knob
Regen switch
FAS switch (using Natalya's setup)
IMA disable/enable switch
Full lower grille lbock
Foam upper grille block (for winter)
Warm air intake
Rear wiper & motor delete, & hole plug
Lean burn light indicator
LED lighting
Disconnect front parking lights wire
Block heater
Full belly pan
Temperature spoof to get FAS at any temperature (Thoughts on this??)
Cruise control (for longer trips)

And of course, a couple pictures:

Also got to have one next to the Civic it'll be replacing:

You'll notice that the foam grille block has been removed from the Civic. My mom is currently driving it since our van was totaled from a deer collision, and she is still looking for a Prius. We removed the grille block to avoid any chance of overheating due to inefficient driving. Tire pressure was also reduced on the Civic from 68 PSI to 35 PSI. Despite not too efficient driving style she has still been averaging about 39 MPG.

So excited to become an Insight owner! This is going to be a fun journey. I look forward to working on the car in my spare time when home from college. Not to mention the significantly reduced fuel costs even when compared to ol' Silver Aero.

Shoutout to Ecky for being such a great help and being very informative with all my questions on my "Dreaming..." thread!

I still need a name for my Insight!! Got any ideas?

11-22-2018, 04:01 PM	#1 (permalink)
mpg_numbers_guy Master EcoModder Join Date: Feb 2018 Location: VA Posts: 1,370 Toby - '13 Toyota Prius C Team Toyota 90 day: 62.22 mpg (US) Daz - '15 Mazda 3 iTouring w/ Tech Package Team Mazda 90 day: 38.2 mpg (US) Thanks: 324 Thanked 482 Times in 367 Posts	2006 Honda Insight MT Build Thread It's official! After months of searching I finally scored an Insight. It's a 2006 manual transmission (with AC), red, with 254K miles on it. Car has been regularly maintained and runs well. In short, here is the good, the bad, and the planned ecomods: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE GOOD: Newer Bridgestone Potenza RE92s w/ only 7K miles on them The following were replaced 10K miles ago: Exhaust Drive belts Stabilizer bar links Engine mounts Transmission has NO grinding when upshifting or downshifting through any gear. Engine leaks NO oil No wet seatbelt issue No IMA light. IMA battery is not perfect but worked well. Working the battery hard over our 10 minute test drive depleted the battery down to 1/3 level in 6 minutes, and then it maintained that through forced regenning. Regular maintenance has been performed through the whole life of the car Comes with a cheap-ish looking grid charger. Haven't tested it yet to see if it works. Came with the original window sticker. Interesting to note, back in 2006 the car was first sold from the car dealership that my dad now works at. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- THE BAD: One wheel bearing needs replacing Engine valves possibly need adjusting EGR valve is suspected to be a little dirty (shouldn't be that hard to clean) Engine bay aero panel(s) are missing Paint is scuffed pretty bad Fender skirts are...bolted onto the car Left rear fender skirt is slightly bent due to minor accident 5 years ago. Front bumper is covered in chips. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- BUT, I was able to get a good deal the car. The car was well maintained mechanically and was a one-owner car until the person we bought the car from bought it. He only owned it for a week before selling it because they didn't like the car. So I bought it! On the drive home 54.7 MPG was obtained travelling mostly highway at 70 MPH, with only 32 PSI in the tires, no hypermiling, and forced regen the whole way. During today's test drive we worked the battery hard over a period of 10 minutes, and depleted the battery down to 1/4 level in 6 minutes. By the time we returned to the seller's house, it had returned to 40% from forced regen. When we restarted the car to drive it home, the battery showed almost full, and then depleted down again upon accelerating on the highway, and then regenned to about 50% by the time we got home. Thoughts on this regarding battery health? Planning on replacing the wheel bearing and getting the engine valves adjusted. Then I'll clean the EGR plate when I have time and either construct a coroplast engine belly pan or order the one off of IC....would coroplast sufficiently handle the heat of the engine? Will also be working with my dad to buff the car and touch up the scuffs in the paint. I'll probably remove the wheel skirts and see if I can't attach them using the regular clips instead of having them bolted on. I'll also probably scour a local junkyard to see if they have a red Insight I can score the front bumper cover off of. Will also be getting winter tires mounted to the HX rims currently on my Civic for the Insight. Already have the Insight's RE92s inflated to 60 PSI. Planning the following ecomods during winter break from college (or as many of them as I can do in the 4 week timeframe): Scott's belly pan Daox's shift knob Regen switch FAS switch (using Natalya's setup) IMA disable/enable switch Full lower grille lbock Foam upper grille block (for winter) Warm air intake Rear wiper & motor delete, & hole plug Lean burn light indicator LED lighting Disconnect front parking lights wire Block heater Full belly pan Temperature spoof to get FAS at any temperature (Thoughts on this??) Cruise control (for longer trips) And of course, a couple pictures: Also got to have one next to the Civic it'll be replacing: You'll notice that the foam grille block has been removed from the Civic. My mom is currently driving it since our van was totaled from a deer collision, and she is still looking for a Prius. We removed the grille block to avoid any chance of overheating due to inefficient driving. Tire pressure was also reduced on the Civic from 68 PSI to 35 PSI. Despite not too efficient driving style she has still been averaging about 39 MPG. So excited to become an Insight owner! This is going to be a fun journey. I look forward to working on the car in my spare time when home from college. Not to mention the significantly reduced fuel costs even when compared to ol' Silver Aero. Shoutout to Ecky for being such a great help and being very informative with all my questions on my "Dreaming..." thread! I still need a name for my Insight!! Got any ideas? Attached Thumbnails __________________ 2013 Toyota Prius C 2 (my car) 2015 Mazda 3 iTouring Hatchback w/ Tech Package (wife's car) Last edited by mpg_numbers_guy; 01-21-2023 at 04:57 PM..