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Have you ever taken this thing to the drag strip? I'm really curious how fast it is. I saw the videos on youtube, and the thing sure got up and went...
This is a great way to demonstrate the importance of load reduction(aero drag/rolling resistance/mass) on fuel economy. Changing the engine to a relative monster from a smaller displacement power starved one really has comparatively little impact on fuel economy in most normal driving conditions. This beast of an engine you installed into this Insight exemplifies that. When are you going to shove a turbocharger in it?
In the 1970s, we could have had 40 mpg musclecars instead of the power-starved 4-cylinder gas-guzzling econocrap the U.S. auto industry decided to punish buyers with for daring to demand better efficiency. But the U.S. manufacturers refused to give up planned obsolescence, and they ended up getting their asses handed to them by superior Japanese econocrap that actually improved efficiency in a meaningful way over virtually everything Detroit had to offer. Imagine what a 426 Hemi could have done in a 2,500 lb steel-bodied featherweight of a sedan with a 0.19 Cd and a frontal area of 20 sq ft, with long-legged 220 mph gearing. The Japanese may not have had a chance had Detroit thought outside of the box they made for themselves and that Insight may never have existed 30 years later.
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