[Ecky]

Originally Posted by The Toecutter

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...

I'd like to, once the Covid stuff dies down. Most events and venues are closed/canceled for the time being.

Originally Posted by The Toecutter

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?

I'd say my conclusion was opposite! I've seen something like a 33-40% reduction in fuel economy, both in average and peak, compared with the stock engine.

Here's an example:

At 60mph, in 6th gear, my engine turns almost exactly 2000rpm. If I'm rolling down a hill at a constant 60mph, I can shift to neutral, then hold the revs @ 2000rpm, and my fuel economy is only ~65-70mpg.

Meanwhile, with the stock engine, I was able to see maybe 85mpg cruising @ 60mph on level ground. At 50mph, my fuel economy could reach or exceed 100mpg.

I expect I could get better economy if I had even taller gearing - my cruising manifold pressure is only something like 300mbar, despite the tall gearing. I probably have the torque to cruise @ 60mph at more like 1300-1400rpm, though I'd then be pretty far outside of the engine's peak BSFC range.

Originally Posted by The Toecutter

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.

There was definitely some complacency going on.

And we wonder why Ford and GM are pulling out of world markets.