'00 Honda Insight from Las Vegas, NV
 

Hello, I'm new here and trying to master the ways of hypermiling because I'd love to get every mile out of a tank in my car as I can. I just recently traded my thirsty '06 Mustang GT for my current Insight and I couldn't be happier, it's a great little car.

I'm currently away from Las Vegas, I'm actually out in Virginia right now for school, but when I make my return trip, my goal is to get back to Vegas on less than $100 in fuel.

Welcome. Have any mods in mind. Just for kicks check out the garage and see what some of the guy are getting in mustang. Also be sure to check out the 65+ Vehicle modifications for better fuel economy - EcoModder.com.

I don't even know what kind of mods are even available for my Insight, aside from a grid charger and I already have the harness for that, just need a grid charger to fit and one I can afford.

I'll be sure to check those things out.

Probably the best place to start is 100+ Hypermiling / ecodriving tips & tactics for better mpg - EcoModder.com


Some of the Insight people will drop by soon with some input.

Welcome!

The Insight responds REALLY well to aero mods, because they expand the size of the lean burn window, which is where the fuel economy magic happens with this car.

For example, a few simple mods I did to mine: http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...-km-18930.html

You will also want to install the clutch switch mod so you can disable assist at will, and a kill switch so you can increase "Auto Stop" usage. Look those up here or on Insight Central.

Do all those things, read up on the driving tips (as mentioned) and then stick a boat tail on it, and you're good for ~100 mpg all day long at 55 mph (on the level, in good weather): http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...ard-25223.html

I think my car came with a switch, because regen happens when I push it down, not sure what the PO said about pushing it up, but the upward one stays up until I push it down, the regen comes back up when I let go.

Not sure I want to boat tail my ride..lol

I do love auto stop, just put the car in neutral and look around at the cars next to me stay on.. Makes me grin a bit.

I'll check the links out, thanks.

Hmmm, that switch... Have you got MIMA? More likely it's the brake switch mod which lets you call up max. regen while coasting without actually touching the brakes.

If you like autostop, you will LOVE the manual kill switch for "forced" autostop (A.K.A. the Calpod mod, if I recall). That alone is worth a measurable boost in fuel economy if well used.

What's MIMA? Can I use the brake switch mod I have without letting off the accelerator at interstate speeds or is that just damaging to the car?

calpod mod? I don't understand how it works.

That's very interesting, I hadn't thought about what it must be like to purchase a car that already has mods on it.

I know you're a bit leery about the boattail, but if it's something you do decide to give a try, don't worry about the length. One of the participants here has what appears to be a VERY long tail indeed, but measuring indicates his Insight is exactly the same length overall as my compact pickup - not overly long at all.

A couple of Insights in the Garage listing are cracking into the 80mpg range without boattails. You're in for a thrifty ride. I don't think your home-under-100 goal is achievable, especially since you're still in the learning curve, but I bet you could make it under $150. Good luck!

Rideshare another person, Under $100 easy.

Yeah, my shifting needs work, I'm not the greatest and I'm noticing the assist comes on alot and my battery drains and wasn't coming up until I hit the brake regen switch, so I figured that out and I'm using the auto stop now since I think I have the hang of it, but according to my dash, my 5 mile trip was done at about 39 MPG.. :(

Wish there were a video for G1 Insight owners to watch and have explained how to properly drive the car to it's fullest potential. I never know what RPM on this car to shift at, but on my bike I shift at 4.5k revs.

It's funny, every time I stop somewhere, I have at least one person ask me what kind of car I'm driving..lol Who knew to get attention, one just needs to switch from more power to more efficient. ;)

Elhigh, where in TN are you? I'm going to be in the Bristol area this weekend.

Welcome to EcoModder KaityVoivre. Its great to see another Insight owner here. Lucky you! :)

Ooof! Please release the parking brake! :)

The clutch switch mod will prevent assist when you don't really need it, saving the battery for the times you want it. (And avoiding gas-consuming background charging to bring the pack back up.) Though you have to release the switch to gain braking/coasting regen... it won't happen if the car thinks the clutch is pressed when it's not actually.

Post a thread asking for to meet with another owner. If you don't get a bite here, try at Insight Central.

Basically, shift as soon as you can without lugging the engine. Get into top gear ASAP when cruising along, even in the city.

Honda sold so few of these cars, and they're so unique, I got all kinds of questions about mine too, before I sold it. (Also awesome citrus, like yours.)

Elhigh, where in TN are you? I'm going to be in the Bristol area this weekend.[/QUOTE]

At lunch today, somebody I used to be in the auto mechanics program with saw my car when I took it in and let them check the car for any issues and had them replace a bulb and attempt to clear the one fogged headlight.

This person came over today and told me how much they like my Insight but also wanted to know what happened to my Mustang. While doing my titling and registration this morning, I was asked by the clerks about my car and while waiting on the inspection, the people behind the counter and mechanic all commented on my car. None of these people had ever seen one before and all the comments were nice and welcome.

So what you're saying is to shift to 5th gear as soon as I can, even at low speeds like 35-45 MPH?

I am meeting with another member from Insightcentral because he has an extra antenna and mine looks all dry rotted, so maybe I'll see if he can give me some instruction on the car (His is also citrus I believe).

Yes. Get into top gear as soon as you can without lugging the engine. If you need more power later, downshift. :)

Minimize assist.

Maximize coasting (preferably engine-off via "forced auto stop" to retain power steering & brake vaccuum).

Maximize lean burn while cruising.

If you have to decelerate more quickly than coasting, mazimize regen to capture energy in the battery.

Yup, I'd definitely ask for pointers/advice go for a ride-along.

Ouch! It's a big week for pushing new people to other forums. ;)

More than that- stop thinking of 35-45 mph as slow. You can get outrageous mpg at those speeds, and in most non-interstate situations you're actually travelling at those speeds anyway. Just by admitting that and not spending all your time sprinting to 50-60 and braking again you'll get great numbers.

Welcome to Ecomodder, and congratulations on the Insight. I'm jealous- there was one locally to me when I was shopping, but I needed something bigger.

Yeah, I should probably stop doing that. (Sending people away.)

How do I add my fuel and car information to my signature like everyone else?

Try this thread. http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...ure-20941.html

So I drove 53.1 miles today and averaged 58.2 MPG... I actually started figuring it out toward the end and the meter I kept more or less all the way to the right. Only problem I have is with stop/ go in city driving and hills or a combination of both stops and hills.. Accidentally spun my tires on one hill.

I did have to floor it once, lack of power and needed to speed up from the 35 I was stuck at to the speed limit at 55, I had some guy behind me following WAY too close for comfort.

But, I'm getting used to the car a little, almost managed to fully recharge the IMA before calling it a night, but sadly, had hard assist with the highway situation..

My ride on the interstate will be better tomorrow, I am going to drive like a granny though..

They usually end up passing. Lots of racing tips apply to driving for mileage, and here's a good one: Don't let the other guy drive your car.

Granny doesn't hypermile, she just drives slowly. You're doing great.

It was the part of the Woodrow Wilson parkway that was single lane and didn't become two lanes until a mile or so later. I'll keep that in mind and the aforementioned comment about going to third gear, hope shifting that low doesn't kill my MPG. I'm going to be playing Ingress and practicing my hill starts this weekend at a local high school's driver course, which is open to anyone.

I'll keep everyone informed how my 3 hour interstate drive goes today. :D

I usually tell people I'm in Knoxville, but actually I live about 25 miles north of the city.

I can sense the invitation to a meet, but I have a volunteer crew to direct on Saturday, and jealously defend what remains of my weekend when that happens.

Wow, hills out here in the mountains really hurt my speed and MPG, but I was patient and made it up at like 45 MPH, left on half a tank and still have fuel in it, over 300 miles on the trip odometer right now and averaged 65.5 MPG.

I love this car, just have to be patient with it on hills. I facepalmed at this big SUV yesterday. I'm in the slow lane trying to climb a hill and nobody is around either of us, so instead of just moving over to the left lane and passing, he decides to start tailgating and flashing his headlights at me.. What an idiot.

I did get a scare earlier, not sure what it was, but it went away.. For a few minutes, the car gave me a check engine light, it's gone now, but I was scared beyond belief to see that.

Hills and rain combined in Ktown to make for lousy mileage. Every inch to work and back, pouring.

And when I got there, three different people came running up to tell me about an overflowing urinal. Joy!

Our mountains are a trial for hypermiling, wait till you hit the Rockies.

I know what you mean, I'm not far from Bristol at the moment and it's been rain and inclines. Got a check engine light after stalling and it went away after a few minutes.. No idea what that was about, but ok..lol

I've been over the rockies.. But not hypermiling, I was at hyperspeed in the Mustang..lol

It did stop raining and I decided to take the motorcycle out for a spin and ended up doing 60-70 miles on it playing Ingress and wiping out green portals.

Our mountains are a trial of patience with loss of power and on top of that, trying to get respectable MPG.

http://s25.postimg.org/bvzvty27x/20140719_124137.jpg

Welcome to the forum!

I don't have a boat tail and I get phenomenal MPG in summer with P&G. My trick is that I charge my battery with a 350 mA grid charger and I never do regen if I'm not in deceleration fuel cutoff, so this way there is no electricity produced by gasoline. When my state of charge is low I simply recharge it or if I'm going on a longer trip I let it do its things.

I also did some modifications to help but I would say that driving technique is 85% of it.

The IMA inhibit switch (Calpod switch ) is esential in the Insight. This is one of the best mod you can do.

From earlier..

http://s25.postimg.org/jd9395rr1/20140719_143630.jpg

I did manage to reach my destination yesterday at 65.5 MPG, but Ingress today took me down a huge hill that I had to climb back up later, some my MPG dropped a little.

To fill or not to fill.. That is the question..

If I wait, I can get a good portion of the way back, but I can fill up for less per gallon here.

Fill it... especially if you will be driving mainly freeway/steady speed

I like to fill before a long trip, part of the ritual like checking the tires, coolant and oil.

Be patient with the Insight. Drive it for a couple of years to get used to how it likes to be driven, and you will do much better.

On Memorial Day weekend, I drove 170 miles to LaCross Wisconsin, and averaged 94 mpg on a 80F day and drove 55 mph. Got essentially the same on the way back.

There were plenty of hills near LaCross too. It just takes time in the seat to learn how to drive the car. There *is* a technique for minimizing losses over hills, in fact my mileage was 94 mpg in the hills. Lots of EOC on the downside!

Jim.

I'm not doing too bad learning this car, I did hit a few long and drawn out hills that really hit MPG, I was aiming for 75 MPG, highest I hit was 73.5 MPG

My end result tonight wasn't bad at all and really blew my mind. The best choice I ever made was getting rid of the guzzling Mustang for this Insight.

http://s25.postimg.org/5b0xzeqin/20140720_220351.jpg

I found the trick to get that MPG was at the top of one hill, gently accelerate, while keeping the MPG in a high range, so I'd have momentum to get me most if not all the way up the next hill before I started losing speed... Kind of like a roller coaster in a way.

I also still don't understand the sig, I messed it up, not sure how to add my first fill up to the vehicles on here.

Add your fills in the garage page. Click on your car at the top of the page where it says Fuel Log, and scroll down to where it says "ADD another fuel log entry for this vehicle." It isn't far down and I have to search for it every time even though I've been here for years. Dunno what's up with that.