02 G1 Insight with many ecomods- 999.6 mile tank @ 105 MPG

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by The donkey CRX

Love these wheel covers... what the story? They seem professional in this low resolution shot, but they're not OEM. Did yo buy 'em or make 'em?

[Ecky]

Originally Posted by California98Civic

Love these wheel covers... what the story? They seem professional in this low resolution shot, but they're not OEM. Did yo buy 'em or make 'em?

See post #33.

[The donkey CRX]

I have mounted the OEM 14" Bridgestone RE92s on the Insight alloy space saver spare 4" wide wheels. I have driven this wheel and tire combination over 30K miles on other Hondas with no problems. It produces a narrower footprint and about 2-3 MPG improvement over the 5 1/2" OEM wheel. Your mileage may vary

[The donkey CRX]

The parameters I have discovered are pretty much what has already been discussed earlier in this thread.

In order for the ECM to allow lead burn you need to either "spoof" the ECM into thinking the following temperatures are present or get these temps to actually occur:

Please note these are the parameters I have found to apply(by installing "hundreds" of gauges ) to my 2002 Insight and may not be the same for your car. We know that Honda made many parameter changes throughout the production run of the Gen 1.

Ambient temp is above 80 degrees. I "spoofed" this temp to always be above 80 degrees by moving the temp sensor located in front of the radiator to laying on top of the manifold were the water exits the block to enter the top of the radiator.

Intake Air Temp above 120 degrees. This temp was "spoofed" by relocating the Intake air temp sensor from its OEM location from the tube between the air filter box and the intake and placing it inside the added Warm Air Intake hose about 8 inches from the catalytic converter.

Water temp in the block above 160 degrees. This has been the most difficult temp to control because I actually want this temp to be above 180 degrees to help the engine run more efficiently. Even when the outside temp is above 90 degrees, if you are always in lean burn and not running the A/C, it is hard to maintain a water temp above 180 degrees. First I always start by pre heating the water and oil to 180 degrees for 2 hours before driving the car. I also have added an adjustable grill block and extended the OEM belly pan under the engine to block the flow of air out of the engine block.

Hope this helps

[The donkey CRX]

Thanks for the compliment on my "professional" wheel covers. They are the OEM alloy Insight space saver spare wheel that has been painted and covered with 3mm vinyl to cover the holes and make a "moon" type wheel. As Ecky stated above, more info is in this tread in post #33. There is also a link to one of my previous threads showing how to make your own.

Thanks

[The donkey CRX]

My average speed on my 108 mile round trip commute each day is 40 MPH per the MPGuino gauge. I drive about 40-45 MPH on the 60 miles of country roads and 55 MPH on the 48 miles of freeway. The MPGuino MPH includes the time I spend stopped at lights and slowing down and speeding back up from stop signs, left hand turns etc.

The battery in the Gen 1 Insight is too small to actually power the car by itself. It is only able to "assist" the ICE motor when starting from a stop or climbing hills, etc. At a full 100amp assist it will only last about 2-4 minutes before full depletion.

I grid charge the battery each night and only use assist when climbing hills on my route. I "budget" its use of about 40% of its capacity on each 54 miles leg of the commute.

The Insight has automatic and braking regen of the battery. I have a MIMA/PIMA aftermarket system that allows me to have complete control of when the battery assists and regens.

Let me know if this did not answer your questions

Thanks

[Ecky]

Originally Posted by The donkey CRX

The parameters I have discovered are pretty much what has already been discussed earlier in this thread.

In order for the ECM to allow lead burn you need to either "spoof" the ECM into thinking the following temperatures are present or get these temps to actually occur:

Please note these are the parameters I have found to apply(by installing "hundreds" of gauges ) to my 2002 Insight and may not be the same for your car. We know that Honda made many parameter changes throughout the production run of the Gen 1.

Ambient temp is above 80 degrees. I "spoofed" this temp to always be above 80 degrees by moving the temp sensor located in front of the radiator to laying on top of the manifold were the water exits the block to enter the top of the radiator.

Intake Air Temp above 120 degrees. This temp was "spoofed" by relocating the Intake air temp sensor from its OEM location from the tube between the air filter box and the intake and placing it inside the added Warm Air Intake hose about 8 inches from the catalytic converter.

Water temp in the block above 160 degrees. This has been the most difficult temp to control because I actually want this temp to be above 180 degrees to help the engine run more efficiently. Even when the outside temp is above 90 degrees, if you are always in lean burn and not running the A/C, it is hard to maintain a water temp above 180 degrees. First I always start by pre heating the water and oil to 180 degrees for 2 hours before driving the car. I also have added an adjustable grill block and extended the OEM belly pan under the engine to block the flow of air out of the engine block.

Hope this helps

At least in my car, the only of those 3 sensor readings that I've noticed being critical is water temperature. Granted, I haven't been below freezing yet this year.

I haven't relocated my ambient sensor yet, but have still been able to stay in lean burn 100% of the time despite outside air temperatures of around 32f/0c (and losing auto-stop). I recall having been able to consistently get into lean burn with intake air temps as low as ~10c/50f, which is as low as it got before I installed my WAI.

Regarding warming up the block, it's probably just that I burn more fuel than you but I also don't have any issues warming up. Even with weather nearing freezing I'm unable to do a 100% block yet because water temps start to climb into the upper 90's and even low 100's. With a 100% upper block and 50-75% lower block, I find I'm generally up to 90-93c (where it stabilizes as the weather is currently) after around 6 miles, but can get into LB usually by the bottom of the hill leaving my house, by which time I've probably hit 160f.

I imagine you're not doing any significant engine braking, since you're grid charging every night.

[The donkey CRX]

That's great Ecky. I think the 2000 Insights do go into lean burn easier and each model year and recall upgrade after that added parameters for lean burn to cut back on NOX.

Our VX's only require a water temp above 145 degrees for lean burn and of course no NOX purge cycles either.

[BrandonMods]

what benefit does placing the exterior temperature sensor inside the engine bay confer? Champagne has one on the driver lower front bumper. I thought it was only used for the HUD inside.

[Ecky]

I believe it's the sensor that is used to determine whether auto idle stop happens. The threshold, according to the owner's manual, is 41F.