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Natalya 04-28-2016 10:52 PM

2001 Insight
 
http://www.lady-natalya.info/insight...016-01-900.png

Update: I sold this car to my co-worker. I might still post in here if I end up helping her add new mods to the car in the future, since I still see the car every day. The picture above is the car at its best, in the fall of 2016. And continuing below is the original beginning of this post...

####################

http://www.lady-natalya.info/images/insight_snow_00.png

So this will be the thread for my silver 2001 manual. I bought it in the fall of 2015 at about 209k kilometers. LMPG at purchase read 4.4 l/100km, but for the first few months I struggled to keep it in the 4's. Most tanks were 4.9 or 5 according to the display.

Anyway, since buying I've done the following fuel-economy related mods:
- Civic VX Rims
- Aluminum front underbelly panel
- Coroplast + aluminum rear underbelly panels
- Cardboard radiator block in cold weather
- Car came with window tint (helps reduce need for AC)
- Some LEDs (brakes, reverse, and driving lights)

Planned mods:
- Engine thermometer (WIP)
- Some kind of adjustable grill block
- More LEDs

Completed Maintenance Affecting MPG:
- EGR plate and valve cleaned out
- New indexed spark plugs

Needed Maintenance:
- New sticks for IMA (WIP)

http://www.lady-natalya.info/insight/aero-03.png

That's my rear underbelly paneling. I'll post more pics here as I do more of the car.

Xist 04-28-2016 11:02 PM

Great start! :) Did it come with the stock Insight wheels?

Ecky 04-29-2016 07:24 AM

I believe VX wheels are slightly lighter than the stock wheels, but less aerodynamic. I have a partly destroyed stock rim laying around that I could weigh.

VX rims would easily be my second choice (after another set of stock wheels) for winter tires.

Your rear pan looks good.

Baltothewolf 04-29-2016 07:31 AM

VX rims are a downgrade as they are 13", so no RE92's. HX rims are about the same weight, and are 14" so they accept the RE92. Just saying.

Ecky 04-29-2016 08:02 AM

No RE92 snow tires. Really depends on what snow tires you can snag for either size. I haven't looked into what's available in a similar size for 13" wheels.

elhigh 04-29-2016 09:20 AM

Red rims on the gray car gives it some pop. That's good, esp. for a winter driver, all-gray cars can disappear in the snow.

Natalya 04-29-2016 10:58 AM

The red paint on the wheels makes the car go faster. Jeez I thought you guys would already know that. ;)

When I bought the car the Insight rims had some garbage chinese tires on them that had no tread left. In anticipation of winter I got some winter tires + steel rims for a shocking $60 CAD (for the whole set) on Kijiji (Canadian Craig's List) with like really good tread. However, they were a bit big (175) and the heavy steel rims really sapped the power from the car, making acceleration and turning feel terrible.

So I figured, "Oh I'll get some VX rims and throw the winter tires on there." The VX rims came with the all-season tires you see above -- I didn't realize that VX's are only 13" and I couldn't put the winter tires on them. :( So that was silly. But I got a deal on the VX rims -- $190 CAD for them, and the all-seasons still had over half their tread. So I've just been driving with those on.

My end game is that eventually the all seasons will be worn out and at that point I'll get RE92's for the Insight rims. I did a CBA -- assuming the RE92's give me 10 extra MPG and gas costs $2.50 USD / Gallon I'd have to drive like 20000 miles or something before I'd have paid them off in fuel savings when I could have just continued using the all-seasons tires I already have.

Also, 13" snow tires for the VX rims later maybe probably. I hear RE92's are crap in the snow.

cowmeat 04-29-2016 12:13 PM

Quote:

I did a CBA -- assuming the RE92's give me 10 extra MPG and gas costs $2.50 USD / Gallon I'd have to drive like 20000 miles or something before I'd have paid them off in fuel savings when I could have just continued using the all-seasons tires I already have.
Nooooooooooooooooo!

You'll never want to mod anything if you do that, lol! ROI will run well past the average life span of your car if you crunch the numbers on a lot of mods (unless you use spare stuff you have laying around like I tend to do). In fact, most cars don't make sense if you crunch the numbers

3-Wheeler 04-29-2016 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Natalya (Post 512998)
..... I hear RE92's are crap in the snow.

Just my opinion, but I think the bigger issue is the staggered wheel spacing front/rear that affects the car in the winter. I get by just fine with the RE92's in snow.

I put 1" spacers on the rear wheels in the winter and that seems to help, but the back still tracks loosely in deep snow because of the wheel spacing difference.

Jim.

Natalya 05-04-2016 02:42 PM

Did some stuff today.
- Cleaned EGR Valve
- Replaced a broken ground cable
- Wired thermometer probe to a radiator hose

I also inspected the car for further aero mod potential. The next step will either be the front of the exhaust tunnel in front of the resonator near the second cat, or it will be directly in front of the gas tank. I haven't come up with a plan yet. The problem is I only have a set of ramps and it's hard to get the car high enough to work under the middle of the car.

Another mod I looked at was a grill block, but I'm not sure which area to do first, top or bottom. Does anyone have an upper or lower grill block template? I have a metal called Alpolic (2 thin aluminum sheets sandwiching a layer of black plastic) and it's in a dark silver colour similar to my car so I might use that but it's difficult to cut properly and I don't know how to do a lower block w/o damaging the bumper. I do know a way to do the upper grill w/o damaging anything so maybe I'll do that first.

I've also been doing an IMA stick "reconditioning" project. I had 20 used sticks of indeterminate condition from Hybrid Revolt and I did some cycling of them over the last month. I finally got a pack together and it's in the car now getting a final grid charge before I test it out. I don't think it will be excellent, but it should be better than the original IMA. I'm pretty sure the IMA had the original set of sticks from 15 years ago. We'll see what happens.

cowmeat 05-04-2016 06:33 PM

Quote:

I don't know how to do a lower block w/o damaging the bumper
Check out the lower grill blocks I put on my Insights - pretty sure I did a DIY on it somewhere on here. Over a year and they're still going strong, and without tearing up the bumper

Natalya 05-05-2016 10:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cowmeat (Post 513418)
Check out the lower grill blocks I put on my Insights - pretty sure I did a DIY on it somewhere on here. Over a year and they're still going strong, and without tearing up the bumper

IIRC yours make use of the black plastic louver looking trim thing that is attached down there. My car didn't have that piece when I bought it.

But that's okay because I made another underbody aero panel today!

http://www.lady-natalya.info/insight/aero-06.png

Front is on the left. This pic was taken before putting some thin aluminum sheet metal (that's being generous, the stuff is glorified aluminum foil it's so junky) to protect it from the exhaust pipe. The tab thing on the front goes on top of a thin metal bracket up front, just slides on top, and 4 small screws in the back go into the stock midbody aero panels. Don't hit the orange IMA wires.

Natalya 05-14-2016 09:24 AM

http://www.lady-natalya.info/insight/aero-07.png

Minor modifications to this panel. I did a 900 mile drive, at the end it was a little wonky so I made some changes.

You can see at the front of the panel (bottom) I put a notch where a bolt is sticking up. There's also a hole drilled to the right where another such bolt is, I just couldn't cut that part because the reverse has the sheet metal right there. Also, I chopped a new notch on the left and right out of the diagonal corner areas. That's to avoid it getting pinched on the lower control arm bracket.

You can also see at the back (top) the holes where I put the screws. Keep in mind this is lying upside down, the passenger side is on the right and the driver side is on the left. The other dots in two lines are rivets for the sheet metal.


http://www.lady-natalya.info/insight/aero-08.png

It fits pretty well now. You can also see I used some metal wire to tie it to the exhaust pipe just before the lower cat. This is to make sure it won't sag, similar to what I did in the back.

Natalya 05-25-2016 11:54 PM

http://www.lady-natalya.info/insight/new-grounds.jpg

New ground straps.

I ordered the same LED brake lights NoD~ has, waiting for them to come in. I also got oil and a filter to do an oil change, will probably do it this weekend or Friday.

Natalya 05-27-2016 12:01 AM

http://www.lady-natalya.info/insight...ing-lights.png

http://www.lady-natalya.info/insight...ake-lights.png

My LEDs came in. The driving lights are here:
https://www.superbrightleds.com/more...-car/206/6774/

I also got the reverse lights, not illuminated in these pics, but I used these:
https://www.superbrightleds.com/more...car/1127/2673/

And then yeah the brake ones are from Amazon. They are really bright, great find NoD~

Ecky 05-27-2016 06:55 AM

How are the LED reverse lights compared to the stock ones?

Natalya 05-27-2016 10:51 AM

I should have checked, but didn't. I just verified that they worked and hoped no one would ask about them lol. I mean, they seemed pretty bright I guess.

California98Civic 05-27-2016 12:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Natalya (Post 515185)
I should have checked, but didn't. I just verified that they worked and hoped no one would ask about them lol. I mean, they seemed pretty bright I guess.

I was happy with my LED backup lights at first, but over time I wished I had had the sense to go with the brighter LED option. The energy savings between my two LED options was miniscule. And eventually I realized I would like not just to signal other drivers that I am backing up, but a little more illumination of what I was backing towards. And now, after 4 years, one of the lightbulbs has failed. Lessons learned.

Natalya 06-03-2016 08:09 PM

http://www.lady-natalya.info/insight/aero-06.png

Modified that panel again. It looks like the length of the tab on the left side of the picture (front of panel) should be 2.5" instead of 2", so the entire panel should be 20.5" long.

What happened was I did an oil change and noticed my aluminum belly panel (immediately in front of this one) was fitting very tightly. Turns out it had warped the brackets it affixes to on the bottom of the radiator. I had those installed backwards, which was biasing the aluminum panel backward on the car, which meant I made this coroplast panel about half an inch too short.

After fixing the rad brackets and putting back the aluminum panel, the coroplast one was wont to pop out when driving because it was a little too loose. I fixed mine with extra wire and two zip ties and putting two more screws in the back, but I think that leaving it a little longer should do the trick for anyone else who makes one.

Natalya 06-16-2016 12:08 AM

http://www.lady-natalya.info/insight/scangauge.png

So at the recommendation of the people on IC I got a ScanGauge to measure my engine temperature. Check out the clean install I was able to do.

The wire is run through the cigarette lighter plug. I never use it for anything so I popped out the metal part which lets the CAT5 cable the SG uses fit through the opening. I used velcro to affix the gauge to the panel.

I think I'll use the thermometer thing I have to measure air temps at the intake now that the ScanGauge is giving me the water temperature.

Also, I removed my DRL fuse (Canadian car) so I don't have those running anymore. I did want some exterior illumination though (for safety) so now I drive with my lights set to the first position where the headlights are off, but the tail lights are illuminated and the little driving lights up front are going. I have LEDs for both of those so power consumption is probably still pretty low.

Ecky 06-16-2016 01:26 AM

Looks great! I'm starting to want some extra instrumentation.

Daox 06-16-2016 09:16 AM

What gauges do you guys use with your SG on the Insight?

Ecky 06-16-2016 10:24 AM

Using torque + my bluetooth dongle, I have displays for:

Barometric pressure
12v system voltage - shows when the DC-DC converter is running
Timing advance
Coolant temperature
Intake PSI
Intake Temperature
Throttle %
Load %

Some that I wish worked properly, but don't because of lean burn:
Fuel Flow
CO2 g/km
AFR

It would also be nice to know the true state of charge. I believe an OBDII C&C can give correct info for this stuff?

brucepick 06-23-2016 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Natalya (Post 514166)
http://www.lady-natalya.info/insight/aero-07.png

Minor modifications to this panel. I did a 900 mile drive, at the end it was a little wonky so I made some changes.

You can see at the front of the panel (bottom) I put a notch where a bolt is sticking up. There's also a hole drilled to the right where another such bolt is, I just couldn't cut that part because the reverse has the sheet metal right there. Also, I chopped a new notch on the left and right out of the diagonal corner areas. That's to avoid it getting pinched on the lower control arm bracket.

You can also see at the back (top) the holes where I put the screws. Keep in mind this is lying upside down, the passenger side is on the right and the driver side is on the left. The other dots in two lines are rivets for the sheet metal.


http://www.lady-natalya.info/insight/aero-08.png

It fits pretty well now. You can also see I used some metal wire to tie it to the exhaust pipe just before the lower cat. This is to make sure it won't sag, similar to what I did in the back.

I think this covers the gap between the original front aero panel set, and the twin plastic panels that run on either side of the exhaust system? Correct? I've been wanting to build a panel to do that - thanks for sharing yours.

My car's cross bar - at the forward edge of this panel you installed - has four screws that hold the original panels in place. I thought I'd attach my new mid-panel using those screws. Mine is a 2000, it might be a bit different from your 2001. My threaded tubes for the screws were pretty well shot, screws would never tighten up. I put in longer screws and a nut at the top of the tube, now they hold just fine.

Natalya 06-24-2016 01:16 AM

If you make that panel make sure it is 20.5" long instead of the 20" in the diagram. I had bent some stuff out of shape by accident before I made the panel.

Also, if you have issues with it popping out of place (probably shouldn't if you go for 20.5") drill two small holes in the metal cross bar and then two small holes near the front corners of the panel and use zip ties really tight between the panel and the metal cross bar. But yeah if you go 20.5" I doubt you'll need to do the zip ties.

Also, note that in the second picture of mine you quoted, the aluminum panel in front of the coroplast one is a custom panel, it isn't stock. I never had the three stock panels you mentioned.

Natalya 08-18-2016 09:55 PM

http://www.lady-natalya.info/insight/RE92-sidewall.png
I got a set of new RE92's. Made in 2016.


http://www.lady-natalya.info/insight...t-2016-900.png
Here they are on the car. I'm back on Insight rims instead of VX rims.

Also, you can see the license plate is now sorta bent around the nose instead of on a mount. And at some point I removed the rear wiper and antenna.

I also have my EFAS switch (from the other thread) installed. I think I'll try to get a better switch for it though.

NoD~ 08-24-2016 07:38 AM

^^^ I'm Jelly. I'll be making that tire upgrade next year some time, with any luck. What PSI you gonna roll?

Natalya 08-24-2016 11:34 PM

Right now I'm at sidewall max, which I think is 44. I might go to 50, but they aren't quite broken in yet.

MetroMPG 08-25-2016 01:11 PM

So... are the RE92's still in production?

Do you happen to know if anyone has systematically compared RE92 RR against the Enasaves that come in the same size on the Mirage?

Natalya 08-30-2016 07:54 AM

On Insight Central they start a tire thread about every 4 months but the consensus always lands on RE92 unless they get talking about snow.

However, none of them have done ABA testing against any other tire types or actually measured anything. If I had access to a set of Enasaves on Insight rims I would do the testing myself, but of course why would anyone have both sets at the same time?

It looks to me like RE92's are still being made, I mean that stamp says 2016, but I guess they could have stopped after my batch was produced. Tire Rack had availability issues with them earlier in the year but now they're back. I got mine 2 days after placing the order.

Baltothewolf 08-30-2016 08:06 AM

They only make a certain amount each year, but they are still making them.

MetroMPG 08-30-2016 11:17 AM

The Mirage bolt pattern fits Honda, so it should be a relatively easy task to compare with a low speed coastdown test.

I'm sure one day it'll happen.

cowmeat 08-30-2016 12:20 PM

Quote:

On Insight Central they start a tire thread about every 4 months but the consensus always lands on RE92 unless they get talking about snow.
Not sure how much faith I put in all that hoopla about the RE92s. They're okay tires, and I do have them on my current Insight, but . . .

I drove my kid's car (my old Insight Turtle) for a week a couple of months ago and at the time it still had Michelin Energy Savers on it (he has since put on the new RE92s I bought a while back)

I pulled the same mpg (mid 70's) in his car as I typically do in Ron Burgundy, driving the same exact route to work in the same weather, etc . . . leaving me to wonder just how much difference there really is between brands of LRR tires

MetroMPG 08-30-2016 01:23 PM

Even space saver donuts at 70 PSI can't touch the legendary RE92's. :D

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...e92-19126.html

Xist 08-31-2016 12:12 AM

What about donut rims with (vinyl?) covers and real tires? :)

Ecky 08-31-2016 12:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cowmeat (Post 521758)
Not sure how much faith I put in all that hoopla about the RE92s. They're okay tires, and I do have them on my current Insight, but . . .

I drove my kid's car (my old Insight Turtle) for a week a couple of months ago and at the time it still had Michelin Energy Savers on it (he has since put on the new RE92s I bought a while back)

I pulled the same mpg (mid 70's) in his car as I typically do in Ron Burgundy, driving the same exact route to work in the same weather, etc . . . leaving me to wonder just how much difference there really is between brands of LRR tires

They're certainly quieter than Energy Savers. I've 2 energy savers and 2 RE92's on my car, and I put the Michelins in the back because there's a lot more road noise when I have them up front. The Michelins seem to last a lot longer, and may have a better ROI, but I have no complaints about RE92's.

Natalya 08-31-2016 12:18 PM

I got lots of stuff done to the car at Insight Fest 2016. It's too bad none of y'all made it.


http://www.lady-natalya.info/insight...ng-install.png

New rear shocks and stiffer springs. I don't think this is an eco mod.


http://www.lady-natalya.info/insight...rill-cover.png

But this might be. My car was missing the lower grill cover, I got one for free at Insight Fest.


http://www.lady-natalya.info/insight...o-wire-fix.png

It's hard to see what I did here, but this panel was sagging. While I had it on the lift I used some stainless steel wire (barely visible as a small dark line to the left of the cut-out for the shocks) tied around the exhaust to pull the panel up a bit.


http://www.lady-natalya.info/insight...ero-panels.png

Here's the car on the lift. You can see my front panel and the custom aluminum panel up there. My main rear panel was removed at this time, but my two smaller rear panels are visible.

Vman455 08-31-2016 02:15 PM

I was there Friday; seeing pictures of your car now, I think we talked a bit IRL, actually!

Natalya 08-31-2016 09:21 PM

Oh you know what, I saw your car and remembered it from this site. The blue pizza pan wheels, I'd recognize those anywhere.

Xist 09-01-2016 12:09 PM

I think you should photoshop out the lift and pretend it is an action shot of your car making a wicked jump.


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