2006 Honda Insight MT Build Thread

[mpg_numbers_guy]

My "Superflex Ozite Automotive Carpet" sampler from yourautotrim.com came today. "Medium Dark Pewter" (color id 2077) is an almost identical match to the Insight's beige/gray interior ('05 - '06 Insights). This is the same carpet that Natalya used when she redid her Insight's carpet (link to her write up).

Since the color so closely matches the Insight's, I will probably just end up recarpeting the rear post IMA delete, rather than the entire car, even though I'd rather go with a black or gray interior (I'm cheap ). Plus, I'll probably end up recarpeting the whole car if/when I do a lithium or long-range EV conversion many years down the road when I can hopefully afford it.

The actual color of the carpet is slightly darker than the sample shown in the picture from the website and isn't blotchy. Those with '05 or '06 Insights will know what I mean. All the colors are slightly off in the picture than in the actual sample, and there are some colors, like white, that don't seem to be available anymore. The current list of color options is available on their site here.

[mpg_numbers_guy]

I did it! I finally broke over 100 MPG for a trip! This was the return trip from the gas station (85.74 MPG tank, new record). Trip to the gas station was 92.3 MPG on a cold engine, and the return trip was 103.6 MPG!! First time over 100 MPG for a trip!! Negligible elevation change between the gas station and home although I do have to drive on 0.6 miles of dirt road to get to any paved road, which costs me a few MPG on these trips. I was at 108.9 MPG before I hit the last 0.6 miles of dirt road leading to my house. Sorry, I'm excited.

[Ecky]

Now do it again, but father.

[mpg_numbers_guy]

Originally Posted by Ecky

Now do it again, but father.

I've gotten over 100 MPG every time on my drive back home from work so far - highest is 106.6 MPG - but only 85-95 MPG on the drive in on a cold engine. Unfortunately right now, other than pizza delivery driving when I can't hypermile, all my driving is just short 6.5 mile drives to work and back.

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Added some more rear underbody paneling to the Insight today.

In the picture, the front panel is one that goes from Scott's aluminum belly pan up to the downstream catalytic converter. Both that one and the dirty rear one in the back have been installed for a couple thousand miles now. The smaller piece on the left helps fill in some of the gaps, and the larger panel on the right fills in most of the poor aero there in the exhaust area. Coroplast is at least 1 1/4 inches away from any exhaust piping or muffler. I may add some aluminum sheeting if I find that it still doesn't hold up to the heat.

All panels are attached securely with zip ties in either stock holes or small holes drilled into the stock plastic underbody panels. Panels also each overlap by 1-2 inches to prevent any gaps, and Tyvek tape was used to seal up the areas where they meet. So far Tyvek tape has proven much more durable in harsh weather than duct tape.

Would it be a bad idea to extend the underbody paneling underneath the suspension components up front and in the rear?

How about the center where the catalytic converter, resonator, and more exhaust piping reside? Should I do aluminum there or coroplast? Also worried about heat being trapped if I were do add a panel there, which might mess up some stuff in the surrounding area.

[cowmeat]

How about the center where the catalytic converter, resonator, and more exhaust piping reside? Should I do aluminum there or coroplast? Also worried about heat being trapped if I were do add a panel there, which might mess up some stuff in the surrounding area.

Mine was coroplast (pallet liners) from about the middle of the car all the way to the rear. I cut out around the cat and tailpipe and it held up for a long time

I had forgotten til I pulled up the pic I had used a Harry's sign (free version of Scott's aluminum pan) for the front under the engine bay.

https://ecomodder.com/forum/showthre...tml#post507791

The two pics were from the day I added the belly pan and over a year later during an oil change

[mpg_numbers_guy]

Replaced the front speakers with Polk DB652s. Sound much better than the stock speakers. I think they're great, but of course audio quality is a highly subjective thing. Will replace the rear speakers with DB652s as well when I rebuild the rear post-IMA delete.

Also got a plug in to cover the hole in the hatch glass after deleting the rest of the rear wiper and motor.

Had the upstream catalytic rust out on me last week. New catalytic and hardware will arrive Thursday.

No pics at the moment until I'm less busy and get more work done. Still been averaging over 90 MPG, and around 75 MPG doing pizza deliveries.

[NoD~]

Originally Posted by mpg_numbers_guy

Replaced the front speakers with Polk DB652s. Sound much better than the stock speakers. I think they're great, but of course audio quality is a highly subjective thing. Will replace the rear speakers with DB652s as well when I rebuild the rear post-IMA delete.

I think those are the same speakers I have. Great for the money! That said, here's what I suggest...

Ditch the rear speakers. They won't really add much. Instead, use your rear outputs to get a pair of tweets on your dash. It raises the sound state by quite a bit and adds some of the high end lost from the off-axis of the floor speakers (and gives you more high end when you have a passenger or stuff in the way of the speaker). This is what I did.

With that in mind, you do have to protect the tweeter with a high pass crossover. My deck (Kenwood) actually has that built in, so I programmed mine to highpass at I think around 6 or 8 Khz. The lower, the better... but it depends on your tweets. Mine are some cheap OEM ones I had laying around so I can't pass them very low without blowing them (thankfully, I had a box of 100 of them to experiment with...) Otherwise, you'll have to buy or build a crossover (unless it comes with whatever tweeter).

Anywho, just my suggestion. Good luck!

[Ecky]

My rears actually add a lot.

[NoD~]

Originally Posted by Ecky

My rears actually add a lot.

Rear, in general, only add decibels. In my many years of stereo building (home and car audio), the rears often take away from the sound stage. When given the option, you want as much up front as you can VS adding to the rear. If sound stage isn't a concern, I have no argument.

[Ecky]

Originally Posted by NoD~

Rear, in general, only add decibels. In my many years of stereo building (home and car audio), the rears often take away from the sound stage. When given the option, you want as much up front as you can VS adding to the rear. If sound stage isn't a concern, I have no argument.

Bass response in the door speakers was pathetic until I mounted my speakers to the door frame and completely sealed it. Most bass was coming from the rear deck.

Of course, I have a sub now so I can compensate but the character of the system changed a lot.