2010 Insight -- Hyper Black

[Natalya]

Cross-posting from IC -- I got some more LEDs for the ZE2. Now if I use the first light switch position it's only using LEDs. (Already replaced the front side-marker and driving-light bulbs.)



Yesterday I replaced my reverse lights and rear side-marker lights with LEDs. In the above photo the left one has been replaced, while the stock bulb is in the right. It's pretty bright outside, so it's hard to tell, but the LEDs are way brighter than the stock bulb.




This is one of the new reverse LEDs in the housing, it's a large boxy rectangular thing.




The rear side-marker light is seen here slightly above the rest of the stock LED fixtures. For this I used a red LED.




These are the packages, I got them off of Amazon.

The new reverse lights are wayyyy brighter than stock. I reversed down the driveway last night and even from the top of the driveway, about 120 feet away, that whole side of the house was illuminated, along with the driveway itself. The red side-markers are also brighter than stock, but not to the same degree.

[Natalya]

ScanGauge II installed above the speedometer. It's a little crooked in this photo, I adjusted it after and it's straight now. I wish I could have gotten its wire to go through the windshield defroster duct, but it didn't work out. I'll have to take apart the entire dash if I want to do that.




I also made a coroplast partial radiator block. It blocks a little over 50% of the radiator surface, probably like 60%. It looks beat up because it was previously a lower aero panel on the silver G1, but it wasn't the right size so it got damaged when it was used in that capacity, and I was tired of reattaching it every so often. So I sacrificed it to make this rad block.

I wrote the measurements on it so anyone else with a G2 Insight can easily copy it. It fits really well.




Like my G1 coroplast rad block it sits in front of the radiator with a tab on the top so you can easily remove it.


And I don't have photos, but I installed a dash cam, it hides in front of the rear view mirror, and is wired through the driver's side A-pillar down to an extra 12v socket I installed hidden from view behind the stock 12V socket.

[RedDevil]

Some concerns.
Does that block the A/C radiator as well? I'd prefer to leave that open.

This will also force the air over the radiator, so the air intake snorkel (would be on the right just outside last pictures frame) will only get more cold air than it does already.
Lukewarm air seems to get best FE at low loads...
But your SC shows '28°cIA' so you appear to be doing fine. What am I missing?

FWIW, I've blocked the grill instead of the radiator to good result, it does raise the air intake temp somewhat without having to remove the snorkel and also seems to aid FE a few %, though that is always hard to measure precisely.

I only ran into trouble once, on a very hot (40°C on the nose) day gridlocked for hours with my then little boy aboard. Had to run A/C all the time. Saw the air intake temp rise hover round 50°C all the time, then suddenly it went up to 70 within a minute.
I was about to get out and rip the grill blocks off, but at the same time the jam dispersed, we got moving for a mile or two at speed and everything went back to normal.

[iveyjh]

Drawbacks // Risks:
Is the money really worth it? That's the main question. With Uber I think (so far from a very limited time doing it) that I might be in the black. Uber doesn't seem to pay as much down here as it did in Canada, but to be fair the US dollar is stronger. However, in my first 3 days of part-time driving I was able to recoup the monthly insurance premium. But honestly it's too early to tell.

Will passengers or all the miles destroy the value of the car? I feel like I got a sweet deal on it, but I have to acknowledge that knowing me I will almost certainly spend some money to make it better. For example, I'll likely get LED brake lights and turn signals, I'll get two more LRR tires, and I want to change the CVT fluid and filters sooner than later. So the total price isn't going to be $6853, it's going to be higher. I am keeping receipts so I can write off stuff on my taxes. For example I had to get a suction cup windshield mount for my phone, so I've got that receipt. I'll also keep them for gas and for the expenses mentioned above. In any case, add everything up, I'll want to exceed that plus what I paid for the car before the car bites the dust. I am optimistic, I think I can do it and then make a profit afterwards.

You will probably do better just claiming mileage on your taxes. IRS allows 53.5 cents per mile. I would do some calcs and estimates if I were you. Keep receipts and compare, I usually come out better with mileage.

[S Keith]

If the vehicle is EVER used for personal use, tax deductions get extremely sticky. Any expenses have to be ratioed with documented personal/business uses. In the vast majority of cases, the mileage deduction is the best option unless you're willing to document every mile on the car.

Also "upgrades" that aren't explicitly required for business use are hard to claim as deductions. Even worse if the car is used for non-business activities of any kind.

IMHO, "destroying the value of the car" isn't relevant if you're using it to generate revenue, particularly if you're going to make enough to pay for the car several times over its revenue-generating lifetime. If you spend X on an asset to generate revenue, and you generate 4X in revenue, the end value of the asset is very small compared to the revenue dollars.

[Natalya]

@RedDevil
I think I took the ScanGauge pic before I made the block. That said, I don't see myself using the block in warmer months. Last year during the summer I took the block out of my G1 and didn't put it back until winter. I have it in there because recently its been taking the car a while to get up to operating temperature. That will of course change as we move towards spring.

Intake air temp is a whole different situation, I'd like to maintain a higher IAT, but like you said that's either going to be a grill block or a WAI. I haven't had time to inspect the air intake to see how feasible a WAI would be on the G2.

@Ridesharing Economics
I have what I consider my "real" job and I do Uber//Lyft on the side. My real job is incredibly variable in terms of hours I can work, due to business volume and even day to day fluctuations. I also don't party as much as other people my age, so I can drive the high demand hours on the weekend. The point of this car was to guarantee a second income in case demand at my "real" job should get low for a long period.

But, to your point, not 100% of the milage is for ridesharing. It's a lot bigger than the G1 so I've used it to carry large stuff and carpooled with my derby team mates and whatnot. That's why I have been keeping a log of the odometer every time I ride share (with dates too) and how far I went while doing that. And I have all my receipts -- gas, phone holder, transmission fluid change stuff (did it myself), etc.

So is it worth it? I guess it depends how long I do this, how long I keep the car, what kind of fuel economy I get out of it, what I sell it for in the end, and the low price I paid for it. Currently my real job has been doing well, so I've been working there a lot, and not doing much ride sharing. But usually around March we slow down, so who knows right? Also this is good for me in other non-financial ways. I can be shy and I don't have great social skills. This exposes me to lots of random people and is helping me interact better with people. That's a positive I didn't expect when I started doing this. Anyway, only time will tell how it works out.

[Natalya]

Yesterday I installed brake drag reduction clips. I did a write-up on Insight Central, but it's really easy and took less than an hour.

These are the ones I got at Amazon.com -- Raybestos H6001



Only thing you gotta watch out for is to make sure that you get the little ends of the clips in the right notches. You can see one here at the end of the blue arrow, that's where the ends need to be. It's easy to get the side facing you but harder to tell if the one on the inside the wheel well is facing the right way, so use a mirror or a cell phone to verify proper installation.

[Natalya]

New best tank on this car, 53.34 mpg. Hypermiling to the extreme -- I was going 50 in 65 zones, frequently not even getting up to 35 on a lot of normal roads, hanging out in the right lane, killing the engine then neutral coasting backwards to park in some spaces, trying to not use the HVAC system, etc. It's hard to maintain this driving style over the life of a tank, especially since you're pushing the car farther and farther and it lasts longer. I got to 502.1 miles, and could have gone further, but this represents 10 days in a row of driving like a turtle.



I should look at doing a WAI and an aerodynamic grill block and an underbody aero panel at the very back of the car. LED headlights might also help, but that's mucho denero. I'm glad everything else (except turn signals) is now LEDs because when I'm going slow I'll put the sidemarker lights on as I'm driving so that people see me.

Also, I haven't gotten to rideshare recently. I've been sick for a week, and my real job is really busy. I need to get back to that once I feel better.

[bikeprof]

Wow ! That's a LOT of work you've been doing...
I'm getting ~50-51 MPG all the time, even freeway speeds(usually not over 68 MPH).
Get the latest computer download, this helped my G2 get an extra 4 per gallon !
I'll get info for you mañana... ��

[Natalya]

My difficulty in getting good MPG probably also has something to do with my commute. In my G1 I struggle to get the numbers other people cay they can get with ease, and I've modded that car way more than this one. There's a big elevation change and there is only one flat portion of the trip, everything else is hills.