70mpg @ -13F

[Ecky]

Yesterday morning I got up at 5AM to plug in my Insight. I have a 1000w electric heater for the cabin, 12v charger and 400w block heater all tied to one plug in the front.

At 8AM I got on the road toward my father's, with the outside temperature at -10F. The Insight started using its backup 12v starter. The clutch and transmission felt like they were full of jelly.




The roads were not great.




However, after around 3 miles the coolant was fully up to temperature and I was able to stay in lean burn as much as I wanted. Although I can easily tell based on how the car feels and what the FCD says, a 0v reading from the secondary O2 sensor confirms lean burn.




My simple WAI plus full grille block allowed for intake temperatures around 80 degrees above outside air temperature.

After 27 miles and around 50 minutes of driving, I arrived at my father's place a bit higher up in the mountains, with 62.7mpg on the FCD. Temperatures at his house were a bit lower:




From there, I took him to his medical appointment. Despite the forecast to warm up a bit, temperatures never went above 0F for the entire day and, although coolant temperature leveled off after the first 5 minutes, it clearly took a lot longer to get the other fluids up to temperature. As the car continued to warm up, the FCD gradually crept up to a hair over 70mpg average before I had him back home. I imagine that, even at these temperatures, on an extended trip over level ground I could probably get up to nearly 80mpg.

[MetroMPG]

Thermal management FTW!

[ECO-AKJ]

What app do you use to monitor temps like in picture?

[Ecky]

I have a cheap ELM327 bluetooth dongle which plugs into the OBD II port, which I pair with my smartphone. That app is Torque for Android.

[elhigh]

Nice. Super nice.

In nice weather my HCH has five bars showing on the coolant temp before I get to the interstate. This morning, at 24 degrees, I was on the interstate another two miles before I got that last bar.

Time for grille blocks.

[Ecky]

Had a "warm" spell come through briefly yesterday and I had to unblock part of my grille when it got above 20F as I was getting up near 212F. It's back down below zero today though.

[Daox]

I drove about 200 miles home last night in the Prius. The trip started at 0F, and by the time we were home it was -9F. The Prius fared well, but it sure took a hit in the MPG department. I filled up before we left and managed a record low of 37.x mpg on the way home. About 1/4 of the trip is at 55 mph, and the rest at 70 mph. I didn't even get fully up to temperature until hitting the 70 mph zone as the heater use kept the engine at about 175F.

[NoD~]

Dang... I can't even get my Insight out of my driveway! lol. Snowtires are necessary for that beast

Glad to see about the Torque app, since I just ordered a bluetooth obd2 module!

And congrats! I was getting below 70MPG on my short drives to work, even with it being in the garage with 2 hours of preheating AND it wasn't even below 20*F out!

[AlaricD]

Originally Posted by Ecky

Yesterday morning I got up at 5AM to plug in my Insight. I have a 1000w electric heater for the cabin, 12v charger and 400w block heater all tied to one plug in the front.

I'd probably use a timer, myself. Or an X10 controller or similar.

Here in Oklahoma, people have given my wife a hard time about the electrical plug sticking out of the grill-- "Is this an electric car? It's pretty loud for electric, LOL" and all that... But having clear windows before leaving the driveway and nearly full heat 2 blocks down the road is amazing, and the fuel economy ('01 Corolla) is a lot better with the heat than without it. But your mileage? That's just absolutely AMAZING.

Maybe I should also add a small electric heater to the interior. Did you run a cord through a grommet in the firewall, or just stick a cord out the window or something like that?

[Ecky]

I have a smart power strip which I used as a timer until I moved most recently, but my internet service is so unreliable that there hasn't been a single morning that it's still connected when I got up, and it's not quite smart enough to resync itself.

For the heater, I picked up a 3-setting cheapo from Walmart and ran a power cord through the firewall, to provide an outlet in the hatch area without needing to run a second cord to the car. I use it for my grid charger too, sometimes.