Chili - 2000 Honda Insight Thread

[ME_Andy]

I'm happy for you! And slightly jealous

[BabyDiesel]

Originally Posted by ME_Andy

I'm happy for you! And slightly jealous

Thank you Me Andy! Be jealous!

Originally Posted by cowmeat

Not with that IMA disabled you won't. The car will still get pretty amazing mpg without the IMA or lean burn, but it's a dog without it.

I found that out today leaving a stop light that ended early and left me scrambling due to cars coming up on me at 45-50 mph!

How much mpg do you think I'm sacrificing by not having lean burn? Separately, IMA?

Amazing mpg is right! With no mods other than DBFCD (Drive By FCD), folded in mirrors and high tire pressure, I got 78.4 mpg over 81.5 miles up to Fort Leonard Wood! I drove faster coming back and managed 73.5. Combined for 75.95 mpg over 163 miles

[Ecky]

I doubt lean burn is worth more than maybe 5mpg on average, but it depends on some variables, such as how fast you're driving. Cruising along at 30-40 on flat roads you'd be at very low loads without lean burn, whereas at ~60 (close to the max speed you can get in lean burn) the gains are much smaller, since the throttle plate is still relatively open and load pretty high even at stoich. The Insight's engine runs very well at low RPM and I expect 130+ might be achievable with hyperinflated tires cruising along at ~30 in 5th using lean burn, and you wouldn't come close to that without it.

Pulse and glide in lean burn at ~50 in good weather:




Steady cruising in lean burn at ~50 in good weather:




The IMA system probably helps more in the city, where regenerative braking can recapture some energy, but mostly it has to do with drivability. The Insight has gobs of torque at low RPM when you have a healthy battery.

[BabyDiesel]

It has been a hectic 3 weeks since I last posted! This is going to be a pretty huge update. I have collected a lot of data, driven a lot of miles and done quite a bit of work with the Insight. Mostly general maintenance has been done, but I have snuck a few ecomods in.

I'm gonna try to get this done before I go to work. Let's do this!!!

First off, I have to share some of my more noteable trip mileage figures. This car never ceases to amaze me at what fuel economy it can get, whether in town or on the highway.

This is my best trip yet. It was low traffic conditions right after nightfall. I started in Mountain Grove after delivering a friend some items. I got lost 3 miles into the trip back! I luckily got back on the right route quickly. Then it was 55 mph cruising back to West Plains with driving by the MPG gauge on small hills (bled off speed going up) and drafting semis to maintain speed up longer inclines.



My trip up to MG was 75.4 mpg!

Daytime trip to Springfield averaging around 60 mph



Coming back from Springfield



Another trip to and from Springfield

[BabyDiesel]

I had my first F-E tank in the Insight last week! This deserved a post to itself, because I am proud of both me and the car

I recorded 713.8 miles on my first tank!



It took 10.237 gallons to fill up. Hand calculated FE comes out to 69.7 mpg, which is what you see in my signature

I seriously thought I was going to run out of gas trying to push the tank over 700 miles...

[BabyDiesel]

Pic dump!

This is some kind of charger the PO hooked up to the battery pack. I can't recall what the name of it is.



Aero mod #1 - Removed rear wiper



Aero mod #2 - Removed POS antenna



Went to Springfield and picked up some MT fluid for a peace-of-mind change.



Gotta love working at an oil shop that lets you use their bay



Pic of the fill and drain plugs on the Insight's manual transmission



The fluid change was an easy job. I worked at it slow and was done in 30 minutes. The old fluid did not look bad coming out, but when compared to the new fluid, it was more opaque. My guess is the additives in the oil had worn out before the actual base oils, but this is an assumption, not scientific by any means. No metal flakes or sludge came out!

The transmission loved the new oil. It definitely shifts smoother into all gears. The grind going into second has vastly improved. I do know the synchros are worn, but this gives me confidence that the wear is minimal.

[ECO-AKJ]

Congrats on everything, I love coming down the hill at 60 and 65 interchange, coast it all the way to the turn off

[BabyDiesel]

Thank you FordMan! Yep, that is one of my favorite spots along the route!

I'm heading up to Springfield in a few minutes actually. I'm getting more maintenance items; i.e. air filter, thermostat, spark plugs and maybe a cabin air filter. Wish there was a dealership closer to me...

Other things I have planned for today include an oil treatment, fuel system cleaning, EGR cleaning, coolant flush and fill.

Might be more if my subconscious wanders while I drive up to Springfield

I'm really wanting to get 3 more Insight spares soon. I plan on getting a new set of RE92's when I have 4 spare wheels to mount them on. They will be professionally painted in a different color before they go on my car. I do not want to look as if Ronald McDonald went eco crazy.

[ECO-AKJ]

I actually have mine in the shop getting the oil changed to 0W20 Mobil FE oil with a Motorcraft 400S filter, and then balancing tires and pumping them up to 60PSI, currently have Goodyear Viva 3's on the car, they were new on the car when I bought it back last November, also, first oil change since getting the car, I also am doing the fuel filter, which I do every 10K miles

[BabyDiesel]

I hate that I've not been able to update this thread as often as I would like. I'm having a blast with the Insight! It is by far the vehicle I've had the most fun driving ever! It's 67 horsepower is proving itself

I recently encountered an overheating problem in the Insight. Every so often, the car would run around 224-230* constantly on the highway. I wasn't complaining because my fuel economy was higher at these temps (my only 80+ mpg highway trip was at these temps). But coming back from Springfield, ironically, to get a new thermostat, gasket and spark plugs, My temps shot up to 270*!

I limped it back home and immediately got it into my workplace's bay to work on it. After consulting Insight Central for proper procedure and going to YouTube (for an awesome annotated video, my system had A LOT of air in it. It was idling and the coolant temps were 230! after purging the system and finding the possible culprit (the overflow tank was missing the hose going down into the container, thus drawing air instead of coolant. This is my educated assumption), the car idled at 172* and now runs at 198-202* constantly while cruising. Which is a lil high, but I don't have lean burn. So I expect excess heat over an Insight with Lean Burn.

Edit: Here is Ecky's procedure on his thread, an excellent write up!