Honda Insight w/Acura TSX engine - Ecomodding

[ksa8907]

Question: does it have to be a k series engine? Perhaps a lowly d17a1 or even the d17 used in the lean burning hx?

[samwichse]

Oh hey, you've got CR-Z seats installed. Nice...

[Ecky]

Originally Posted by ksa8907

Question: does it have to be a k series engine? Perhaps a lowly d17a1 or even the d17 used in the lean burning hx?

Nobody makes D series mounts for the Insight. The suspension is different and the spindles won't bolt up to the Insight's control arms. Also, the D series engines spin in the opposite direction, so all of the accessories are on opposite sides of the engine bay. An L-series engine would be easier than a D series, but still harder than a K.

Fun fact, I believe the K20A3 has lean burn. There's even a Japanese K20 from the early 2000's which leans out to a mind-boggling 65:1 AFR.

EDIT: Part of the point of this is to keep 60mpg potential, while also having similar straight-line acceleration to a Lamborghini Diablo.

[Ecky]

A swap from an 03-07 Accord would be a lot easier and cheaper, for what it's worth. I'm choosing not to go with the Accord engine because 1) The Civic Si engine has more horsepower, torque, and better fuel economy, 2) The Civic Si has a taller transmission with more gears, 3) The Civic Si has a limit slip, very useful in winter.

Here's a nearly complete list of what you'd need for the Accord swap:

From the doner car:
-K24 engine out of an 03-07 Accord
-Accord transmission
-Factory Accord ECU
-Accord engine bay wiring harness
-Catalytic converters, resonators, muffler (if you choose to keep emissions systems)

Additional parts:
-Rywire or Wirewox or CJs harness adapters (CJ is cheapest)- let the Accord harness "talk" to the car's body harness ($200) - you could in theory do this yourself for nothing if you're very good with electrical diagrams
-Civic EM2, EP3 or DC5 spindles (also called knuckle) (4 lug EP3 is 2002-2003) (Might be <$20 from junkyard)
-02-05 Civic front lower control arm ball joint adapters (fits EM2/DC5/EP3 spindles and lower ball joint) - *IMPORTANT* With these adapters, machining of the stock lower control arm will be required, needs to be drilled out slightly. You may or may not be able to do this, but a machine shop could do it in 10 minutes. ProfessionalAwesome has these for $150.
-~2.25-2.5" exhaust ($$??)
-Hasport engine mounts (no price yet, but could be ~$500 on the upper end)
-axles will be specific to engine placement, we'll know this once Hasport has their mounts out

And that's it. The Accord engine is almost a perfect drop-in replacement, and everything else is off the shelf. It's also still cable throttle, and the Insight's throttle cable will bolt right up. Any other swap requires fabrication and/or additional parts.

[Ecky]

It occurs to me, now that the hybrid system is disabled, I'm competing in a different "weight class". I can move my car over to the conventional gasoline vehicles category.

Feels like cheating.

[MetroMPG]

I competed in one of the Montreal eco-rallies with the regular gasoline cars by switching off the hybrid battery in my Insight (RIP).

[California98Civic]

Originally Posted by Ecky

...

Feels like cheating.

It ain't cheating.

[Ecky]

Originally Posted by California98Civic

It ain't cheating.

I averaged 78mpg on my way to work this morning, and overall it's uphill. We'll see how I do on the way home. Stop and go is less forgiving without the battery in the back.




While I wait on my custom final drive to be made, I'm going to replace the DC-DC converter in the back with a phase rectifier and 20 year newer DC-DC converter, allowing me to remove another 50-100lbs from the car and get better conversion efficiency.

[Baltothewolf]

Originally Posted by ksa8907

Question: does it have to be a k series engine? Perhaps a lowly d17a1 or even the d17 used in the lean burning hx?

Just incase anyone ever thinks of doing this, you can't. The D/Bseries engines spin counter-clockwise. The Eca1 from the insight (as well as the K motors) spin clockwise.

[Ecky]

Originally Posted by Baltothewolf

Just incase anyone ever thinks of doing this, you can't. The D/Bseries engines spin counter-clockwise. The Eca1 from the insight (as well as the K motors) spin clockwise.

I think "can't" is putting it a bit too strongly - it will be difficult and expensive. I've seen a B series put in an Insight, and they also spin counterclockwise, and are physically larger than the D series (or even K series).