Honda Insight w/Acura TSX engine - Ecomodding

[Ecky]

Sometimes I do miss it being stock.

I definitely do some mental gymnastics to justify the time and energy.

[Ecky]

A few more maintenance items checked off:

-I replaced my rear bump stops with those from a 99-07 Chevy Silverado. Rather than hard rubber, they're made of a hollow foam bellow, which fully compresses to the same height but engages sooner and is more progressive. Detroit's roads are wicked punishing and this should help - the rear really doesn't have a ton of travel.

-While I was at it, I swapped the rear springs for some fresh ones. I'm using aftermarket springs from a Daewoo which have ~30% higher spring rate, also to prevent the suspension from bottoming out. One of my previous Daewoo springs rusted through and the top coil broke off, leaving one rear corner sitting slightly lower. I took 1/4 a coil from these, aiming for ~6.75" between the jack points and the ground, or around 7 inches from the rockers. The front sits half an inch lower due to extra weight on stock springs. There's an aftermarket set of digressive coilovers in the works, and when they're released I'll lift the front a quarter inch or so.

-I had an ABS light for the rear left ABS sensor, open circuit. Chased that fault all over the car until I found a bit of corrosion in a connector under the dash. ABS is working again.

-Looks like I'm going to need one brake line soon - also in the rear left. I have the materials, just hoping I can get away with leaving it be until after winter.

-OEM Honda S2000 steering wheel buttons now work to control my aftermarket cruise control. I ended up needing to put a bunch of resistors in various places and steal power from the horn bracket because I was short one wire through the clock spring to make it all work. What luxury! Factory hardwired cruise buttons.

-Based on a suggestion from MakitaDiesel, I dialed my idle valve duty cycle back a bit, which resulted in my cold idle being much lower. Should save some fuel!

-I swapped out my thermostat for one with a wider mouth, and blocked more of the front grille.

I also lost a trailer light recently, pulling my cargo trailer at 70mph with a 60mph headwind. I welded some new brackets and got some lower profile and more aero lights. The trailer could use some further aero optimizing.

[MeteorGray]

Originally Posted by Ecky

A few more maintenance items checked off:

...I also lost a trailer light recently, pulling my cargo trailer at 70mph with a 60mph headwind. I welded some new brackets and got some lower profile and more aero lights. The trailer could use some further aero optimizing.

Wow! What engine was towing that load? It takes a lot of HP to pull at an effective airspeed of 130MPH!

The fuel consumption and bill must have been horrendous. :-0

[Ecky]

Originally Posted by MeteorGray

Wow! What engine was towing that load? It takes a lot of HP to pull at an effective airspeed of 130MPH!

The fuel consumption and bill must have been horrendous. :-0

2.4L engine, only turning around 2300rpm.

During gusts I was seeing as low as 18mpg on the display.

Edit: added most recent engine bay picture:

[MetroMPG]

Nice to read some updates on this!

Vermont (right ?) to Metro Detroit? Condolences.

Originally Posted by Ecky

-I had an ABS light for the rear left ABS sensor, open circuit. Chased that fault all over the car until I found a bit of corrosion in a connector under the dash. ABS is working again.

I assume you had some kind of reader to tell you which sensor was reporting?

Currently the dash in Mirage #3 is lit up like a Christmas tree. Appropriate for the season, but the cause is, I think, a damaged wheel speed sensor wire.

The Mirage has more electronic driving nannies than the Insight did, so one bad wheel sensor = something like 5 lights on currently: ABS, brake, Traction Control, Stability Control x2.

-Looks like I'm going to need one brake line soon - also in the rear left. I have the materials, just hoping I can get away with leaving it be until after winter.

Is it actually weeping?

Reminds me of one time a few decades back my mechanic said I had a weeping brake line in my VW Rabbit. This was in the middle of winter. I said I'd look after it when the weather warmed up a bit. Didn't get the chance! A day or 2 later it popped, and I had to drive it back to the shop (my tail between my legs) using the parking brake & engine braking.

[Ecky]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Nice to read some updates on this!

Vermont (right ?) to Metro Detroit? Condolences.

Yeah. =/

It's not all bad, but I'll say that, even in some of the nicest areas in Metro Detroit, I'm homesick.

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

I assume you had some kind of reader to tell you which sensor was reporting?

Currently the dash in Mirage #3 is lit up like a Christmas tree. Appropriate for the season, but the cause is, I think, a damaged wheel speed sensor wire.

The Mirage has more electronic driving nannies than the Insight did, so one bad wheel sensor = something like 5 lights on currently: ABS, brake, Traction Control, Stability Control x2.

This is the scanner in question. I received it as a holiday gift, and found it to be incredibly useful. It's able to read and clear all of the car's major systems, except for the immobilizer.

https://www.amazon.com/Scanner-TOPDO...s%2C136&sr=8-7

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Is it actually weeping?

Reminds me of one time a few decades back my mechanic said I had a weeping brake line in my VW Rabbit. This was in the middle of winter. I said I'd look after it when the weather warmed up a bit. Didn't get the chance! A day or 2 later it popped, and I had to drive it back to the shop (my tail between my legs) using the parking brake & engine braking.

Not weeping yet. It looks bad though. And, given how aggressive other drivers are here, and how quickly the power under the hood could get me into trouble, I'm disinclined from waiting until it becomes an issue.

[Ecky]

Haven't updated this in a bit!

I had an A/C leak before winter, one of the lines was rubbing condenser fan housing. I shortened the line so it wouldn't rub, welded it up, then had the system vacuumed and refilled, and it blows cold again. Other than that, I'm approaching 35,000 miles on the swap and it has been an OEM reliable daily driver.

A few weeks back I pulled the rear springs out and cut them down just a hair, and put in some more progressive bump stops.

Since moving to the Detroit metro, my fuel economy has been lousy. Most of my trips have been less than 3 miles, in stop and go traffic, in winter, so perhaps I shouldn't be surprised to see mid 30's MPG. The engine is a pig when cold. However, yesterday my trip average creeped up over 57mpg over ~50 miles, with the cruise control set to 65. It was around 45F outside and raining lightly. It's nice to see it can still sip fuel under the right conditions.

[The Toecutter]

57 mpg @ 65 mph for such a powerful engine is beautiful. Have you ever taken this to a drag strip yet?

[Ecky]

Originally Posted by The Toecutter

57 mpg @ 65 mph for such a powerful engine is beautiful. Have you ever taken this to a drag strip yet?

Not yet but it'll happen soon.