With my gas savings, I bought this! (2000 Honda Insight) - Page 7 - Fuel Economy, Hypermiling, EcoModding News and Forum

cowmeat · 10-26-2014, 10:18 PM

Well, all I could manage this weekend was the installation of the clutch interrupt switch and the brake regen button. Both are working perfectly after testing, but the true test will come in the morning on my daily commute.

I'll put a couple of pics up later, but I was too rushed to do a full how-to this time.

One thing I learned though, step-1 needs to be "remove driver's seat"! I fit up under the dash pretty good after I removed the seat . . . . .

cowmeat · 11-11-2014, 08:21 AM

Installed the throttle smoothing circuit a week ago, but I'm just now getting to test it since I was out of town on vacation all week.

First thing Turtle did when I started it up yesterday (after sitting a week unused) was recalibrate and force regen for like half the commute, so that blew any chance to test the new toy yesterday, and killed my mpg. The smoothing circuit worked really good this morning, it's kind of funky to get used to, but I'll try it out this whole tank and see if I get any gains in mpgs (after I overcome the recal).

cowmeat · 11-17-2014, 01:47 PM

Still on the same tank for the throttle smoothing circuit test, but so far it's a "meh". I'm not thrilled like I was with the brake regen button and clutch interrupt, but it's not like it doesn't work. I still have over half a tank to really test it out.

HyperMileQC · 11-17-2014, 02:19 PM

About the EPS fuse delete, what do you prefer between assisted or non-assisted steering while driving? I really like the non-assisted steering, It gives a sporty handling and in winter you have a really better feel of the road. This is one of the best electrical mod on the Insight. It is really not that difficult to turn the wheels even when completely stopped. It helps also when you overinflate

.

cowmeat · 11-17-2014, 02:29 PM

I don't recall seeing any real mpg gains (although I did go over 70 mpg for a tank), so I plugged it back in the other day. Also, since one reason I pulled it was to see if the IMA battery would stay charged, the addition of the brake regen button kind of made the EPS delete moot for charging purposes.

I'm going to leave it the fuse (#15 in the fuse box in the engine bay BTW for anybody who hasn't pulled it before) for the rest of this tank, then maybe pull it again next tank and try it again without. Mine steers pretty sluggish when the fuse is pulled though, even with the tires all at 60 psi. I carpool most days, so the extra weight of two people might be why I have to fight mine?

MetroMPG · 11-17-2014, 02:46 PM

I preferred mine with manual steering, though I expect the savings by pulling the fuse would be tiny. It's already an "on demand" assist motor.

HyperMileQC · 11-17-2014, 02:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cowmeat

I carpool most days, so the extra weight of two people might be why I have to fight mine?

I didn't see a big difference between no passenger and with a passenger. Still feels good with a passenger and not hard to turn at all.

cowmeat · 11-17-2014, 03:00 PM

Quote:

I preferred mine with manual steering

Turtle steers like the Flintstone mobile without the EPS, it's not near as responsive as Black Widow's rack & pinion was, so it doesn't seem worthwhile to fight it at every turn. It's not bad once you're moving, but I think I could get out and just shove the car toward the direction I want to go as easily as I can turn the wheel when it's sitting still!

cowmeat · 11-24-2014, 08:39 AM

Installed the missing front aero panel (it was missing the center three, I made my own 1-piece) this weekend.
I documented the steps into the DIY section in case anybody's crazy enough to do one like this. This morning, the first day of a new tank, I averaged 74 mpg on my daily commute, car-pooling with my wife, so it obviously didn't hurt.

Here is the thread to the installation:

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...nel-30550.html

cowmeat · 11-26-2014, 05:18 PM

I'm back to manhandling Turtle, since I pulled pulled the EPS fuse again.
With around a hundred miles on this tank, it's reading at 71 mpg.
During the last couple of weeks I have learned that my car does NOT like rainy, cold, or windy weather, and I'm struggling to keep it over 70 mpg on this tank.

I don't know how you guys that live in windy or cold areas handle it! I'm used to it being hot! Anything else throws me off my game, and apparently Turtle (a Florida car from birth) is feeling it too.