Noob Honda Insight *gen1* questions

[SpeedyCorky]

OK so I saw the sexiest 2006 silver Honda Insight on craigslist, 91k miles, 1 owner (an old christian guy who used the car to commute his 120miles round trip, sold it because he retired), perfect condition, full service records, blah blah blah..... so i splurged a little and went out and bought it!

(HX to be sold soon)


anywayz tho, so I have some basic noobstick questions about the Honda Insight. Yeah i could spend hours searching the insight forums, which i'm sure i'll do anyway, but I figured this kinda basic stuff might be more easily obtainable on Ecomodder; and hell, its good to have a thread about all the common and good mods for a particular car.

OK, so questions are:

1) can you install a switch/button to manually enable 'auto engine stop"? I'd like to be able to kill the engine when coasting downhill on the freeway, so why not tie it in with the already existing feature of the auto engine stop.

2) it seems you can install some kinda switch that disables the hybrid function of the engine - how? this would enable you to cruize on the freeway and NOT regenerate the battery, yielding superior mileage.

3) any general tips relating to maxing MPG via driving tips, relating to the above 2 questions and the Insight specifically?

4) civic VX 13' rims VS insight 15' rims - which might yield better MPG? (assuming that they are interchangable, which i'd think they would be so long as they have the same bolt pattern, which i assume they would)

5) the Insight has lean burn, just like my civic HX. with the HX, adding MMO (marvel mystery oil) to the fuel enables the engine to get into lean burn at much lower RPM (~1800 as opposed to 2600rpm). Can similar advantages be obtained with the Insight?



I've been driving my civic HX to work for about 6 months, and generally average about 54mpg. on my FIRST trip with the Insight, i got 78MPG, AND i ended the trip with more battery charge than when i started, so some of that fuel was spent to recharge the battery - needless to say, i'm damn happy with the Insight!

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by SpeedyCorky

OK so I saw the sexiest 2006 silver Honda Insight on craigslist, 91k miles, 1 owner (an old christian guy who used the car to commute his 120miles round trip, sold it because he retired), perfect condition, full service records, blah blah blah..... so i splurged a little and went out and bought it!

Wow! Congrats! 5-speed??

1) can you install a switch/button to manually enable 'auto engine stop"?

Yes. It's at first glance a basic "kill switch" like every other car, but it's very slick with the Insight because the engine will restart automatically (via the quiet motor/generator) under "normal" hybrid conditions, such as:

1) You shift back into any gear
2) You deplete the brake vacuum reserve

So you should never need to "key start" after engine-off coasting. You go to neutral while pressing your shifter-mounted kill switch to stop the engine, then restart by shifting back into the appropriate gear when it's time, and carry on.

There are 2 approaches to setting up the switch: kill all 3 injectors simultaneously via a 3-relay setup; kill spark via a simple switch. Some people prefer the more complex 3-relay setup because they're concerned about trace amounts of unburnt fuel getting into the upper cat immediately after killing the spark.

2) it seems you can install some kinda switch that disables the hybrid function of the engine - how? this would enable you to cruize on the freeway and NOT regenerate the battery, yielding superior mileage.

This is known as the "CALPOD" (the first guy to write about it on insightcentral) clutch switch mod. Of course, if you don't have a 5-speed, it's of no use to you.

The switch is installed in parallel with the factory switch that detects whether the clutch is pressed or not.

3) any general tips relating to maxing MPG via driving tips, relating to the above 2 questions and the Insight specifically?

If you're mostly cruising the car, your goal is to maximize the amount of time you spend in lean burn. Lean burn is where the magic happens with these cars. (~100 mpg US instant consumption @ ~50 mph is my experience).

Then start modifying the car to reduce aero drag even more than stock, so you "widen" the lean burn envelope as much as possible.

Everywhere else, you want to maximize the amount of time the engine is off (kill switch), just like any other car.

4) civic VX 13' rims VS insight 15' rims - which might yield better MPG? (assuming that they are interchangable, which i'd think they would be so long as they have the same bolt pattern, which i assume they would)

1st gen Insights have 14 inch rims, not 15's.

The best wheel to use is the one that has the tire with the lowest rolling resistance mounted on it. The OEM spec Bridgestone RE92's are the best I've seen so far: http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...e92-19126.html . Of course there may be better 14's out there that I don't know about.

5) the Insight has lean burn, just like my civic HX. with the HX, adding MMO (marvel mystery oil) to the fuel enables the engine to get into lean burn at much lower RPM (~1800 as opposed to 2600rpm). Can similar advantages be obtained with the Insight?

Can't comment - haven't tried it. The car's oil spec is synthetic 0W20. I'd be very surprised if adding anything to that would make it better.

I've been driving my civic HX to work for about 6 months, and generally average about 54mpg. on my FIRST trip with the Insight, i got 78MPG, AND i ended the trip with more battery charge than when i started, so some of that fuel was spent to recharge the battery - needless to say, i'm damn happy with the Insight!

I'm still amazed by the engineering in this little car every time I drive it.

I drive the car with assist (and background charging) disabled almost all of the time, and I enable regen for slowing the car down on those unfortunate occasions when I can't coast to a stop.

Congrats on the purchase! Fun car.

[SpeedyCorky]

'course its a 5speed! jesus!

i'll do a search for CALPOD on the insight forum

sounds like there isnt much to gain by swapping rims between the HX and the Insight. both have LRR tyres on them, and both sets are fairly new.


I was refering to putting MMO in the gas tank, not the engine oil. it helps A LOT with the HX. once i get proper lean burn instrumentation in the Insight, i'll try it out myself. what is the lowest speed (or RPM) that the Insight can get into lean burn?

I gotta admit, as much as the ~1 or 2 MPG gain from 0w20 oil might give me, it just seems waaay to thin. is it OK to run 10w30?

I was amazed to look under the hood and find that the battery support is all aluminum in the Insight. aluminum body too. they really went the extra mile to take every pound possible off this car. AWESOME!

I drive the car with assist (and background charging) disabled almost all of the time, and I enable regen for slowing the car down on those unfortunate occasions when I can't coast to a stop.

thats about what i figured



thanx for answering these questions! any further imput from others would be much appreciated!

[MetroMPG]

5-speed - woohoo!

0W20 oil is factory spec. It's designed for it. Plenty of 150k+ mile Insights running around that have had nothing else in them.

You won't need lean burn instrumentation once you've driven the car a while. You'll be able to detect a difference in the throttle response, and may even feel a slight stumble entering/exiting L.B. And it's obviousl by looking at the "instant" mpg graphical display too - a ~25 MPG jump at constant load.

Or you could configure a ScanGauge with an X-Gauge to show it.

[SpeedyCorky]

So how do you turn off the EPS (electric pwr steering)? do you have it on a switch so you can turn it on and off on demand? that would be SICK!!!!

I'm gonna use my Scangauge from my HX in the Insight to tell me lean burn and all that other info. i REALLY like the MPGuino, so i'll likely install one of those in the Insight as well. The digital speedometer in the Insight REALLY bugs me cuz you cant tell if you are accelerating or decelerating within 1mph. the MPGuino tells you speed to the hundredth mile per hour, very useful for hypermiling. yea i could just switch the dash to KPM on the Insight and get more accurate reading of speed change, but i just cant swallow KM!

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by SpeedyCorky

So how do you turn off the EPS (electric pwr steering)? do you have it on a switch so you can turn it on and off on demand?

Pull the fuse under the hood. It's a big-rated one, like 30-40 amps. (If memory serves.) I don't have a switch on it because this car seriously is no harder to steer minus assist than my no-power-steering (OEM) Firefly/Metro.

i just cant swallow KM!

Come over to the dark side, Luke.

[jamesqf]

Couple of things. On the wheels, I think you'd have to look pretty hard to find anything lighter than what comes stock on the Insight. Oil, yes, use the 0W20: at 165K miles, I'm still seeing no use or leaks between changes.

General driving: don't be afraid to downshift on the freeway, or on hills. Generally shifting into 3rd seems to get better FE than 4th, though there are places (like those hills on 680 just before the turnoff to 580) where the best I could do was to cruise ~65-70 mph in 4th. You do need to keep the revs up for hill climbing.

Other than that, a lot of it is just learning the car.

Oh, and autostop doesn't work if you have heater or A/C on. In cold weather, part of slowing down is learning to hit the big "Off" button on the climate control panel.

And if you put in a radiator block, don't trust the temperature gauge to tell you anything useful. If you have a ScanGauge or similar, set one readout to coolant temp.