Project: Rebuilding an '01 Honda Insight as a nonhybrid

[Frank Lee]

A lil diesel for a plug-in hybrid might be good

[theunchosen]

I think the topic at hand is an Insight non-hybrid. . .

Which is something that if just all the electrical components were removed might drop amazing highway mileage and decent city driving. . .

[jetta2.5L]

i dont know personally i saw a insight once with double batteries that was getting some increible mpg...so to put a lil 4 banger in there your gonna get good mpg because some body design weight etc. but it wont beat the mpg of a souped up insight hybrid if you going to do this ...least if i was doing it....wait til the two engine companies come out with that new 100+mpg 4 banger engine then you will be golden! i dont know if any one has seen that...i was get raped at the pump as usual by shell and the little gas pump tvs they had a commercial about it....once that comes out theres going to be alotta pissed off oil execs bye bye bonus!

[theunchosen]

If he is doing mostly highway driving the IMA weight will negate fuel savings. The powerful thing about hybrids is their ability to recover energy and do stop and go because the electric engines are more efficient in the low range than your ICE.

If he spends susbstantial highway time the battery packs, electric motors and things are just extra weight.

The proof is in eco-marathon vehicles. There are no hybrids to speak of. Everyone just makes extremely light weight parts and sticks with one system or the other. Both is redudant and redudant is heavy.

[basslover911]

^^ Thats true, don't make a hybrid if its strictly for highway driving unnecessary complications (more than weight really, just more parts to break).

[theunchosen]

Even if its just heavily highway driven with some city. You can always shut the engine down at redlights and stop signs(shut it off and coast up to it). At that point you're doing pretty close to as efficient as a hybrid anyway without all the extra weight and complications.

[eco_generator]

Lots of "glass is half empty" folks in here.

If you drive all highway, then you don't buy one. Hybrids are not inherently bad just because they don't do one specific thing good, like say tow a sailboat. Of course you would get something different.

And even in a "compromised" situation, the technology gets advanced on the gas engine and electric motor fronts because of inherent ineffeciencies. Therefore, both get engineering to make them as efficient as possible. Besides the batteries & electric stuff, the Prius/Insight led to innovations that made the ICE engine more efficient, too.

So I'd say stop whining about something that no one forces you to drive and just see the upside for future cars that come from what's learned... even if the current car is complicated with extra "stuff" in it. IMHO, of course.

[theunchosen]

Originally Posted by eco_generator

Lots of "glass is half empty" folks in here.

If you drive all highway, then you don't buy one. Hybrids are not inherently bad just because they don't do one specific thing good, like say tow a sailboat. Of course you would get something different.

And even in a "compromised" situation, the technology gets advanced on the gas engine and electric motor fronts because of inherent ineffeciencies. Therefore, both get engineering to make them as efficient as possible. Besides the batteries & electric stuff, the Prius/Insight led to innovations that made the ICE engine more efficient, too.

So I'd say stop whining about something that no one forces you to drive and just see the upside for future cars that come from what's learned... even if the current car is complicated with extra "stuff" in it. IMHO, of course.

I don't think the Prius introduced any groundbreaking ICE tech. The Insight as far as I know didn't either. They both feature Vtec-i in one fashion or another. The Prius is an atkinson cycle which is not new or "better" than a normal gasser. The Insight features lean burn that debuted in the CRX HF(almost 20 years ago).

The vehicles really making strides are oddly true blue domestics. Ford's DIE Ecoboost and GM's GDI cobalt are delivering new engine efficiencies. Just wait two years and you'll have throttleless GDI's That are capable of devouring the Prius and other hybrid platforms.

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by dcb

Hybrids don't buy you much on the hiway. But they do bring electric motors and batteries into the mainstream, so I'm not complaining too much.

They also bring aero to the table more than the average car, which is one reason they do well on the highway relatively speaking. That plus the fact that they make better use of a smaller, more efficient ICE.

[theunchosen]

They do indeed.

My only issue is the issue I have with most things. If it doesn't need it don't add it. I don't want a car that has chilled seats or heated ones.

If instead you could just reduce weight even more(lighter chassis and fiberglass or CF body) and give me a smaller engine and other similar weight reductions coupled up with good aero and you have something thats easy to fix, relatively simple and gets great mpg.

I think thats what the OP is about. ..?