Swapping the VW for a First Gen Honda Insight

[dfeldt91]

I used to be active on here with my 2001 VW Passat until it started turning into a performance vehicle and not a gas sipper. Went from 30 MPG to 45ish then down to 30 again. The turbo blew up the other day, but I guess that is to be expected in a car that is running no turbo wastegate in order to run full boost. The 5 second 0-60's and tire spinning in third gear at 50 MPH was a blast for the time I had it. RIP PASSAT...

But now..

I am searching for a first gen Honda Insight. I found a 2000 Insight within 100 miles that has 180k miles, is in good condition inside and out, and includes a battery charger to fix cells should they decide to die. It has a lifetime economy of just under 60 MPG with no mods. I plan to do a bunch of mods in order to get the best MPG I can. Doubling my fuel economy versus my current car is going to be awesome.

Anyhow, I'll post a build thread when the time comes.

I've always hated Honda's but it is now my time to love them.

[cowmeat]

The Insight is an awesome car to hypermile (at least in Florida), good choice! Looking forward to another G1 ecobuild thread

There are plenty of build threads on here to check out for ideas

[dfeldt91]

So far, I'm thinking I'll lower the car, get good tires and air them up quite a bit depending on what it currently has, do a rear wiper delete and a grille block. Not sure what the underside looks like on an insight so I might do some work there also. Has anyone ever hooked up an extra(or replaced) battery that you could charge at home to avoid charging the battery via engine power to get higher MPG?



I'm really excited to pick one up. We are having a horrible snow and ice storm in Oregon lately so my broken car won't make it the 80ish mile drive so I'm desperately looking for a ride to cash my check and buy it before the car gets sold to someone else :/ I'm just hoping many people aren't looking to buy a car in the middle of all this ice, snow and rain. That would be ideal.........for me.

I think I am most excited for the in city economy as the Passat got maybe low 20's at best in city before it died. It was a good car economy wise once you got to 55 and drafted on the highway though.

[cowmeat]

So far, I'm thinking I'll lower the car, get good tires and air them up quite a bit depending on what it currently has, do a rear wiper delete and a grille block. Not sure what the underside looks like on an insight so I might do some work there also. Has anyone ever hooked up an extra(or replaced) battery that you could charge at home to avoid charging the battery via engine power to get higher MPG?

Whatever tires you get, make sure they're LRRs and I would suggest keeping the OEM rims. Everybody likes the OEM Bridgestone Potenza RE92s, but I had a set of Michelin Energy Savers on my first Insight that were awesome too

Rear wiper delete is a popular mod, although I think the gains in mpg are negligible, that one is more for looks. I actually increased the length of my OEM wiper without taking a mpg hit. Since it sits vertically removing it really doesn't do much
The underside is pretty clean on an Insight, but throwing a fully belly pan on one makes it a lot cleaner. Several of us have done this mod, and I liked it on mine because it quieted a lot of the road noise

I think the big battery is too fragile to charge every night, but I'm pretty sure there are guys that do it anyway

Below are links to my two Insight threads, I did a lot of modding and had a lot of fun over the course of owning the two Insights. My son still drives the silver one and the belly pan is still on it. I lost track of Ron Burgundy after I traded it in, but that was one beautiful car!

http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...tml#post441975
http://ecomodder.com/forum/showthrea...tml#post468890

[dfeldt91]

Sweet! Picked up the Insight earlier this evening.

The guy even included some extra filters, two brand new Potenza's, an extra full size spare and a grid charger.

The battery meter goes all the way up except the last bar, I was averaging about 75 mpg on the highway drafting a truck on the 50 mile trip home.

Tomorrow I clean the car and start this journey!

Starting a build thread also, stay tuned!

[Ecky]

The battery meter is self-calibrating, so even a weak battery with only 30% of its original capacity can still be "filled".

Get the right tires and, as Cowmeat suggests, stick with the stock rims. They're absurdly light and probably the most aero rims to come stock on any car.

Biggest aero returns will be a grille block. With the stock thermostat it will want to sit at ~184F, but the car runs really well if you can block it off such that it floats between maybe 190 and 205. Any higher than that and you're wasting energy running the radiator fan.

Biggest returns otherwise will be with a kill switch and a system called "MIMA", which allows for manual control over IMA behavior. However there's a thread over on InsightCentral, where a member (mudder) is designing a lithium replacement system which can be charged at home and has MIMA functions built in. I'm following his progress closely. Chances are good it'll hit the market within 6 months and allow for hours of constantly low assist, which should help to deliver astronomical fuel economy numbers.

EDIT: Check out my build thread in my signature for lots of little tricks, tips and fixes. Next on my list is to finish installing my outside air temp fooler, and to remove the rear washer fluid pump, tubes and nozzle on the roof, in addition to the antenna mount.

[retepsnikrep]

Good car choice.

If you don't want to wait for Mudder and want to add some gadgets and mods now then check out my offerings..

Read all these documents for some ideas..

Insight Central: Honda Insight Forum

Insight Central: Honda Insight Forum

Insight Central: Honda Insight Forum

Insight Central: Honda Insight Forum

Insight Central: Honda Insight Forum

Insight Central: Honda Insight Forum

Copy and paste the links to your browser..

[EricDeLee]

Originally Posted by dfeldt91

Has anyone ever hooked up an extra(or replaced) battery that you could charge at home to avoid charging the battery via engine power to get higher MPG?

Haven't done the extra battery thing; but I think a few have thought about that in the past. But something to consider: one of the IMAC&C that are sold with a joystick. With the current programming; I could run the IMA assist for 30 mins straight, then allow the IMA to recharge through normal driving/regent braking and do it again. I could run two+ cycles like this on my trip to work; and then another two+ cycles on the way home (all freeway driving). In my CVT I was getting 60-72 mpg for my trips. Mostly around 64-65 mpg over a month or so.

I'm assuming you can do better with an MT, and lean burn.

[Magician]

Nice... I've considered buying one of the first gen Insights... My VX isn't all that far off on economy and I still haul around my wife and 2 daughters, so the insight isn't that attractive since it's a 2 seater... maybe in 6 or 7 years we will be empty nesters. Until then, VX rules. I do think the insight has a nice modern look and nice that it's not going to rust out.

[dfeldt91]

Originally Posted by Magician

Nice... I've considered buying one of the first gen Insights... My VX isn't all that far off on economy and I still haul around my wife and 2 daughters, so the insight isn't that attractive since it's a 2 seater... maybe in 6 or 7 years we will be empty nesters. Until then, VX rules. I do think the insight has a nice modern look and nice that it's not going to rust out.

The Insight was a no brainer for me since I am a single guy without a large group of friends to haul around. Just me and the girl I'll one day convince to change her mind and marry me.

Speaking of the modern look, I sooooo wish they went this route with the Insight/CRX/CRZ(They all look so darn similar):


That is a beautiful car.