Trollinsight Modding Thread (2000 Honda Insight)

[MetroMPG]

Originally Posted by minispeed

...... so I went electric and now have 0 fill ups a year!

Start a thread? Tell us about the car! Want pics.

[HyperMileQC]

Thats great news! Congratulations.

About the IMACC, I don't know if I am capable of doing this, its out of my comprehension.
What are you going to do with your Insight?

[minispeed]

I gave the insight to my aunt, she barely drives and wants something good on gas. She will probably do about 800km a month if that. I will also have it in case I ever need to go on long trips for work to Ottawa.

[HyperMileQC]

Update : It has been a while since I updated this thread so I thought it would be good to do it before this winter.

First of all, I stopped to work at Costco and I started my course in auto mechanics August 22. So my Costco commutes are finished. My new commute to Competence 2000 is a little bit longer but is still 100% city. instead of doing 7.5 mi per day I do ~11 mi per day. A lot more circulation lights and some stop signs. Roughly same hours so I am still in the opposite side of traffic .

I've updated my mod list with new ideas :

I bought a pair of Adjustable GAZ Rear Shocks with the group buy on IC. Will probably receive them in 4 or 5 weeks. They have to build them and then ship.

Planning on doing maintenance and change Indexed Sparkplugs, Ignition Coils, Engine and Tranny Mounts, Ball Joints, Inner Tie Rods and Tie Rod Ends, Stabilizer Links, Coolant Flush and Refill, Clean the EGR Passages, Change Tranny Oil and do the Brake Maintenance (Surface rust from DWB). Also want to repair the rusty fuel and brakes lines before it breaks.

I have some future projects of rebuilding the tranny with new Syncros, Forks and Bearings. I will put a new Clutch Disc and Pressure Plate at the same time.

Will buy and install new rear springs and new front spring and shock units with OEM or better.

Aside from maintenance or modifications, I am still on my tank from July 26 but I will probably fill-up by the end of the week. I am going to do 96-98 mpg (FCD shows 100.2 mpg so 2-3 mpg less). I am at 2/20 bars on the fuel gauge and 917 mi. I am still charging my IMA battery but it won't be long that it will be too cold outside for that.

[MetroMPG]

Felicitations on starting your course. Sounds fun. And the commute is not horrible either.

Originally Posted by HyperMileQC

Brake Maintenance (Surface rust from DWB)

This is a constant problem for me too.

I am still charging my IMA battery but it won't be long that it will be too cold outside for that.

Can you explain? If it's too cold you can't charge?

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Felicitations on starting your course. Sounds fun. And the commute is not horrible either.



This is a constant problem for me too.



Can you explain? If it's too cold you can't charge?

NiMH specs usually have a lower limit below which "special" methods are required to charge, but they are still more forgiving than lithium but no like Nicd where it can be 40 below and full power.

[Daox]

Woo, thats a lot of maintenance. Good luck.

[HyperMileQC]

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Felicitations on starting your course. Sounds fun. And the commute is not horrible either.

Thanks. The commute is a little bit harder to obtain very good mileage (110+ mpg when hot outside). But it is a bigger challenge so I like it .

Originally Posted by MetroMPG

Can you explain? If it's too cold you can't charge?

Rmay pretty much summed it up, when it is near 0°C or colder, the NiMH batteries stops accumulating the charge really quickly and starts releasing it in heat.

Originally Posted by Daox

Woo, thats a lot of maintenance. Good luck.

Thanks.

[Ecky]

HyperMileQC, after closely reading your thread, I have a few questions:

As I understand it, you charge both your 12v and 144v battery. After charging the HV battery, how do you get your battery meter to jump to full? Do you use an OBCIIC&C? Are you concerned at all about degrading the battery?

What are your highway cruising speeds? Most of the highways around here have a 55mph speed minimum, and cruising at that speed I get around 80-85mpg.

Does your city driving have a lot of hills, or is it mostly flat?

[HyperMileQC]

I have a SOC reset device that I bought from M. Dabrowski. It is a plug and play OBD-II device. Here is the link : http://99mpg.com/projectcars/socresetdevice/

With this device I can set the SOC gauge to 19 or 6 bars on 20, Set the IMA battery module fan to fast or slow speed and reset both MIL and IMA lights. When I take my car after charging it I set it at 19/20 bars and I usually am at 2 or 3 bars when I arrive from my commute.

I charge at only 338 mA with the fan always on so I don't think there is much battery deterioration. I try to maintain it active and use my car at lest 1 day per weak so it is not self discharging too much. So far my 8 years old battery seems in pretty good shape since I started to grid charge it. It gives full assist for a good amount of time and can take a lot of regen before being "full charge".

When I do my Charge and discharge process every seasons exept winter (brrr..) I check the Amp/hour of the battery and I get 6.5 or 6.6 every time. When my battery will begin to be really finished I will buy a bumblebee battery .

About the cruising speed I cannot tell a constant speed. I do P&G cycles of 52-39-52 mph on the highway. The max is 62 and the min is 37.

My city driving is mostly flat some up and downs from viaducs but nothing big.