Unit-02 Red Honda Insight
 

https://ecomodder.com/forum/emgarage...06a569ffd6.jpg
2000 5MT USA Model
LTO 72 cells + 40% Current Hack
Vredestein Quattrac 5 tires at 62 PSI


Original post begins below...

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http://www.lady-natalya.info/Unit-02/insight-2017.jpg

I'm back in the game.


http://www.lady-natalya.info/Unit-02/unit-02-00.png

http://www.lady-natalya.info/Unit-02/unit-02-01.png

Unit-02 is a red 2000 5MT Insight. I bought it last week, and this will be the build thread. The condition of the car is really good considering the 135K miles on it. The car appears to have lived in Tennessee all its life with only 1 owner.

The previous owner said she called this car "Rubber Band" and she was an incredible hypermiler. The car has an LMPG of 82.9 and she said she got two tanks where she averaged over 100 MPG. I'm not sure I'm going to be able to come close to this, considering my absolute best tank with my old Silver G1 was only 78.34 mpg. But I'll give it a shot.

The car seems to drive better than the Silver, and it has a nicer interior, so I won't be replacing the carpet and door panels and such.

I have already done a bunch of mods to it:
- Grid Charger Harness (my own kind, not the standard one)
- Replaced trip buttons
- LED interior lights
- LED instrument cluster backlights (doesn't really help FE, just looks cool)
- Clutch switch with LED light
- Installed one of my EFAS switches

Lots more to come on this car.

Very nice looking Insight Natalya! Nice jump start on the mods as well.

OMG!!! That is one of the most beautiful Insights I have ever seen! Amazing find Natalya!

LED cluster lights eh? Mind posting a pic?

very nice.

http://www.lady-natalya.info/Unit-02/cluster.jpg

I like the colour. It appears more intense IRL. I think they could use like some extra diffusing though? Like, LEDs are directional, so you can kinda see where they're positioned. Maybe stick something kinda translucent between them and the colour block thing, or get ones that have diffusers built in?

Also, that LMPG tho.

Glad to see you back in the fold... :)

Thanks Peter. I'm glad I have a G1 again! I already missed my silver G1 before I had even signed the title over to sell it!


Last night I finally got to look under the car to inspect its condition, which turned out to be incredibly good. Rear engine mount hasn't aged at all, no rust to be seen anywhere, even the catalytic converter heat shield and bolts and stuff looked clean.

But I did get to put in some work on the top-side of the engine bay...

Before:

http://www.lady-natalya.info/Unit-02/engine-bay-00.jpg

After:

http://www.lady-natalya.info/Unit-02/engine-bay-01.jpg

Most of this was done with wet rags, maybe 5% of the surface was hit with isopropyl alcohol. I missed some spots, I'll touch them up later.

Looks really clean!

Would you mind driving down here this weekend and doing my Volt?:D

You guys keep making my miss my Insight

I'd been like wondering what I should do with this car. On the one hand I feel like it is way too good for me, I mean its in great condition. On the other hand, this is like my dream car, it's a red G1 that's in really good shape.

The previous owner sent me an e-mail though, telling me how her goal had been to push the LMPG above 90 miles per gallon. She said she had almost made it, 89.8, but then the place she lived in started putting ethanol in the gas in 2008, and she couldn't quite put it over the top. :(

I don't know that it will be possible for me to get to 90. I've never had a tank that high. In my Silver G1 my best was 78. My commute is terrible for fuel economy because of all the hills, and everyone drives too fast. I'm still on my first tank and the FCD is reading 68.8 despite my best efforts, which means its probably more like 65 or so.

There are some maintenance issues that I think will help once I take care of them.
- Oil Change (IDK what the current oil is like, it's best to change it soon after buying a car)
- Transmission fluid
- New indexed spark plugs
- Probably needs new coolant
- EGR cleaning (although I'm sure it's fine)

But are these going to get me 90? Hah probably not. I think I'll have to do aero and maybe some other stuff.

There are two panels missing underneath the front, so I'll get one of those aluminum pans that Scott at Insight Central sells. I can also make one of my coroplast panels for the back. But maybe I should just do a full panel all the way from the front to the back like Ecky has done.

Top side, I removed the antenna, but not the antenna mount. I'll probably get those black ones that Ecky has. I should also remove the rear wiper + motor.

I'm averse to removing the mirrors even though I know it would help a ton.

That means my other two options are going to be boat tail and front grill blocks. But honestly I'll probably start with the simpler stuff first of course.