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.

You probably miss the Insight because it has character. ;)

Oh I should mention an MPG advantage I'm going to have is that I know where to buy ethanol-free gas. Right now it's got 87 regular with 10% ethanol in it, but that changes as soon as I have to fill up again. I've only done like 400 miles though so it's still going to be a while. Hopefully next week?

Okay so on my Silver G1 I put three aero panels under the back. One of them was really huge compared to the other two. I still have the measurements so I could duplicate it.

But I'm wondering what I should do for max FE? Ecky for example put big sheets that go under the whole body of the car.

A thought was I could use coroplast I have left over from the Black G2 to recreate the old G1 pan. Then, because it attaches easily, I could do some ABA testing. A testing regimen would be like I accelerate to 10 mph then throw it in neutral and see how far the car goes before stopping. But aero drag is most prevalant at higher speeds. I could try like getting to 40 then at a certain point on a road I could throw it in neutral and see how far it travels before hitting like 25. But then I'd need to be going down this road quite a few times with no traffic there. I'd also need a suitable road.

Anyone have any ideas how I can test?

A full, complete belly pan would be the absolute best for mpgs. It would be even better if the rear departure angle is around 5 degrees.

You're in luck! I did aerodynamic coastdown testing with my Escort ZX2 a couple years back. I gotchu :thumbup:

Here's the link - BabyDiesel's Cd testing thread

I noticed that my pictures have broken links for some reason. I'll have that fixed in the morning for you. The charts and diagrams really help in figuring out what's going on.

Also, you will need higher speeds to accurately test the rear pan. I did my testing starting at 55 mph, which was actually low. Basjoos started his testing at 80 mph IIRC (same methodology I used too!)

For the diffuser remember that the body type and the interaction of other modded features will matter. You have a hatch. Babydiesel, I think, might have a notchback. Depending on how precise you want to be, and whether you want to be sure of benefits and not losses, you might consult the below and experiment:

http://ecomodder.com/forum/member-ca...rding-body.jpg

California98Civic, that is the chart I wanted to post with my message, but I did not have it and had to make the 5* assumption based off memory. Thank you for posting it!

I actually drive a '00 Insight now sir :thumbup:

Okay so that chart is suggesting max benefit around 3° then, am I reading it correctly?

Yes. And notice too that anything from 2-4* is really pretty close to the same thing. So a little imprecision will not make a major difference. And, anyway, no matter what we do not have the equipment for precision. And even then, we also have difficulty knowing how a diffuser interacts with other aero mods or features on our cars that make it different than the models on this graphic. So I say, try for three and get close and it will probably be good enough for a benefit. I am no expert. But that's how I understand what gets taught here.

:)

Today I removed the read window wiper and its motor and I got the tires back up to 52 PSI.

I also temporarily removed the passenger seat since I know I won't have any passengers today or tomorrow lol.

Bridgestone Potenza RE92s at 60 PSI, 1 of them got shredded. :confused:

Yesterday I noticed one of my tires wasn't driving smooth. Like, it felt like a flat spot. I assumed a rock or something got stuck in the tread and was pushing funny, because there'd be a small bump bump bump as I rolled along.

Today I start on my way to work, feel it again, and stopped the car and checked. The driver's side front tire was kinda warped in one spot I'd never seen anything like it before. I figured, "Okay, I'll just get to work and order two new ones, and hope this one lasts a day or two before I get them."

Yeah that didn't pan out, the tire failed on the highway at about 55 mph on the way to work. I replaced it on the side of the road with the donut tire, but I noticed the tire never actually popped. Instead, a patch of the tread was ripped off where the deformation was.

Could this be caused by overinflation or old age? I don't know the age of the tires but I can check. I had all 4 at 60 PSI for about 1500 miles. I think I'll go back down, unless y'all think this had nothing to do with PSI. Tires might have been manufactured in 2010.

I ran the RE92s on Ron Burgundy at 60 PSI the whole time I owned it and never had an issue.
I also ran the Michelin Energy Savers on my first Insight Turtle at 60 PSI the whole time I owned it and didn't have any problems with that one either

I'd say it has more to do with the tire age rather than the PSI. Old tires are prone to de-laminating, and they don't last long at all after you feel the first bumpiness

I checked the date stamp, the tires were from 2010. :( That must be what happened. I'm picking up new ones today

First grid charge for this car. Probably first ever since it didn't have a GC harness when I bought it. I went like 31 hours, which may be overkill. But some people have said it's good to go longer than 24. IMA fan was running the entire time so hopefully there were no problems from overheating.

See attachment.

Two lanes each direction. I'm in left lane. Car ahead in right lane tries to make a u-turn from the right lane. I honk and swerve, but it's too late.

Got all her info. Pics of damage to my car and her car. This is her fault.

Did NOT call police or insurance because insurance is going to total my car because 17 years 140k miles.

I removed the rocker panel, it had her paint all over it, but no actual damage so that's good. Rear bumper is fine. Side skirt, door, and quarter panel are all damaged. Going to get estimates from some places tomorrow.

FML

http://ecomodder.com/forum/attachmen...0&d=1500855250

Booo, that sucks... :(

A lot of it will buff out anyway, but that sucks! Stupid drivers like that are the reason I invested about fifty bucks on a nice dash cam

I had the same exact thing happen in my Volt, when a guy who had pulled into the left turn lane suddenly decided he really meant to turn right and cut directly across my path at 90 degrees as I was doing about fifty mph.
My cat-like reflexes stopped an accident but it was a close one, and afterwards I realized that if I had tee-boned the guy it would have looked like I ran a red light and broadsided him!

Without visual evidence or witnesses it would have been my word against his, so now I record every moment.

I got a dash cam, but I hadn't had a chance to install it yet. :( I need to wire in an extra 12v socket.

Ideally, you want to test in both directions on a flat road and coast down from a high speed. Auto manufacturers do their track coast downs from 80 mph, but 60 to 20 mph should be fine. I'm not sure 40 to 25 would be enough. I would also recommend logging data off of the VSS over the OBD port. You have no convenient way to correct for changes in wind speed and wind direction. You might try doing several repeat runs in two directions. If you test near a weather station that logs wind speed and directional data (small airports sometimes have this accessible online) and log the times as you collect coast down data, you might also be able to download the data and correct aero for wind speed and direction after the fact.

There are lots of engineering papers on this. Coast downs are a standard procedure for determining road loads for testing vehicles on electric chassis dynamometers. Doing this on public roads in a safe manner will be difficult. Is there someplace private where you could rent/borrow/barter time (i.e., old air field, drag strip with long over-run area, private road, etc.?)

I don't have the car back yet. But when I get it back is this a good idea?

Maxwell 2.5V350F CDA 15V 58F Super capacitor module Automotive starters 1PCS | eBay

I'm into the weight savings. But the IMA system charges the battery through the DC/DC converter, and I was wondering if like there were any issues or safety concerns before I do this.

If you don't mind my asking, which dash cam did you get?

Not sure which one of us you were talking to Ecky, but here's the one I put in the Volt:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00JJ3SQRI/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

So far it's awesome! It comes on automatically so I never have to touch it, it records a bunch of hours then overwrites the oldest (micro SD required and wasn't included btw). One odd thing is that it records a bunch of short videos, I think 3 minutes each, i.l.o. one long video. I guess so that makes it easier to overwrite? Maybe they all do it

I also bought the adapter to install it on the rear view mirror stalk, since the suction cup fell off within a day:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KM9A5F4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

It's from my Mustang that I sold in August. I bought it at Canada Computers a few years ago. It isn't fancy.

http://www.lady-natalya.info/Unit-02/aero-work-00.jpg

Aww yeah, got this car back finally. First thing it needs are some aero panels.


http://www.lady-natalya.info/insight/aero-10.png

For the very back I copied this panel that I had used on my first Insight.

http://www.lady-natalya.info/Unit-02...l-mid-back.jpg

But this time around I designed a second panel for the mid-back. On my first Insight I made a setup with the big one and then two tiny ones seen here:


http://www.lady-natalya.info/insight/aero-03.png


But the red Insight got that new panel, so it looks like this:


http://www.lady-natalya.info/Unit-02/aero-work-01.jpg


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


The coverage is way better in the back area and brings the total covered area forward to less than a foot behind the resonator.

Looks great! :)

Agreed, it looks very nice.

I disagree, it doesn't look very nice.

It needs more cut off politician heads, realtor's phone numbers, aluminum tape, and zip ties to fit in around here.

Does it matter which politicians she decapitates?

Well, it does have aluminum tape on the upper side facing the muffler. :rolleyes:

No photo but I added another panel. This one's narrow and heads straight down the middle covering most of the exhaust pipe channel. It ends just before the lower cat.

Oh, I also ordered the aftermarket lower front aluminum panel that Scott (KLR3CYL) from Insight Central makes. My car is missing two of the stock underbody aero panels up there, this panel will complete that section. Once it's in place I'll see about completely covering the front portion of the exhaust channel (where the front cat is) so that I've got underbody panels the whole way.

I got a partial radiator block in place a few days ago to help with warmup times. And today I re-removed the rear window wiper + motor. I had it off the car earlier, but it had to be inspected and they wanted to see it in place.

I'm like really fighting to get 70 mpg on the FCD with this current tank. I've been like carrying some stuff with me usually and there's been rain and stuff, but even going turtle speeds like it's damn near impossible.

This car does have a couple negative strikes against it right now.
1: IMA is nearly dead. It's on life support. I'm using OBDIIC&C to monitor voltage and such so that the light won't come on, but the current draw of headlights and wipers makes it difficult. As long as I keep it up high enough I can use my EFAS button.

2: Missing 2 OEM aero panels under the front of the car. I just ordered Scott's replacement aluminum panel so when that gets here it should help a little.


Current draw is a huge problem. I'm seriously considering LED head lights. Basically everything else is LED, except the turn signals. I also need to do some grill blocks, but I don't want them to look terrible. Easier said than done.