wanted: bsfc chart for 5spd Insight

[bikeracer]

I took the plunge, sold "Hatchy" (the '97 Civic DX Hatch)and now drive "superHatchy", which happens to be a 2000 Honda Insight 5spd w/ 110k on the odometer. It was in a minor front-end collision and was smartly repaired by a gentleman in Toledo who comes highly recommended. This feature made the upgrade affordable. And I can still fit two bikes and two people in it!

I managed 64.x mpg on the drive home, through the night, from Toledo to Hanover, NH (In January, 14degF avg, no underbody panels yet), so this car promises great milage for the warmer months.

My current frustration is that I can't find a BSFC chart for the 5-speed transmission lean-burn engine. The one from Browser Warning is interesting but not particularly useful (as I'm reading it). Does anyone have the BSFC chart I seek?

[RobertSmalls]

The following image needs to be added to the wiki, but I don't know how to embed an image in a wiki.



Plenty of caveats here. This engine is capable of the far more efficient lean-burn mode at part throttle and low RPMs. Lean burn, which is where you want to be, is not shown in this plot. Page seven of the following PDF explains the data collection method, which was good, but not as good as a brake dyno. I believe they attempted to correct for the torque added by the electric motor, instead of simply switching off the IMA system for the dyno runs.

Source:
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sourc...XfZtgH91icxR9w

[bikeracer]

How does their measure of torque compare to the LOD reading from a ScanGauge?

Also, these readings are taken at full-throttle?

Has there ever existed a 3D graph that would show these readings at various throttle settings?

Do y'all find these practical to think about when hypermiling?

[RobertSmalls]

Every hypermiler should study the BSFC plot for his engine. I wouldn't bother trying to hit the <215g/KWh zone instead of the <235 zone, but there are some trends you need to know about. It shows you the zone you want to stay in: ~70% throttle, <3000RPM. Unfortunately, that overlaps with the zone where Assist kicks in. Stay out of Assist, because any energy you remove from the battery needs to be paid back.

An IMA inhibit switch allows you to operate at wide throttle, low RPMs without draining the battery.

These readings were taken on a chassis dyno, which regulates RPM. Throttle position was modulated to achieve different values of torque at any given RPM. I presume the bottom five data points are with the throttle fully closed, i.e. at idle.

The ScanGauge makes an educated guess based on the amount of air entering the engine, RPM, displacement, and the output of a few other sensors. It can't actually measure fuel consumption or torque. But LOD is how much torque the SG things your engine is producing, as a percentage of avialable torque at your current RPM.