Honda Insight Automatic vs Manual

[Dgate]

I take your points,it almost seems from what you say the IMA assist could be superfluous......maybe the CVT cars would be almost as efficient without the extra weight of the IMA/Pack system.
Also one of the main advantages of a CVT tranny is its complete control through electronics producing infinite ratio,s supposedly making for a more efficient system over four or five fixed ratios under driver control.
Granted the CVT car is 86 lbs up on the manual but studying the figures the CVT is only 4mpg less in the city where the variable ratio is be exercised but is 14 mpg down on highway where lean burn comes into play for the manual car.
It seems considering the points you raised its not doing such a bad job which is probably down to the infinite ratios and control,maybe it could be better without the hybrid system plus a lean burn

DGate

[joecvt]

Overall the IMA still helps the CVT a bit for a quicker start from a stop sign or red light but is usually not needed for much after you are rolling a bit (for the terrain I usually drive through). I think the additional torque from the electric motor would be missed at the stop sign but would not make the car un-driveable...Just a little slower...But I don't think many Insight owners are worried as much about 0-60 times anyway. I do think that it would be missed more in a manual transmission once up to speed because the battery can assist when the engine is lugging a bit from the driver not being in the correct gear for the condidtions whereas the CVT would just change the ratio.

It would have been interesting to see how close the CVT could have come to the MPG figures of the MT if everything was setup the same (the only difference being the transmission itself). I think the MT would have slightly beaten the CVT due to more drag on the transmission. But it would have been close

JoeCVT - Just your average CVT owner

[Billy]

....bottom line is, the 5-speed has lean-burn, and a slightly higher engine compression ratio. I have done thorough tests, and when highway driving for efficiency (no racing around) my tests have shown the 5-speed gets 22 mpg better. Again, this is primarily because running in lean-burn mode is a HUGE advantage.

My LMPG is currently 88.5 and I see over 100 mpg on many of my longer freeway trips.

When driven normally (like an average chevrolet driver) I estimate the 5-speed would only have a 9 MPG advantage.

[chachi]

Used to have the OEM tires. 60 mpg was a daily average for me 70 miles about 60 of that was interstate. I say was because now I have 175/65/14 tires now and get close to 52

[RobMason]

With my CVT insight and with stock tires I could regularly get 58-63 MPG on my 27 mile 1 way commute.

Since I don't like the way the stock tires handle/perform I decided to get Toyo hi performance tires and now get around 50-55 MPG.

I feel safer and the ride is tremendously improved.

I think the CVT model has better computerized control of the IMA's battery. Perhaps this translates into longer battery life??

[Dgate]

RobMason Wrote:

I think the CVT model has better computerized control of the IMA's battery

doe's t
In what way? please quantify.

DGate

[joecvt]

The CVT is usually able to keep the battery within one or two bars from the top (as long as your are not driving up a mountain). This is done in a couple of different ways. When you let your foot off the gas, the "gear" ratio automatically changes slightly to cause a higher rpm during regen. Plus, you are able to get regen when coming to a stop all the way down to about 5 MPH before autostop kicks in. Then you have the background charging (if needed) like in the manual, but the CVT is able to slightly adjust gearing to the amount needed to propel the car at the desired speed and background charge at the same time.

Now some of this stuff I metioned could be done by the driver in a manual model but it relies on the driver to do the manual work when coming to a stop and more shifting (when needed) during background charge.

In the CVT, it is all automatic (computerized)

JoeCVT - Just your average CVT owner