...ok, my second biggest hangup besides safe egress would be safe operation of the vehicle. How could you safely shift gears? How could you safely check blind-spots?
Moving the battery to the spare-tire well would make rear collision an issue, as the spare tire is part of the rear crush zone by design.
Interestingly, the German market CR-Z has rear seats with seatbelts, just like the original CR-Z show car. (You mustlook hard but you see the rear seatbelts.) And here is the link to the 360 view for a better look: Honda | CR-Z | Galerie
So, modifying a car like the CR-Z which was designed for 4 passangers may be the way to go if you want a small hybrid, but have to have the 2+ configuration for versatality. You could get the parts from Europe.
Oh, and how 'bout them leather seats!
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2001 Insight 5spd - #0160 (233K miles and counting. Needs new shocks, needs new CAT, needs EGR Valve, syncros are gone...but still love it.)
I'm thinking of something that is completely portable that can be laid over the emergency break and allow for another adult (small) passenger to sit between the driver and passenger, say, sort of like a convertible bench seat...
And if you need to use the emergency brake? Like in an emergency situation??
Also, who does the shifting?? Not to mention interference with the shift lever... Or is this for a CVT?
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2006 MT
MIMA w/FAS module
various mods to driver
I would bolt cross supports to that beam and to both sides and rear. Bolt the seat and seat belts to the beam. Best use lap and shoulder belts. The rider would get a great view of the sky.
I've been in an Insight I only once and that was over a year ago so I'm posing a question to folks that have one.
If you put the passenger seat forward on its tracks what kind of space is there behind it? Could one fashion a jump seat in there sideways with a 3 point harness for a kid 45 to 75 pounds?
I just remember my ford ranger extended cab had those and they were kinda nice to have in a pinch.
The person that showed me their Insight a year ago said they just piled the kids in the back! If I did anything I would want it to be safe. I drive over 80 miles a day generally but before I leave I have to bring 2 kids to school. I just cannot justify getting an Insight I because of that. I cannot justify having it as a second car either for bringing the kids to school.
Suggestions?
way back, probably about when Jimmy Carter was president, my father's car was a Saab Sonnett, a small two-seat fwd low-slung car with a small hatchback-accessible rear space.
I was much much much smaller back then, and, I enjoyed riding in the back compartment of that car.
on at least one occasion, my parents would sit up front with my younger brother (toddler-ish at the time, I think) in Mom's lap and I'd be in the back compartment.
as I may have noted elsewhere, our Insight reminds me of that Sonnett
times have changed! my parents currently both drive volvos, an '04 S60R (woo hoo!) and a recent (current model) XC70 (twin turbo fwiw). If I were to even joke about placing my brother's infant son in the back of the Insight for a drive, I reckon it'd take about a month for the bruises on my head and upper body to fade away
for what it's worth, the capacity of the Insight is 400 pounds, and, I weigh about 270, so, almost any time I take on a second passenger, I am exceeding the vehicle's capacity.
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'03 Insight silver, MT, bought Feb. '11 w 143k miles, 53.3 mpg w 499 miles on first tank. Totaled June '11 Nowadays, '04 Civic Hybrid MT
...ok, my second biggest hangup besides safe egress would be safe operation of the vehicle. How could you safely shift gears? How could you safely check blind-spots?
Moving the battery to the spare-tire well would make rear collision an issue, as the spare tire is part of the rear crush zone by design.
Interestingly, the German market CR-Z has rear seats with seatbelts, just like the original CR-Z show car. (You mustlook hard but you see the rear seatbelts.) And here is the link to the 360 view for a better look: Honda | CR-Z | Galerie
So, modifying a car like the CR-Z which was designed for 4 passangers may be the way to go if you want a small hybrid, but have to have the 2+ configuration for versatality. You could get the parts from Europe.
Oh, and how 'bout them leather seats!
and that's why the CRZ weighs about 900 pounds more than the Insight
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'03 Insight silver, MT, bought Feb. '11 w 143k miles, 53.3 mpg w 499 miles on first tank. Totaled June '11 Nowadays, '04 Civic Hybrid MT
Hey, not a bad idea! I wonder if I could get a gun rack to fit in the back window too!
Seriously though maybe I should go back to one of my ideas where I take a small 4 passenger car and convert it to electric. The top speed does not have to be more than 40 and the range maybe 10 miles tops. Take the kids to school in that, go home and get in the Insight for the day's trek to work.
Or maybe I just suck it up and just keep driving what I'm driving.
if you're willing to drive your kids to school and then return home for Grand Commute vehicle, you could a) keep the current car and get an Insight after all, or, b) get an Insight and, for child transit, get something like a used Taurus at minimal extra cost.
[Edit/adding on to avoid more than three posts in a row]
someone mentioned used HCHs
(Honda Civic Hybrid! It only took me several minutes to figure out what that stood for, thank you google)
and, yes, Virginia, there are stick-shift first-generation Civic Hybrids.
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'03 Insight silver, MT, bought Feb. '11 w 143k miles, 53.3 mpg w 499 miles on first tank. Totaled June '11 Nowadays, '04 Civic Hybrid MT
Last edited by BenLikesFirstGenInsights; 02-25-2011 at 12:37 PM.
and that's why the CRZ weighs about 900 pounds more than the Insight
I'm thinking the all aluminum construction, light-weight carpet, super-light wheels/tires, weight-saving seats and smaller engine/transmission had the most to do with that.
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2001 Insight 5spd - #0160 (233K miles and counting. Needs new shocks, needs new CAT, needs EGR Valve, syncros are gone...but still love it.)
I'm thinking the all aluminum construction, light-weight carpet, super-light wheels/tires, weight-saving seats and smaller engine/transmission had the most to do with that.
well, yeah, that stuff too.
(doing some looking up to try and prove a point, and, I'm having no luck on that... notably, the CRZ is only 5.5 inches longer, 1.8 inches wider, and 1.6 inches taller than the Insight, with about 8.8 more cubic feet of cargo space... so, okay, size isn't everything.)
I guess that kind of explains how Honda is probably making money on the $20k CRZ and most likely lost money on the $20k first-generation Insight...
The CRZ would probably have to be notably smaller to approach the 1st-gen Insight's weight and thus its potential mpg without busting the budget on materials etc.
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'03 Insight silver, MT, bought Feb. '11 w 143k miles, 53.3 mpg w 499 miles on first tank. Totaled June '11 Nowadays, '04 Civic Hybrid MT
I'd opt for an '03-'05 (?) Honda Civic Hybrid 5 speed instead. Values are well in the four-digit figures now.
Routine exits or emergency extraction from behind the front seat in a G-I Insight would be problematic.
My opinion.
Good Luck.
I could have saved some electric ink and just written "ditto" had I been wise enough to read all the posts
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'03 Insight silver, MT, bought Feb. '11 w 143k miles, 53.3 mpg w 499 miles on first tank. Totaled June '11 Nowadays, '04 Civic Hybrid MT
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Nowadays, '04 Civic Hybrid MT
