Considering a 1st Gen questions regarding cargo, reliability, and safety

[bwine]

Next year I will be commuting to school about 100 miles a day 3 days a week. I figure I need something more fuel efficient than my current 30 mpg 4 cylinder 3 series. Previously, I was looking at going either the VW TDI or diesel Benz route possibly venturing into the world of veggie cars. Though I've been down the road of german cars and the maintenance costs can quickly get out of hand.

I've recently started looking into Insights and the more I learn the more I am impressed. Though I do have a few issues. I'm a drummer and I have huge John Bonham sized drums. Really I need a wagon or a Golf TDI 5 door but I'd prefer to get an Insight and make it work. I'm concerned about road noise though I've driven an old BMW with no windows for months so I'm sure anything will be quieter than that. I'm concerned with road handling at 60-70 mph though everything that I've seen says Insights are happiest and most efficient at 60 mph. I'm concerned with safety and really have not found any information other than 4 star crash ratings all around. Reliability, the IMA system seems like it holds up well though my budget forces me into a car with 150-200k miles and I'm wondering what to expect with IMA replacements or other issues. I know the car can run for a period of time without the battery though not forever. Is this correct? And if it does fail, what are my most cost effective options for self repair/replacement? What kind of cheap mods under $1000 and under yield the most significant efficiency increases? And finally, I've seen a 1.2 VW diesel swap, to what extent is this kind of thing feasible.

To recap:

1. Cargo options - Anyone know of an aluminum cargo platform or foldable/non foldable aluminum trailer?
2. Effectiveness of floor mats, foam, and other forms of insulation?
3. Road handling at highway speeds
4. Safety information - Post collision pics, stories, crash test videos
5. Reliability/Issues 150-200k+ mi cars
6. Most cost effective mods
7. Diesel hybrids with full IMA functionality

[boogetyboogety]

Originally Posted by bwine

1. Cargo options - Anyone know of an aluminum cargo platform or foldable/non foldable aluminum trailer?
2. Effectiveness of floor mats, foam, and other forms of insulation?
3. Road handling at highway speeds
4. Safety information - Post collision pics, stories, crash test videos
5. Reliability/Issues 150-200k+ mi cars
6. Most cost effective mods
7. Diesel hybrids with full IMA functionality

Welcome to the site, and I hope you find an Insight. All the information is you seek is here, spend a few hours looking around, and all your many questions will be answered.

1.- Voluminous cargo space exists inside the Insight, and any trailer or cargo platform will decimate your mileage, negating the reason why you would drive one.
2.- The Insight is not the inside of a drum. You may be surprised at the lack of noise inside. You can always insulate the rear area more, however.
3.- The Insight is not much different from a Civic, although the staggered tracks will make some grooved surfaces on turns an exciting proposition.
4.- Insight occupants are quite well-protected inside the alloy cage.
5.- Some Insights have gone a half-million miles. Batteries are available aftermarket as well as through Honda.
6.- Mods? Not sure if serious...
7.- A diesel? Seriously... stop right there. I don't even... [facepalm]

[Eli]

I don't think you're going to fit a drum set into the Insight. Sorry.

Find one to test drive to answer your basic questions.

[Rainsux]

Forget the drum set. Forget the notion of a trailer or a rack. Either would kill your mileage and there is nothing to attach a hitch to.

To use these cars efficiently you need to adjust your driving style and expectations. This means that you will rarely see 60 and never see 70. Handling is not dangerous but not much fun, either.

The car is not noisy.

Safety? Shrug. It's a tiny little car. It has seat belts and air bags. I don't worry about it.

Every Insight has a $2,000 time bomb in the back. Consider that sooner or later you will have to replace the battery. Yes, you can drive without it, but the lack of power makes it a dangerous car.

Forget mods, other than MIMA and a grid charger. Honda got it right the first time. There are things you can do, discussed widely here, but it's mostly little things you DO, not things you BUY.

If you can barely afford the car, you can't afford an engine swap.

Not to be negative, but do a lot more reading here and then find one to test drive to see the virtues and limitations for yourself. An Insight is a compromise in many areas in order to attain the almighty MPG.

Sam

[samwichse]

Short answer: the insight is a great car, but you're NEVER going to get close to hauling a drum set with it, trailer or no. At least not in any way you won't wish you had another car.

Buy a used Fit. You drive it carefully, you'll average over 40 mpg, and it'll easily swallow a drum set.

Or a used Pontiac Vibe if you're really trying to keep it cheap. Same car as a Toyota Matrix, but since Pontiac is over, you can get one dirt cheap. I'd test to make sure you can get your drums back there.

[freezin4]

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The Insight is a great little commuter car, with some limitations. It is not the answer to everyone's transportation issue. You can't put a third passanger seat in it, you can't carry big dogs safely etc. It simply will not do everything that your BMW has done. The proverbial 10 lbs of ___ in the 5 lbs bag.

I once had to transport a larger Hardin/Pelican case, and resolved to unbolt the passanger seat. I put the case in the front and put the seat under the hatch.

But overall a very well made little car with low operating cost.

Good luck!

[rmay635703]

Not to be the contrarian here but having brought home a refridgerator on my 1981 Comutacar rear battery box to my apartment with minimal irritation and having seen some amazing things on little cars in my day I have to disagree to a point with a couple caveots.

First how BIG is your biggest drum? How much weight is your set?
I have seen newer 30lb sets and then I have seen what seem like 3000lb sets (with speakers, platforms and all sorts of garbage)

Next there is extra space that you may be able to find a use for where the so called extra batteries could go in the insight, wether its usefull is up to you.

Another interesting thing is that if you can figure out how to safely add a trailer hitch and rack on the backend (and your crap is relatively light) you will find as I have that weight on the car on a platform off the back reduces FE minimally (especially if it is not taller than the backend and if you keep your speed as low as you can in 5th), weight on a trailer ROYALLY reduces FE and isn't worth considering (unless you want to build a micro aero motorcycle trailer that might not even transport your drum anyway).
see ecomodder.com for aero trailers.

So my statement to you is find a 1st gen insight to test drive and see if you can figure a safe effective way of getting your crap in it, also figure out if there are things you REALLY can live without transporting. Maybe you don't need a 5' base for example.

Either way actually trying to get it to fit and work will tell you what you need to know if you are just having a pipe dream or if the amount of labor and other inconvience needed to make it go is worth it to you and yes I have seen the passenger seat removed in several Geo Metros for cargo reasons, anything is possible, the question is, is the extra work and hassle worth it to you and can you deal with it?

You might find you are able to live with the insight limitations, if you are careful. It depends on how motivated you are to make it work, while at the same time not dramatically decreasing your FE.

Another consideration is how much of the time will the drums actually be needed on the car? If its less than 25% of the time maybe suffering an FE drop with your drums in tow on a motorcycle trailer is still worth it to you.

Good Luck, and think it out carefully before deciding. A real world attempt is worth wonders, even if it tells you not in a million years
Cheers
Ryan

[diamondlarry]

I thought I've seen a You Tube video of a diesel installed and running in an Insight? Even so, not your average weekend project. If you have the chance, try fitting your drum set in first. If it fits, great. If not, then you won't have to always wonder.

[porshuh]

Describe your drum set. I bet a smaller rig would fit just fine.

Keep in mind that it takes about 5 minutes to remove the passenger seat to give tons of room between the passenger area and the back of the car...

[rmay635703]

Originally Posted by diamondlarry

I thought I've seen a You Tube video of a diesel installed and running in an Insight? Even so, not your average weekend project. If you have the chance, try fitting your drum set in first. If it fits, great. If not, then you won't have to always wonder.

I assume he wants to get the car and drive it and not dink around 2 years fabricating motor mounts, messing with the dash, suspension to end up with a car that gets roughly the same FE.