Inflammatory Gen1 Suggestion

[jime]

Ok, here is an inflammatory suggestion to improve the Gen 1. Feel free to tell me I'm missinformed, grasping of straws, shooting myself in my foot.

My theory is that fuel economy can be improved significantly, particularly in somewhat hilly area, by dramatically reducing the weight of the car. An additional strong factor would be that the dependance on assist, an inefficient process, would be reduced.

Here's my approach:
1. Take out the entire large metal box in the rear. Retain the BCM so that the 12v system stays alive.
2. Take out the jack, spare and tools. (Keep wife's phone number handy.)
3. Replace the hood and potentially the rear hatch with manufactured carbon fiber pieces. Install a lexan window.
4. Remove the passenger seat. Design a fixed location, "hammock" type replacement with aluminum frame.
5. Remove the air conditioner.
6. Gut the interior of doorpanels, headliner, visors, carpets
7. Replace wide windows and quarter windows with Lexan.
8. Buy a nice radio headset to block the noise
9. Rear wiper motor
Total reduction weight - probably 400 pounds or more. Of course, it destroys any resale value of the car, but then they aren't all that valuable anyway, in a relative financial sense.

I promised it would be inflamatory. Has anyone tried it?

[samwichse]

Replacing the hood with carbon fiber would save you like... 1/2 lb. Have you opened it recently? It's as light as paper.

Likewise, the rear hatch is also aluminum... most of its weight seems to come from the giant glass. Perhaps if you just replaced the glass with lexan? Or blanked it out completely with something lighter weight and replaced rear view with a camera?

Pretty much everything you suggest seems like a huge safety no-no. I mean, you still want to have passengers after taking out the seat? Why not just say it's a 1-seater after that? Also: after removing all the door panels, carpet, etc, you'll need a hell of a lot more than a radio to drown out the noise. I had a bug with all that stuff taken out of it once (intermediate to getting it painted inside and out) and it literally reverberated in there like a giant tin can.

So you could do this, but the result would be painful enough you'd avoid driving (which I guess would save you more gas than anything you actually did).

Sam

[gilbertguy]

There was a thread about a year back with someone that actually did some of the things you mentioned, they were able to reduce it by around 125 LBS. I remember they also removed the sun visors and the right side mirror also.

[RedJellyBean]

You can spend the time and money on those mods to net about 1mpg improvement, I'll just enjoy my G1 for what it is, and for what Honda designed it to be - an out of the box hypermiler's dream

[jime]

Originally Posted by gilbertguy

There was a thread about a year back with someone that actually did some of the things you mentioned, they were able to reduce it by around 125 LBS. I remember they also removed the sun visors and the right side mirror also.

I think the weight you referenced is incorrect. by weighing the front half of the hood, I made a refined estimate of 20-22 pounds. The battery pack alone weighs 80 pounds and we have hardly started. There is a lot of stuff in the aluminum box which is also heavy. Glass is very heavy. The A/C system is heavy. I forgot the rear wiper motor.

I said the idea would be inflamatory, but I still think the weight is 300-400 pounds. I've raced sports cars so I know how loud a gutted car can be inside.

Remember the title of the thread?

Anyone know where I can find a running car with bad pack and trashy interrior?

[Willie Williford]

I think your indicated weight measurements are way off.
The only way to determine the weight reduction is to individually weight the items off the vehicle. Make a list of items.
I'll give you a start:
Muffler, by it's self........22lb
I think "mike" indicated the IMA battery as 50-52lb.
HTH
Willie

[jime]

Originally Posted by Willie Williford

I think your indicated weight measurements are way off.
The only way to determine the weight reduction is to individually weight the items off the vehicle. Make a list of items.
I'll give you a start:
Muffler, by it's self........22lb
I think "mike" indicated the IMA battery as 50-52lb.
HTH
Willie

Battery pack alone: 73 pounds - I just weighed it.

Hood weight is a conservative 20-22 pounds and we have just started.

One potential problem with losing weight is that a BIG part of the fuel economy is lean burn. One must make sure that the weight loss diet doesn't eliminate lean burn.

Look, I love the little gem as much as the next owner, but there is nothing wrong with innovative thinking. Were it not for innovative thinking, we wouldn't have Mike. The car resulting from what I propose wouldn't be pretty and it would certainly have some rough edges, but it is still fun to think and discuss options. Think of it as entertainment. I would never gut my current only Insight, it is just too nice!

[kennysmith]

Originally Posted by jime

Look, I love the little gem as much as the next owner, but there is nothing wrong with innovative thinking. Were it not for innovative thinking, we wouldn't have Mike. The car resulting from what I propose wouldn't be pretty and it would certainly have some rough edges, but it is still fun to think and discuss options. Think of it as entertainment. I would never gut my current only Insight, it is just too nice!

I'm not sure what you're trying to say about Mike's parents but otherwise I appreciate your thinking.

Seems like you might be able to gain a few mpg, but apparently I should be able to improve my mileage by at least 20mpg if I just learn how to drive, compared to others around here.

[jime]

Originally Posted by kennysmith

Seems like you might be able to gain a few mpg, but apparently I should be able to improve my mileage by at least 20mpg if I just learn how to drive, compared to others around here.

Some folks here have some pretty radical driving habits like driving 48-50 MPH on an interstate. I did it to get 103 MPG from Madison to Wheeling. Such a technique will certainly keep one awake

There are other less radical techniques such as:
1. Tire pressure at max sidewall,
2. Accelerating and driving as slow as possible,
3. Keeping in lean burn as much as possible,
4, Keeping out of assist/regen as much as possible,
5. Keep the shift points low: 8,18,24,31,
6. Use grill blocks and block heaters in cold weather,
7. Other "easy" techniques?

[RedJellyBean]

Max sidewall, that's it? Lotsa folks here run 60-80psi. I keep it to 50 but that's because I like to spoil and pamper myself.