New Insight owner, longtime lurker, new member

Crawlerado · 11-05-2012, 12:45 PM

Just bought my first Insight yesterday, should be picking it up later this week. I had a 2004 HCH for a while but the previous owner was a smoker, it had almost 300k, and needed a battery so she had to go.

Picked up this gal for a song:

No nickname yet, I'll have to come up with something clever. 2001 CVT with 131,500 miles. Bone stock, no mods at all. RE92s installed last month, new OE battery last year. It has a salvage title from a 1/4 panel whack that was fixed pretty darn well so I'm not worried.

Current MPG average over the last 2,000 miles is 50.2. I have a goal of 60 by the end of November, it may seem lofty but I like a challenge.

Idles rough and has a minor oil leak so I'm going to be going through everything ASAP. New indexed plugs, all new fluids, general clean up and once over. I already have plans to do the warm-air intake and install the Rostra cruise control kit. MIGHT do a MIMA someday.

samwichse · 11-05-2012, 01:02 PM

Looks good, but if you hadn't applied that square crop, maybe we could see the whole car :-P.

Currently driving an manual 04 HCH right now myself. Good car, but on a whole other mpg/cool factor scale than the Insight.

Sam

Crawlerado · 11-05-2012, 01:53 PM

Fixed the picture. I like that the HCH was a real car and still got great MPG. I never got past 46.4 actual, but that was with a failing battery.

I love that the I1 feels just like a second gen CRX on the inside, it's basic and rattles and rides rough and doesn't weigh anything. Not thrilled about the lack of Cruise though, but $300 isn't much.

jkbrushaber · 11-05-2012, 06:19 PM

Congrats! And Welcome.

**Cf-105** · 11-05-2012, 06:53 PM

My favorite color! Congrats on a great buy.

Mountain driver · 11-10-2012, 04:06 PM

Wish mine was silver. Nice purchase! You'll meet your mileage goal I'm sure.

..Bob

Jivko57 · 11-11-2012, 05:02 PM

Beautiful car, congratulations!

jime · 11-11-2012, 06:10 PM

Pretty car. Welcome!

**jeff652** · 11-11-2012, 09:01 PM

Welcome to the Forum!

Crawlerado · 11-29-2012, 01:11 PM

Time for a sit-rep I'm thinking. I didn't want to start an entire new build thread but I do want to share my experience thus-far.

Got the car home a few weeks ago, it needed a bit more work than I thought but I'm still happy with the price I paid, the new RE92s and the brand new OEM battery are a huge factor in that for me.

All of the lower right side aero was gone, a new oil pan plate and the long one behind it came to $150 new from Honda, but the decrease in wind noise and the increase in MPG were well worth it!

I couldn't get past 48 for the first week or so. Lifetime is 50.5 so I at least wanted to get back to that. The aero fix got me to 51, new plugs, belt, fluids, hot air intake and some general TLC has gotten me up to 56 even with cooler temps. Just installed a block heater yesterday and am running a test today. I'm working out a 2 vs. 3 hour on time, so far 2 hours got me to 120F which drops to 110 when running. Still better than the 42F it was after a long cold night.

My (lofty?) goal is 60mpg regularly. I know for the winter months this is going to be a tall order. I'm not thrilled with the warm air mod and have been looking for a better solution; grid heater, coolant heater of some sort, etc.

And for good measure, here's a pretty picture.
http://distilleryimage3.s3.amazonaws...38204726_7.jpg

No name for her/him yet. I did replace the front speakers and the OEM tape deck. I went with some carbon fiber Focals and a lightweight media deck and then canceled out any savings with some WeatherTech mats. I will also say that the "correct fit" mats are not, they're generics that sort of fit. Not thrilled for $70 honestly.