Econ Mode

nathanne · 12-10-2009, 06:07 PM

Hello everyone,

I've only had my Insight LX for less than a week. I love it but I am still trying to get the hang of some things. My main obsession at the minute is how to best utilize the Econ button. My salesman at the dealer said that I should only use it on the highway but a Honda CSR told me the opposite, that it's made more for in town driving and stop and go traffic, that it doesn't effect mpg much with highway driving. I know I obviously have the option of leaving it on all the time but are there any drawbacks to using it all the time? I guess I'm just looking to see how other insight owners use this feature.

Thanks very much,

Nathan

JimJohnD · 12-10-2009, 08:37 PM

I leave it on all of the time. Most of my driving is in town stop and go traffic. The Econ mode cuts overall power by 4%, except for full-throttle. It makes the Auto-stop more aggressive. It shortens the AC compressor cycles to 'just' enough to do the job (unless it it really hot out). It also smooths the throttle input. The CVT is re-mapped to keep the RPM lower at low to mid speeds. So it really effects in-town more than highway.

Knowing what it does helps figure out when you want to use it. If you want efficiency, keep it on. If you want/need all the available power for more demanding driving, turn it off. So now you can obsess about which MID screen is most useful

(my favorite is the instantaneous MPG screen). After about four months I really enjoy mine. Oh, welcome to the forum

nathanne · 12-10-2009, 08:43 PM

Thanks JimJohnD

Ehetleos · 12-11-2009, 08:29 AM

Almost always on, except when I switch to S and paddle-shift for more "aggresive" driving (going uphills mostly)

Piano Tuner · 12-12-2009, 02:07 AM

My car's alway in Econ mode.
If there were a super-econ mode that made the car even more wimpy I'd use that.

insightfulone · 12-12-2009, 06:50 PM

Some interesting information on what the econ button actually does can be found here: CleanMPG Previews the 2010 Honda Insight-II - CleanMPG Forums scroll down a bit to see the info.

In the first 1700 miles I haven't felt the need to turn it off. I too would push the "uber-wimpy" button for better MPG if they had one. Perhaps with a picture of a baby polar bear on a shrinking ice sheet. I can see the Honda marketing campaign now "Are you man enough to push the uber-wimpy button ?"

8thcivic · 12-14-2009, 09:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Piano Tuner

My car's alway in Econ mode.
If there were a super-econ mode that made the car even more wimpy I'd use that.

lol lol lol