Ever just drove your Insight like normal or spirited?

[Pool Runner]

Ever just drove your Insight like a normal car or in a spirited fashion? Well I drive for a living, over 100 miles a day in my truck. Lately my driving has doubled because my wife is on medication where she can’t drive, so I’ve been taking her to work another 200 miles daily. That said I have to leave at 5:30 AM and the freeway is wide open with very light traffic at that hour, since I need to be back at my office by 6:30 to get my work truck that means a spirited 78-80 with a few 80+ jaunts here & there. First off I don’t know what it is but this car is happier at 75-80 than 45-50 mph. passing power is plentiful so long as the road is flat and not hilly.
Now that I’ve spent some real time with the car and logged about 2000 miles personally (Our I2 is my wifes car) Seems like the car still gets 41-43 MPG whether I drive like Schumacher or grandma. Leads me to wonder why I spend so much time trying to hypermile the car? If I just drive it I still get roughly the same mpgs.

Anyone else notice this too? Other pluses the car is insanely nimble in and out of traffic, think go-cart like reflexes and agility. I am so tempted to slightly drop the car with a spring set by about 1.5” and put some slightly wider and more aggressive rubber/ wheels on just to sharpen the handling a bit. Sorry for the long post just wanted to share how much more fun the car is when you just drive it like a normal car.

For some reason when you just lug it around town the car is always in the bog gear (I know it’s a cvt I just don’t know what you call it in those terms) One day on the way back I flicked the gear selector in “S” and just used the paddles through some twisties and to get around slow traffic. The car reminded me of the sort of fun my old ’91 Acura Integra was, very swift, tight and tossable.

On another note had a new model Pruis had been riding my tail for a bit, as soon as we hit the curvy part of the road he dropped way back while I just hugged it, I could only imaging he was thinking he bought the wrong car at that moment.

[Krista]

Originally Posted by Pool Runner

On another note had a new model Pruis had been riding my tail for a bit, as soon as we hit the curvy part of the road he dropped way back while I just hugged it, I could only imaging he was thinking he bought the wrong car at that moment.

Muahaha.

I don't have many miles on my tank, but I noticed today that I seemed to get better mileage driving more "normal" than the feather weight (on accelerator) that I'd been trying to drive up until today. Weird.

[tmacier]

I have not used any special driving techniques since I took delivery of the car.
I have logged 2500 miles and consistanly achieved 41.5 mpg.
Most of my driving is highway at 68 with cruise on.
Tim

[Zwolfe]

The one time I really let loose in my Insight through rural back roads with lots of sudden braking and accelerating through small hills and sharp turns my Insight actually gained 2 or 3 MPG.

[lat.ch.]

I'm torn between trying to get better mileage or having more fun and accept sub-40 mpg. I suspect it will be the latter. If I didn't know that I should be getting much better fuel economy, I'd be very happy with 38-40 mpg after briefly driving the Jeep Grand Cherokee hemi following over 8 years in the Chevy Silverado (5.3l). I expect to top 40 regularly, but I've had my I2 less than three weeks and have only put about 1500 miles on it.

[amorris]

When I first got the Insight I drove more or less normally, and got 41-44 mpg. I've since become more fuel conscious, and cut my highway speed to 55 mph and apply much more gentle acceleration, and my mileage has increased to 47-49 mpg. In other words, I've seen a substantial difference.

[jaehchoi85]

I always seem to get better mileage driving "normal". I'm usually going 75-80 on the freeway here in Los Angeles and I'm usually in the teal or dark blue color zone. Even with that I'm averaging around 44-46 mpg.

My theory is, if you're in the green zone going up a slight hill you'll be climbing it longer. When you're in the blue you'll get up the hill faster therefore allowing the car to go back to green as soon as possible.

I've tested this and I went from 41-43 to 44-46.

[livfreely]

I often am tempted by this, but I am refusing to do so until I have mastered the econ side. I have to get 500 miles from one tank of gas before easing back a little. I do drive my I2 just to drive it. I make up things to do just to take it out. It is still pretty new to me so I am sure that will wear off in time.

[Cobb]

I too find with my foot I beat my cruse control average. In the country I am riding the gas or brake in and out of corners. On the interstate I find myself in the middle of the rat race, 80mph and 3 feet from the other vehicles on the road.

I find I do best with econ on and in drive. Some people find they do better with econ off and or in sport mode.

[TNQR-TOY]

Pool Runner,

Yes, the I2 is a blast to drive in a "spirited" manner even with the poor performance of the stock tires.

But do yourself a favor and get the following from TireRack:

15" X 7" TR Motorsport wheels
195 x 60 x 15 Michelin Hydro-Edge with Green-X LRR tires

The above tire/wheel combo is 4lbs over the stock setup and the
difference in handling and stopping is like night and day.

I have this setup on my I2 and it is unbelievable.
To me these Michelins are equivalent to the GoodYear Eagle F1's that I have on my highly modified sports car ( Xr4ti )

And here is the real kicker --

On my daily one way commute to work I drive 5 miles on Blvd's ( 50mph) and 10 miles on the freeway ( 70+ mph ) and I used to get 39/40 MPG.

With these new tires I am now getting 44/45 mpg on the same commute and I expect better mpg when the weather gets warmer.

I tell my friends -
" any car can get good milage when you drive slow - It takes a special car to get good milage when you drive it fast "

Tnqr-Toy's Dad