Upcoming TX to NY Run

jcbesq · 05-06-2011, 12:13 AM

With about 1500 miles on my girl I am preparing for my bi-annual TX to NY run ... I am quite excited and looking forward to it ... I usually break the drive up into two 12 hour segments - this won't be too taxing on the car, will it? I assume it's past break in of all the major running gear by now? Has anyone taken their I2 on a long run and could they comment.
thanks.

Zwolfe · 05-06-2011, 01:23 AM

My wife drove the I2 with less than 1k miles on it to Minneapolis from WV, about 900'ish miles one way, about 15-16 hours driving time.

She didn't complain about anything. She would had if she had reason to ... or any reason to.

Sounds like a blast though. Have fun.

jcbesq · 05-14-2011, 07:00 PM

car loaded up and tank full ... i leave at the crack of dawn ... will report when i arrive

Zwolfe · 05-16-2011, 03:44 AM

You should have arrived or be arriving to your destination soon, granted all goes well.

How was it?

Looks like we might be making a run from WV to FL this upcoming month.

jcbesq · 05-17-2011, 03:44 PM

WOW! WHAT A RIDE!

... in no particular order ...

31.2 gallons over 1560 miles = 50 mpg on the head ... MID estimated 51.2mpg - so kudos to the MID for being pretty close ... i have a theory about the MID mpg algorithm - i think the MID is closer on highway driving due to the rather simple driving inputs (speed, braking, etc.) vs. city/around the town which is chaotic with respect to speed changes, braking, stop and go ... the software as written cannot accurately describe the multitude of city driving inputs so i think thats why people are experiencing wild fluctuations bw MID and real world mpg in city driving ... not so on the highway

as for mountain driving mpg - just as the good lord said so too with the insight - the mountains giveth and they taketh away - great mpg figures in portions of east tenn. and penn. ... bad mpg in portions of va., east tx., and NJ - and don't get me started on Jersey drivers

i also experimented with two different driving modes -- a couple segments at 70-72mph, a/c on, cruise, lights on, radio -- mid 40's mpg ... 62-65mph, no a/c, cruise on flat surfaces (variable input uphill, coast downhill -- low 50's mpg ... that also got me to thinking that a future change to the insight should include some sort of adaptive cruise which varies speed by up to 5mph depending on elevation change -- it would probably help

i also noticed that the recharge/regeneration system does a weird pulsing on the drivetrain when you go over heavy rythmic bumps while the ima is recharging - i guess its because the system needs positive input to turn the regeneration system --- the regen needle would jump up and down ever so slightly with the modulation of heavy bumps on the road

it also appears that on long trips the trophy progress indicator doesnt move much at all - it must be dependent on on-off cycles vs. miles traveled

the car and battery appears much stronger now that i'm at 3000mi

i'll update as i remember more

jcbesq · 05-18-2011, 12:42 AM

i also noticed that the seats are woefully hard for long duration drives - i expect to be using my 'car seat pillow' from my trusty old saturn which i traded in to get the i2 ... this will probably necessitate lowering the seat a bit to compensate the added height of the pillow

**Moviemike** · 05-18-2011, 09:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jcbesq

... i have a theory about the MID mpg algorithm - i think the MID is closer on highway driving due to the rather simple driving inputs (speed, braking, etc.) vs. city/around the town which is chaotic with respect to speed changes, braking, stop and go ... the software as written cannot accurately describe the multitude of city driving inputs so i think thats why people are experiencing wild fluctuations bw MID and real world mpg in city driving ...

Thanks very much for the posting about your trip. Loved reading it!

I appreciate your thoughts on the MID above. I agree but think that the use of ev mode (occurs in city driving for the most part) is where the software has its problems. I think this in part because of my own experimentation, and also because my wife's I1 (which does not have an ev mode) has mpg accuracy equal to about 0.1 mpg with hand calculation.

I too have lower back pain problems. I've been doing exercises to strengthen the muscles. Its taken a long time, but I don't need the pillow any more!

I traded in my 2002 Saturn SL1 ("Goldie") for the I2 ("Blue Bird"). I used to get 39-41 mpg hwy with Goldie and 36 mpg overall. I get similar hwy as you, with Blue Bird.

"If you don't own one, you probably wouldn't understand."

jcbesq · 08-15-2011, 07:20 PM

in 2 days, back i go to tx ... i hope the drive back is just as nice as the drive to ny

jcbesq · 08-21-2011, 12:30 PM

whew ... for some reason the drive to NY wasn't nearly as pleasant as the drive back to TX ... in no particular order ...
mpg was only about 47 to TX as opposed to the 50 i got going to NY - I owe this to a combination of the heat and more uphill work (and econ off too which was a necessity (see more below))
the econ mode sucks going through hilly country ... in an effort to squeeze every last bit of efficiency out of the car i think the engineers spit the bit on the driving experience ... the ima/battery system just doesn't know what the hell it's doing sometime ... wild swings of charge/discharge and sometimes the system seemed confused - especially on big inclines ... turning off the econ worked wonders ... i really can't see using econ at all if you lived in hilly terrain or a trip with with big elevation changes ... now that i'm back on relatively flat terrain its back on and more happy
much more comfortable this time around too ... the seats seem to have loosened up a bit
i was also surprised how much stuff i was able to cram in the car ... while i probably had as much weight as the first trip, i had more volume which the car eagerly swallowed up
well its about time for my first oil change given the hard driving - luckily there is a local valvoline oil change place near me and they stock synthetic 0w-20
the tires also seem to respond a little better with some miles on them
as for the cvt, which i hated quite frankly, i am slowly warming up to it ... one of the things i always hated about geared cars with cruise control was the downshifting in the hills ... with the cvt the revs just go up and drama is kept to a minimum ... and thankfully the engine revs easily, although a little buzzy above 4000

Zwolfe · 08-21-2011, 06:57 PM

Your observations mirror mine. Good to know I'm not the only one who notices these differences.

If you're gonna tackle LARGE hills, or mountains, ECON ON with cruise just ain't gonna work worth a crap unless you like it to lag behind up to 10 MPH or so and then surge up to where it's supposed to be - only to repeat the process all over again.

ECON OFF it stays very close to spot-on regardless of the elevation. It also enables you to retain your sanity, because if you have ECON set to ON ... you're gonna go mad.

The OEM tires do improve in handling after putting some miles on them, glad I'm not the only one who noticed that too. They're anything but performance tires, though, I can make them squeal like a banshee going around corners. But they do their job and thankfully they do improve as they're worn in.

I personally love the CVT due in part to the cruise control system (again, with econ off) because if you set cruise to any particular MPH the engine and CVT will find a way to maintain your speed by only a 2 MPH difference at most regardless of elevation. I appreciate that. As long as the RPM's don't go in the red, I don't really care.