Hi everyone I am PunkSmurph and I now own an Insight. I picked it up last night from a Subaru Dealer, it was used and in mint condition with only 36K miles on it. The car is fully loaded and I have the Navi. My last vehicle was a 2010 Mitsubishi Lancer Ralliart, if you don't know what it is think Evolution with less power, sort of like a WRX vs STI. On a good day the Ralliart got 27 MPG on premium and my insurance went up again on the car, not because of me, so it was time for it to go. Although I went looking for a BRZ, I saw the Insight on the lot and drove it on a whim. I was really impressed with it, and in my short trip I was able to get 43 MPG in an area with lots of hills. I worked out a good deal and purchased. Here are some grainy cell pics, better ones later in the week.
I am working on getting the Mugen aero peices from King Motorsports and moving to a 5 lug and all disk brakes from the CR-Z as this car lacks good tire size and braking feel. And I know it will hurt MPG, but I was able to score 45.6 this morning on the way to work so I figure I will still hit about 40 or 41 once I am done.
Very nice car. Welcome aboard. I have been an Insight owner for a whole month now, and like you, I was pretty darned impressed the first time I drove one. What's not to like? They're fun to drive, mine is averaging over 50 mpg and I have barely had it out above freezing yet, and guys are driving Insights well into the 250-300K range of miles. Not to mention that people on this board are posting pictures every week of 10-13 year old models that they just purchased and they look practically new. Either these are well made cars, or every Insight owner is a fanatic about maintenance [both].
My wife was really surprised when I came home with it, seeing as I was looking for a RWD sports coupe. But every dealer in the area was $3K to $5K over sticker on the BRZ only IF you could find one. The BRZ I found was red, not a color choice for me, and the markup was $3K, while I thought about it the Insight caught my eye. I love small cars and I thought it would be cool to have a Hybrid to commute with and in a year get a BRZ when they are not marked up and actually available. While at the dealership I actually spent a bit of time on my laptop looking here and on-line for opinions, reviews, and most of all parts. With Mugen aero parts, Cusco suspension, and lots of interchangeable parts from the rest of the Honda family of OEM parts it was easy to buy.
Anyone here heavily mod the car? I know Cobb is super active, but it seems that he has done some suspension work and added the PHEV kit. I am looking at full disk brakes from a CR-Z with 5 lug conversion, 17" wheels with 205 wide tires, new exhaust set up from cat back, coil overs, sway bars, under brace, and at some point I want to see if I can swap in the more powerful IMA electric motor. The only interior mod will be CR-Z seats with custom covers.
Long term I may go with getting the CR-Z engine and IMA for more power. I don't know how possible it is, but it would be unique and totally rad, even if I took a hit to MPG just to have it would be cool and I might still be able to hit 40 MPG.
Wow, 5 lugs? The insight comes with pretty crappy tires. The brakes are average, I have ceramcs on mines, bleed and flushed the system and yoko avid tires in oem size. You can get a lot of suspension parts from ebay under the name ultra racing to firm her up. Maybe want to change the cvt fluid too, its 3 qts.
Yeah, I came from a supercharged tacoma and a scion xb for my honda. Its different, but more economical.
Wow, 5 lugs? The insight comes with pretty crappy tires. The brakes are average, I have ceramcs on mines, bleed and flushed the system and yoko avid tires in oem size. You can get a lot of suspension parts from ebay under the name ultra racing to firm her up. Maybe want to change the cvt fluid too, its 3 qts.
Yeah, I came from a supercharged tacoma and a scion xb for my honda. Its different, but more economical.
I have to find the picture again, but I saw an Insight with a 5 lug and 4 wheel disk brakes so it is possible. I think the CR-Z share bearings with the Insight so all I would need is the hubs, calipers, brackets, lines, rotors, and pads. I may have to also get a new handbrake line as well. I am going to the dealer this weekend to get an oil change and CVT service for the car so I know it is up to date. When I am there I am going to see if the service writer or tech will help me looking up part numbers to see if it can be done. If there is a lot of overlap then it will be easy to do, if not then I may have to do it the way Fit guys do with Civic hubs and Euro parts that are a little more expensive to get. It is important to me as my biggest issue with the car is brakes, my last 3 cars had great brake systems in them, so I see the cost as worth it.
What makes all this work easy is that I held back $4,000 that I planned as extra money down on the BRZ and that should get me most of the way through this work.
I do some modding, but it's exterior detailing work.
Zaino, baby! Lasts around half a year. It quits beading water after 4-5 months, but it continues to shine for 6-8 months ... well, if you put down as many layers as I do anyway.
I have to remind the wife during the warmer months not to roll down the window before she moves the car if it has been raining, otherwise she moves the car and she gets drenched from the water rolling off the top and through the drivers window. Oh boy, does she get irritated.
EDIT: Oh yea, the book says the CVT fluid change amount is 3.0. I guess it is, really, it'll probably put you right on the COLD, LOW mark on the dip stick. It takes about 3.2 quarts to get to the COLD, MAX mark.
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2011 Insight EX, 70k+ miles now.
This thing has regenerative braking, you barely use them at all. Drive it for a while before throwing much money at it. If you really want to change cars in a couple of years, it might sell better closer to stock.
This thing has regenerative braking, you barely use them at all. Drive it for a while before throwing much money at it. If you really want to change cars in a couple of years, it might sell better closer to stock.
I was actually researching this tonight some and talked to a good friend of mine who runs a motorsports shop. His suggestion was to just convert to rear disk and find a larger front caliper and disk combo. Usually when you have to change to a larger hub assembly for 5 lug and the brake booster may not be able to handle it. So I am looking at a much easier to find rear disk conversion for the Fit so I can see if it will work. Although my wheel choices are not as good it looks like there are still some 5Zigen and Enkei wheels that will fit the Insight. So at this point I don't think I will be able to get the 5 lug, but the rear disk does look like it will happen. Even though there is debate on if it would improve braking I happen to think it looks way better so that is enough for me.
This thing has regenerative braking, you barely use them at all. Drive it for a while before throwing much money at it. If you really want to change cars in a couple of years, it might sell better closer to stock.
"Barely use them [brakes] at all" says it! I've thought about opening a thread to ask whether it can be a bad thing not to use an Insight's brakes enough... Since I got mine a month ago, I've made it a goal to re-learn my driving behaviors, including planning ahead to coast to every stop, or to coast until that light ahead turns green so that momentum isn't lost. I'm surprised to learn that in what otherwise would be stop and go traffic, I'm going along mostly at the same overall pace as everyone else but may not be "on" the brake for more than a combined 30 seconds in traversing dozens of city blocks. The brakes seem strong enough now [new 2013], compared to all the other vehicles I'm used to driving, and at this rate should last a very long time.
I rather see you throw 4 grand at a sound system and wicked paint job, but thats me. The stock oem brakes could be better and with some time, adjustments it can be done. THe rear brakes are the tradational drums that use a brake spoon to adjust. Mines were out of adjustment and took 5 minutes each side to get in contact with the drums. THe system was full of air bubbles too.
Besides, there are soo many wheel options for the 4x100 lug pattern.
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New Member with 2010 Insight EX
Oh boy, does she get irritated.
