My test drive FE: 52.6 mpg!

jrlnc · 05-14-2009, 07:45 PM

Hi everyone. Brand new here.

I'm seriously looking at the 2010 Insight and test drove it today for a 3rd time.
I've read multiple reviews and owner comments regarding the fuel economy of the new Insight for its brief history. Some disparaging comments and reviews had me really doubt whether the Insight was even worth considering. Others made me hopeful, but I think this is a question everyone has to answer to his/her own satisfaction.

It's apparent to me now that a lot people who are complaining about the Insight's mpg are those who don't know how to drive for good fuel economy. I in no way claim to an expert or hypermiler, and I've never owned a hybrid.

But my interest in fuel economy grew about 4 years when gas prices shot up. I dumped my gas-guzzling Nissan and bought a Honda Fit m/t. I learned to use a Scangauge and replaced my Fit last December for a new '09 Fit Sport m/t. Now I've been really wanting a hybrid and I'm considering trading my Fit (only 10k miles) in on an Insight. I know, it's not a sound decision in a financial sense, but this is also question of luxury and comfort for me. I want something more upscale that gets good FE and has more bells and whistles.

Well, today I went for my 3rd test drive and drove specifically for economy. These are the conditions:

Warm and humid today (~80) so the a/c was ON
2 people in the car - me and a salesman
City driving only. Stop-n-go
About 7 miles total
reset the trip meter, then we idled for 2 minutes w/ A/C on before starting out.

My trip yielded 52.6 mpg when we pulled into the dealership. The salesman said I was a good driver.

I was just using techniques I've learned from driving the Fit. Braking is quite a bit different, but I think the throttle is similar.

The only indicator on the dash that I was familiar with was the real-time MPG bar with the AVG MPG number displayed. I wasn't paying attention to the battery, the green light, or anything else. We were easily keeping up with traffic and I was quite comfortable. Driving efficiently in these conditions in the Fit would have yielded ~40 on the MPG meter (with an inaccurate gauge = 36 MPG). The Fit requires much more work to drive efficiently, also because shifting is involved. I think this will be my last manual transmission. They are a pain in hilly or stop-n-go situations.

If the Insight does this well effortlessly, I can imagine my average in daily driving would be quite good.

I just wanted to share this with others. I made an offer on an Insight with 1 dealer today. I will see another 1 or 2 tomorrow.

If things work out, I will be getting a Silver EX w/ NAVI. Wish me luck!

Purplegate · 05-14-2009, 08:23 PM

Nice driving and nice Mpg ! It should even get better after a couple hundreds miles.

Good luck with your purchase ! I also have the EX, I feel it has interesting options. When you get tired of just looking at the Mpg, you extend the fingers to the paddle shift and enjoy the ride. Not a sport car by far, but real fun to drive anyway.

Piece of advice, don't hesitate to blend in few options in your negotiation. Floor mats, cargo cover, etc. They didn't refused to me... They also blended the tinted windows. BTW, tinted wondows would look awesome on the silver model !

Max_Leaves · 05-15-2009, 09:53 PM

Well done and good luck! I traded my 07 Fit Auto that I never really liked for the 2010 Insight EX. Wow! What a difference. Great car.

adric22 · 05-19-2009, 02:10 PM

I wouldn't always expect to get that kind of mileage. A lot of it may depend on the terrain. For example, when driving somewhere I might be on a downhill slope for 5 miles or more, and achieve phenomenal gas mileage, but upon returning later in the day, my mileage will suffer going uphill which equalizes the numbers.

There are also a ton of other factors, so a 7 mile journey is not neccessarily a good test.

I consider myself a good driver for fuel economy, but I'm not really a hypermiler. I average about 48 mpg in my Insight II for typical day to day driving. Which is better than the EPA estimates, but not as good as other people have been able to achieve. However, I have done some tests on weekends when there was very little traffic on the roads and I was able to get well above 50 mpg on several trips. But this is not the norm because where I live we have lots of hills and people will be mad if I start slowing down going up the hill. Also we have some very short on-ramps to the highway I have to get on sometimes and if there is a lot of traffic I have to accellerate hard to get on the highway. So.. while some people may have commutes that allow them to get in the 50's.. not everyone can.

jrlnc · 05-19-2009, 07:41 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by adric22

I wouldn't always expect to get that kind of mileage. A lot of it may depend on the terrain
. . .

I'm on my second tank of gas with normal commuting and around town driving. This is the kind of driving I typically do, and the trip-meter AVG MPG is now at 50.2 mpg for about 80 miles. I am using the air conditioning and I've even had a couple of "wasteful" 5 minute drives around the parking lot at work for the several co-workers who have been gawking and drooling over my new car.

My first tank I don't really take seriously because it was filled by the dealer (who may have shorted it). Also, when the car was handed over to me by my salesman he spent 45 minutes sitting in the car with the a/c running while he showed me how to link my cellphone and use the bluetooth, NAVI, radio, CD and other controls. Even with that, I earned a respectable 43.52 mpg on 386 miles.

If I keep up or improve my average this week, this will be what the car is normally capable of for me. I'll definitely be happy.

One of the friends who rode in it just bought an '09 Prius for his wife. He said they are averaging 45-46 mpg in it. Again their driving situation is different, it's just nice to know that the Insight is capable of far more than the EPA rating and is well within the mileage range of the Prius.

Purplegate · 05-19-2009, 08:56 PM

I'm almost done with the 2nd tank now and still average 51.8Mpg. I drive almost all highway and I admit I decreased my average speed by about 5Mph compared to what I was driving with my previous car. But I'm now confident the Insight can deliver a solid 50-51Mpg and still keep a decent driving style.