We bought a new 2010 Insight on February 27. I have to say I am disappointed with it. I am still on the first tank of gas, but my average MPG is only 28.5 although the EPA sticker said 40 in town and 43 on the highway! We have driven 187 miles since picking it up, mostly but not entirely in stop and start traffic. I have been very careful to drive only in ECO mode, I don't turn the heat on right away and generally try to keep it "in the green" as much as possible. Any thoughts as to why there is such a big discrepancy between the advertised mileage and my real world results so far? I feel like I compromised on quite a few things I would normally want in a new car in order to get the higher MPG, but now I don't even have that. Thanks in advance for any tips on how to achieve the kind of mileage they claim it gets.
My trips between work and home are very short in stop and go traffic. In the cold weather I get about the same MPG going to work in the morning. I often go home for lunch and the MPG is about 32mpg, however on the way back from lunch I can easily get 40-45mpg. As I am taking the same route with about the same traffic I can only conclude having the engine up to temp and a good charge on the battery makes a world of difference. On the weekends when I go for longer drives I can get up and around 50mpg on a trip without much effort.
I'd suspect you are running to the same thing? I figure overall I use 1/3 the gas my last car used for the same amount of driving. So 28-30mpg on a cold morning with a cold engine and battery is doing really good for me You can expect your MPG to improve as the engine breaks-in too.
Hi JimJohnD, thanks for the quick reply. I also have a fairly short commute - 6 miles one way, and I have done a couple trips of about 15 or so miles on the highway, but I have never seen anything near 50 mpg at any time. In fact the mpg just seems to go down every day. When we first got the car it was around 35mpg and every time I check, it is the same or lower than last time. I have never seen it go up in relation to the previous time I looked. I wonder when it will hit bottom? I guess I'll find out soon enough. Since the weather has been warmer this week I thought that would make a bit of a difference or at least put it back in the 30's but so far no such luck. I think I got taken.
It is 'finally' getting warmer here. I don't remember at what temp the MPG started falling off to know when to see it rise again. I do know that my car likes to run at about 178-ish degrees (F) when warmed up. It is lucky to get to 150 during the week under normal trips in the cold weather. I've taken to using a slightly longer route to work and the average has come up. I have only had mine since September so I'm really looking forward to spring, apparently our cars are too Still, way better than my last car.
P.S. I bought a ScanGaugeII that plugs into the OBDII port that I use for the Temp gauge. It is a really useful little device.
red1dr
Why...........I hope most Insighters read all the posts, you never know what knowledge or confusion you pick up. (at least you and I do.)
Willie
You make a great point Willie. I think if the Gen 2 crowd paid more attention to the posts of how we achieve top MPG that they could learn quite a bit of the same things we've collectively learned and shared through experience. We would probably less people trying to use their assist aggressively through the 'EV mode' through 1/2 or more of their SOC only to realize wasted power as it gets regenerated while driving later rather than using it in small recoverable amounts using regenerative braking. Same goes for tire pressures, but they will catch on. Tire pressure is -huge- even my 95 Prizm with a 1.8 liter engine based on a design that they started using back in 1983 went from 35 MPG to the 40's, as high as 43 MPG(34 MPG highway EPA) after raising the pressure beyond the vehicle manufacturer recommendations during the summer with everything else being as close to the same as possible.
FormerMermaid, Check your tire pressure, the higher the better, sidewall max is usually a good safe place to start. It affects handling, noise, ride feel, and traction a little bit but your MPG will be better. Cold weather causes MPG to be much worse for any gas engine, it should improve when things warm up. The time when the engine is still warming up will also cause an MPG hit, the short trips don't help with the numbers, but don't forget that it's also positive that since it's a shorter trip, it's less total gas and less cost anyway.
I know I have There is hours of reading here. Anyone who doesn't listen to up to 10 years of experience is really missing out.
I missed the forum all together myself
Still, MN Driver makes a good point. I have been switching between MID screens, Instantaneous MPG and Power distribution being my favorite, and learn new things every day. Sometimes you can get a lot of data but little real information. After reading some of the experienced posts in these forums the MID's data can be a lot more informative.
As a side note, the Knowledge Base could use some updating. There are some very good driving technique threads that could be edited to make for some required reading. I have the I2 Service Manual, and there are a few DIY tips that could be useful from resetting the Auto-Up on the driver's door, running a diagnostic on the Heating/AC system to accessing the satellite information on the Navigation system (a function I'm used to from my old Garmin e-Map). The New MIMA thread could use a technical section all by itself
We bought a new 2010 Insight on February 27. I have to say I am disappointed with it. I am still on the first tank of gas, about a quarter tank left, but my average MPG is only 28.5. We have driven 187 miles since picking it up, mostly but not entirely in stop and start, city traffic iin western Pa. I have been very careful to drive only in ECON mode, I don't turn the heat on right away and generally try to keep it "in the green" as much as possible. Any thoughts as to why there is such a big discrepancy between the advertised mileage and my real world results so far? I feel like I compromised on quite a few things I would normally want in a new car in order to get the high MPG, but now I don't even have that. Thanks in advance for any tips on how to achieve the kind of mileage they claim it gets.
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Disappointing MPG in new 2010 Insight
You can expect your MPG to improve as the engine breaks-in too.
Still, way better than my last car.
There is hours of reading here. Anyone who doesn't listen to up to 10 years of experience is really missing out. 
