Insight drops 40.5 lbs

[atlaw4u]

I replaced my 12 volt battery with the lighter Odyssey PC545 dry cell battery. The current battery was a non OEM battery that weighed 25 lbs and has been loosing charge lately. The PC545 weighs in at just 12 lbs. An instant weight savings of 13 lbs so that got me to thinking about shedding a few more pounds.

I have a cargo mat that weighs 5 lbs so I decided to remove it and use it only when carrying items. The passenger floor mat is 2.5 lbs so I removed it and will use it on the rare instance my wife wants to ride along. The spare tire is 15lbs. The spare tire tools & jack are 5lbs. For a grand total of 40.5 lbs.

I mainly commute to work and back and obviously will load the spare for any longer trips or if I don't notice any improved mpg. If I do notice an increase in mpg I may consider purchasing a spare to keep at the office and thus, if I do have a flat on the way to work or home a spare is just a phone call away.

However, taking the new battery out of the equation the other items removed are saving 27.5 lbs so there may not be a noticeable change in mileage If I place these items back but I will keep you posted.

Does anyone know what the passenger seat weighs?

[Fred]

I replaced my 12 volt battery with the lighter Odyssey PC545 dry cell battery. The current battery was a non OEM battery that weighed 25 lbs and has been loosing charge lately. The PC545 weighs in at just 12 lbs. An instant weight savings of 13 lbs so that got me to thinking about shedding a few more pounds.

As silly as this may sound, if practical for you to do so, try "filling up" with only half a tank of gasoline rather than all the way. Gasoline weighs about 8 lbs. a gallon. A side benefit to this is if you see a good deal on lower price gasoline as you're going down the road, you can pull in and take advantage of the savings - at the end of a given year that savings may prove to be significant.

Hope this helps.

Fred / Proud Owner of "The Silver Bullet"

[meow77]

I wonder if you'll see any difference... I don't notice any mileage improvement when member of my family is in the car... so I wonder if those pounds will make any difference.

[Dougie]

Reducing the weight of the car will cause a slight improvement in economy, but probably hard to detect in normal driving.

If you want to be a fanatic about it, probably the next big improvement would be to replace the glass windows with plastic.

http://www.autoblog.com/2006/10/26/repo ... waste-gas/

[Caryfd227]

as for replacing the windows with plastic...

Just make sure you use lexan as opposed to plexiglass. Plexiglass scratches way to easily and is not nearly as strong lexan.

Also, it should go without saying but the only windows you could really replace is the small back windows and the rear hatch glass (which might be problematic)

I'm fairly certain there are laws against replacing the side roll down windows with materials other than tempered glass and obviously you wouldn't want to touch the windshield.

[LoNOx 1]

I removed the passenger seat. I drive solo to my job and it increased the cargo area.

[boogetyboogety]

IIRC, the spare tire is an integral part of the Insight's crash protection for the occupant(s), in case some lummox rear-ends you...

[retepsnikrep]

I accept weight reduction is a good idea in principle.

However, apart from the issue that the tyre forms part of the rear crash protection, getting stuck with a blow out at the side of the road because of the lack of a spare and the tools to change it sounds a bit mad to me.

The 0.01mpg difference this weight might make is a small price to pay for being able to get home when I have a blowout.



Peter

[Mike Dabrowski 2000]

Someone said that a AAA card weighs less than the spare tire, so they took out the tire.

[boogetyboogety]

Someone said that a AAA card weighs less than the spare tire, so they took out the tire.

Good advice for normal driving in town, I guess...

I've had a breakdown out on US 380 years ago, between Socorro and Roswell in NM, scores of miles from anything, much less a cell signal or a friendly repair person in a garage nearby. And yes, I had the tools to effect the needed repair and was on my way within 1.5 hours (and no one came by in that time!). It's soooo quiet out there, the silence actually hurts your ears, it's so intense. Since My Beloved and I drive quite a bit for recreation on our time away from work, you better believe I'm prepared to face most any eventuality on my own, as much as is practical. IMHO, driving without a spare is not the smartest option you could choose... [/quote]