New Insight owner and Poster!

[Hondo]

My wife and I are the 1 week owners of a 2005 MT Insight that we purchased from a collector in SF. The car had 14,000 miles, is in show room condition, and checked out with our local Honda dealer in perfect condition. She's already getting 63+ mpg in her daily commute and we both love the styling and handling as well as the gas savings.

My question is this, and I hope this has not been asked too many times before by newbies: how does one gain a few more horsepower or higher torque numbers from this little jewel, especially after the shift into second when the torque seems to disappear until the revs get back up around 2800-3000. We intend on using it to do the drive to Seattle and the passes between Northern Calif and Oregon, especially the Siskiyou Summit are daunting. Or experience in the hills here so far seem to indicate that it would be a slow pull. Any help would be most welcome.

[Willie Williford]

Everything you say is "normal" for your vehicle. 2800 rpm is where the VTEC system kicks in so your torque will be more.
I've driven the mountains you indicate over the years and live in the mountains of San Diego county. Usually I use 2500 rpm to climb them. The Insight is pretty "unpowerful' (NOT GUTLESS) below 2000 without IMA assist.
Sometimes you may have to even drop down to third,(Thats my favorite gear) just don't "lug" the engine.
You will definately drain the IMA battery if you try to climb the mountains at too low of an rpm (More "load" on the engine) and then lose more mpg while the IMA system goes into a forced charge before you reach the top.. Try driveing with useing as little of the IMA assist as possible...........Thats my style. I'm not a hypermiler, but can do that if I desire. I drive with the "flow of traffic".
Good luck and WELCOME to ICN .

Willie

[Cobb]

There is a guy here who added a small turbo charger to his to get a few extra hp with little effect on mpg. Something I want to do to mines with like 4psi of boost or less. I had played with the idea of nos for pulling out in traffic at like a 25 shot or less. Since I have pass 4 thousand miles it wil rev past 4 grand and has some more power near the top end.

Originally Posted by Hondo

how does one gain a few more horsepower or higher torque numbers from this little jewel

[Hondo]

Willie, thanks for the response. Good to know that my car is operating as it should. First gear is pretty quick if you get into it, but that drop off into second (from an old racer like me) is somwwhat disconcerrting. On the other hand, My wife just called and said she broke 70mpg on her way to work this morning and was so thrilled!

I've followed your journey here on turbocharging your Insight and am very impressed. Quite a labor of love. As I recall, it not only didn't lower your mpg but increased it in certain ranges? Any intentions of making a kit affordable to others of us here? Short of that, are there any little tweaks that will increase the torque, especially in that 2nd gear?

Enjoying this site immensely, hope to learn from you old hands! Thanks. Hondo

[Hondo]

Cobb, I think that guy is Willie and he's been kind enough to answer my post already. Nos is an interesting idea, wonder how intricate the plumbing would need to be and how it would affect the lean burn of the engine? I've searched high and low for a chip to remap the ecu like they have for so many of the other Honda lines, but so far, nothing that looks reasonable--or well made. Thanks, Hondo

[Hitech]

I never seem to have any problem climbing the 17' "mountan" range between Naples and Ft Lauderdale