38 mpg!!!!?????

[hybridracer]

I am baffled. I have had a recurring problem with milage on my 2000 Insight. I have seen, at the very best, 51.1 mpg. However, it seems to vary wildly. I recently took a trip from Orlando to Miami, averaging between 70-75 mph, and I was getting about 38. Holy crap.

This has happened to me before, where I was getting crummy milage and then all of a sudden (without even stopping the car) it jumped up to over 50.

About 10,000 miles ago, I complained to the dealer (car was still under warr then) that the battery was not holding a charge at all. It would not go over halfway under any circumstances. They told me that normal engine wear would result in decreased milage. I told them that no normal engine wear would decrease milage by over half, unless the engine was about to go!

I checked compression on the car and it was all up to spec. The dealer said nothing was wrong in their diagnostic. Still, I pushed and they replaced the battery (the big one)

Just before this last trip, I noticed on the very inside of my tires that they had worn to the cords. I like to go fast around the corners. Its really a great handling car. Nothing like going around some goon in an import tuner, on the outside of a 2 lane on-ramp! Haha.

Anyway, I had to go with tires that were 10mm wider than stock (175/65r14), and put them on the front of the car, as I couldnt find the stock tire anywhere without waiting a week, and I had to make my drive to Miami that day. I dont think it was the tires because I have seen the same problem before.

What could be causing this terrible milage? And why is it so inconsistent.

It was almost creepy when I got back to Orlando, and reset the trip meter, all of a sudden I jumped back up to about 42...which still sucks.

I certainly have never ever seen 80 mpg in my car for anything but a downhill coast. There are no hills here in Florida to speak of, and it has been very cool lately as well. In fact, on an especially cold day was when I got my best milage in a year. Go figure.

Im baffled here, and the dealer says the car is just fine. Now that its out of warranty(100,000) I am sure they will find the problem.

Can anyone help?

2.68/gal in Orlando

[Guillermo]

Since the very inside of your tires wore out to the cords, this uneven tire wear indicates your alignment is out of spec. This can help explain some of your poor mileage. Get an alignment done soon, and make sure you ask for a print out showing what the alignment was before and after they fix it.
And you haven't metioned what tire pressures you use.
Try using 40 or 45 psi (cold) on all tires.

[trunkout]

have yer bearing checked....may sound silly but that was the cuplrit of uneven wear in mine....

[hawkGT647]

Originally Posted by hybridracer

I am baffled. I have had a recurring problem with milage on my 2000 Insight. I have seen, at the very best, 51.1 mpg.
...

Just before this last trip, I noticed on the very inside of my tires that they had worn to the cords. I like to go fast around the corners. Its really a great handling car. Nothing like going around some goon in an import tuner, on the outside of a 2 lane on-ramp! Haha.

Anyway, I had to go with tires that were 10mm wider than stock (175/65r14), and put them on the front of the car, as I couldnt find the stock tire anywhere without waiting a week, and I had to make my drive to Miami that day. I dont think it was the tires because I have seen the same problem before.

What could be causing this terrible milage? And why is it so inconsistent.
...
Can anyone help?

(

You are right, the car is capable of lots more MPG, if it's a 5-speed.

Try switching back to a LRR tire and pump them up to whatever you are comfortable with.

If it's a stick shift, will it enter lean burn? Let off the gas pedal at about 45-55 mph until you see the iFCD jump to 75-100 mpg. Then lightly press the pedal to hold your speed, while keeping the mpg 's as high as possible. That will give a huge jump in MPG's

Last, it kinda sounds like you are driving aggressively. That will hurt your fuel economy more than any thing else.

Regards,

[hybridracer]

Yes, I like to drive in a spirited manner. I am sure the tire wear came from working it around the corners. From my racing experience, when cornering on the limit, the inside tire is almost off the ground, and gets a little wheelspin (not that you would notice), and is "cambered" relative to the road, on the inside of the tire. But all those other things are sure something to check of course. But that kind of wear is something I have encountered in a lot of my cars (at least FWD cars)

However, I am removing that from my milage consderations. When I am watching it, I make sure I am on a flat highway and drive realtively conservatively...well 70-75 anyway...which is the highway speed here.

What is an LRR tire?...oh...got it...low rolling resistance. Would that really make that big a difference? I will try pumping them up to check. Even my old LRR tires said 38 psi recomended though...

I bought these other tires, and they would make great full sized spares. Can you recomend a brand. What is the std equip? Mine had Bridgestones on it before. They didnt say LRR on them anywhere.

[jbrasure]

Is your car a CVT or 5 speed?

[Billy]

Hi Jbrashure; it is a 5 speed, because it is a 2000. CVT did not enter the market until 2001.........

[Dougie]

Suggestion: Try driving a segment using every trick you can think of to get the best mileage possible, just to see whether the car is broken. 200 miles should be plenty...

[Guillermo]

Aggressive cornering only wears out the outside edges of the tires, never the inside edges unless the alignment is out.
Excessive negative camber (not likely) or
excessive toe out will cause premature wear of the inside edges of the tires.

[Faith]

Your story sounds eerily like mine. In April, 2004, I was tooling along an empty highway when my odometer passed 100,000. Less than an hour later, there was a sudden loss of power. I was running low on gas (just a little more than fumes remained in the tank), so figured that was what the problem was and went to the station and filled the tank.
The attendant was alarmed by the condition of my OEM tires (cord was showing on all) and said that they couldn't in good conscience let me leave. So I got a new set of tires - the same size you put on the front of yours. (My Insight #00-3801 is the same configuration as yours.)
From that moment on, I have had to struggle to hit 50 MPG. I have intermittent surges of standard performance but otherwise I'd get better power if I got out and pushed. I have been to six different dealerships with no satisfaction. One dealer attributed it to my battery pack and was kind enough to replace my perfectly fine pack (out of warranty) with no improvement whatsoever.
Once I made a midnight run to Vegas from LA and on the Long Road at about 0300, I suddenly got the most insane mileage ever: 163 MPG. It ran like the champ it was before that fateful day: solid power, no hesitation, happy-to-be-alive zippy. For the rest of the trip, I ignored my internal plumbing for fear of never being able to start the little beast again should I switch it off for a pit stop and drove straight through.
Started the car in the a.m. and it was back to piss-poor mileage. Since then, I've driven it as is and am unable to get any satisfaction or support from the dealerships or Honda Corporate. Usually it drives okay but it's just not the car it was.
Being thoroughly disgusted, I parked it for about six months. This was after one of the fender skirts fell off after it was 'serviced.' Took it back to the dealer to get the skirt reattached and they don't have the clips.
I'm considering putting OEM tires back on as a last-ditch effort to resurrect the beast-that-can car that is still in that motor somewhere. I'll let you know if it works. In the meantime, I'm contemplating just getting rid of it, sucking up the loss, and going Prius.