I bought a 2000 Insight from my father a few years ago after he bought a new car. He had bought the car new and got about 65-70 MPG for the first year or so. Then he started having problems with the check engine light coming on and found out that a part had been recalled and needed replaced (i think it was the voltage regulator). Ever since then, no matter how i drive, i cant get over 50mpg at any speed. I'm averaging about 43 mpg now at 74k miles and am getting kind of angry when i read that most of you are gettting 70+ mpg.
I asked honda about this and they told me i was running the air conditioner too much and basically blew me off.
Is there anything I can do to get my mileage up? I'd even put the old part back in if I had it. Anybody find a fix or work-around for this problem?
If you watch the instant gas mileage while driving (the green MPG bar), does it ever go above 50 MPG while driving on the freeway?
James Brasure
only when my foot is totally off the gas. i tried some stuff off this forum today while driving and it helped my short term but it was stop and go traffic. i think when i have a stretch where i'm driving more than 1/4 mile w/o stopping it should greatly increase my mileage. driving that car like it's a school bus really helps the mileage.
i think when i have a stretch where i'm driving more than 1/4 mile w/o stopping it should greatly increase my mileage.
Doubt it.
If your trying to get near highway MPG *averages* in 1/4 or even 1 mile segments its going to be _VERY_ difficult. For the first 3-5 miles (depending on outside temps) the engine is in its warm-up phase where MPG's will be lower. After that point if you can find some low traffic highway that allows constant 45-65 MPH with little or no elevation change, then you can _begin_ to get 70+MPG's.
Location: Lewisville, Texas USA Drive 2000 5-speed Insight
Posts: 789
Simple Test
It took awhile to get used to the nuiances that improve the fuel economy on the Insight. For me it was worse, because I went from a really heavy foot to a very light one.
I'd find a level road that it's safe to cruise at 45-50mph. The engine is warmed up, etc.... Reset the FCD. Check both the instant and trip mpg. While you are cruising on that road, you should be getting 70-110mpg if the outdoor temperature is reasonably close to warm. The assumptions is the traffic and is light enough you can cruise at this speed and you can keep a feather foot on the pedal. No starts and stops, significant speed variations, significant hill climbs.
If you can get high fuel economy doing the test I described above, it's very likely your Insight is in good condition. The test is relatively simple. If you experienced difficulty getting even 70mpg, I'd suspect car problems.
Let's assume you passed the test with flying colors. In good weather, 90mpg or better is not that hard. If this is the case, it's driving technique. Real world driving will not be like that test I described. This is probably the biggest factors 1) keep speed in the 40-65mph range (some don't go over 55) 2) Reduce the number of accelerations as much as practical. It takes just a few seconds of a hard acceleration to ruin a good segment. 3) Glide to stops as much as practicle.
i think when i have a stretch where i'm driving more than 1/4 mile w/o stopping it should greatly increase my mileage.
You'll need far more than a quarter of a mile. See if you can find a streach of relatively level road nearby and run out twenty or thirty miles or so. That run plus the return trip should prove one way or another if it's YOU or the car which is at fault. It could be the car, the instrumentationi or you, and no insult intended, odds are it's you. If you have a "heavy foot", understand that these little cars are VERY SENSATIVE to such things; i.e., it does NOT take too much movement on your part (your foot) to increase or decrease speed.
I suggest this as, as others here with Insights have found, as time goes on and as you gain experience with the little car, you'll find that you're driving more by MPG than MPH. These little cars are well thought out and if you don't yet realize it, they are considerably different than the big American, European or Asian gas guzzlers you may have been used to all your driving life.
Easy does it. Like most of us, learn to stay in the right lane and keep your speed down to about fifty or sixty MPH and if you will do that, then watch that MPG soar!
So what's up with the commentary in the main driving section of this site that says, Mash the peddle when you are accelerating (to get up to your speed) then feather it as much as possible?
Is he a nut job? Is that only on the manual models?
BTW, I am new with only about a month under my belt on an 02 CVT with 45k. So a little confused now. MPG on first two tanks (8 mi commute 50:50) is 43-48, although I got 51 on a trip between Columbus and Cleveland. I think the formerly 30 psi and 15 degree temps on such short commute were/are killing me.
Jeremiah
So what's up with the commentary in the main driving section of this site that says, Mash the peddle when you are accelerating (to get up to your speed) then feather it as much as possible?
Works in the city drive cycle _IF_ there is also enough regenerative braking required to replentish the IMA SoC _without_ requiring an otherwise inevitable forced charge. Ultimate high MPG is not attainable in the city drive cycle (frequent stop & go).
For ultimate MPG (of the almost insane degree, and requires a comperable driving technique, s l o wwww) little or no use of the IMA for acceleration is the proven technique.
For the average Joe, most of us find a comfortable point in between.
I see. I guess that was directions for entering a freeway rather than a city cycle.
So what does your console look like when you are on the "on ramp?" I usually have 4-6 orange bars (IMA?) as I accelerate from 35-60 mph. Is that too aggressive to match your 71 LMPG? Do you just go as slow as possible without disrupting traffic flow?
BTW, my car's LPMG is 44.4 - hasn't budged since I bought it around New Years. I assume first owner didn't reset it....
Thanks,
Jeremiah
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43 lifetime MPG on 2000 Insight
(no insult intended)
I guess that was directions for entering a freeway rather than a city cycle. 
