Newbe trying to get better mileage

[gjenn12]

I have a 2004 CVT with 41000 it seems the more I drive it the mileage keeps going down right now as of the last fill up I am getting 43 MPG and that seems low to me. I checked the tires and am running 48 pounds I live in the Monterey Bay area of CA and I do not go over may hills . Any help will be great I think I am driving correctly maybe not.

[Scott]

What MPG do you normally get? What is your LMPG? 43MPG down from what? Do you have the OEM Potenza's? Your MPG loss can't be from cold temps based on your location. Need more info....43 does seem a little low for a CVT.

[Fred]

Originally Posted by gjenn12

I have a 2004 CVT with 41000 ... getting 43 MPG ... tires ...48 pounds ...

I to have a CVT and can offer the following which may be of some help to you.

- Find a relatively level, smooth road, one where you can do a ten to twenty mile run out and back.
- When conditions permit, try running along at an indicated 1800 to 2000 RPM on your tachometer. This should, on a level road have you running along at about 50 to 55 MPH; none of this sixty and seventy MPH stuff.
- If you're not already doing it, set your display to indicate the MPG meter as you're running. At an RPM of about 1800 to 2000 RPM, you should be indicating a fule consumption rate of about seventy five or so MPG.

Keep in mind, you may still be trying to drive that little Insight as if it were a large American or Euro car - it isn't. These Insights are different. They're not tanks. They're not race cars. Rather they're a very efficient little car for one or two people who want to go from point "A" to point "B" in a reasonable amount of time and if you can run along with that tachometer for the most part indicating 1800 to 2000 (up to 3000 RPM for passing or going up steep hills) the MPG results will probably surprise you! You may find at the end of a given run, you're indicating MPG readings of seventy, eighty or better.

Hope this helps.

tyc

[3-Wheeler]

Hi gjenn12,

I have a manual Insight, so I can't give you an exact comparison, BUT...

Typically use the Insight on the way to work, 30 miles each way. I leave home 10 minutes earlier than normal and stick to the back-roads where I can drive slower, from 40 to 45 mph. At about 42 mph I typically see the FCD showing 80 to 100 mpg on a flat road, no wind, and no stops for about five miles.

With stops, I typically run about 72 mpg with the weather slowly getting warmer and the mpg's slowly climbing towards 75 mpg and higher. Best one way so far on this same flat road is 88 mpg with a slight tail wind and about 67 mpg going into the same wind same day (to/from work).

I have the IMA disable switch, which I rarely use to increase mpg, but more for keeping the battery charge higher over long hills. Also have the hot air mod from two weeks ago, with air inlet temperatures running 80 to 100°F with ambient temperatures between 35 and 60°F.

My mpg's on the highway at 55 mph are typically low (55 mpg) for a reason I have yet to determine. Yes, the EGR valve was just recently soaked over night and the air passages to the intake taken apart and checked with no real carbon build-up at all. It did eliminate the bucking however. Yet, mpgs at this speed are lower than I like.

What speeds do you typically run?

Hope this helps, Jim.

[MIUBHI]

Originally Posted by Scott

What MPG do you normally get? What is your LMPG? 43MPG down from what? Do you have the OEM Potenza's? Your MPG loss can't be from cold temps based on your location. Need more info....43 does seem a little low for a CVT.

A little low? I get upset when my tank mpg is lower then 55 on my CVT, lol. My LMPG is 57.1, was 57.3 but when I took a trip back to FL I was running 75-80 and it brought it down but was still getting 50-52 mpg! After making a ram air intake for mine my last take was 60.1, while doing a lot of stop and go traffic and running 55-60 mph while having a lot of wind (TX wind really sucks!) My tires were only like 38psi as well...

[leonar40]

My 2005 CVT gets 58-60 mpg. I drive 30 miles each way to work on a country road going between 55 and 65 mph. I have my tires at 38-40 psi. You don't have the "S" mode constantly on all the time do you? How about the AC? Those are the only two things that I can think of that would knock your mileage down that far. That is unless you are driving like it's the Indy 500.

[Hybrid-Battery-Repair]

Originally Posted by gjenn12

I have a 2004 CVT with 41000 it seems the more I drive it the mileage keeps going down right now as of the last fill up I am getting 43 MPG and that seems low to me. I checked the tires and am running 48 pounds I live in the Monterey Bay area of CA and I do not go over may hills . Any help will be great I think I am driving correctly maybe not.

If you are saying that you've had the car for a while and mileage is suddenly going down, then you have to look at things that affect the engine efficiency and things that affect drag. Alignment issues can reduce mileage. A bad CV joint can reduce mileage as can dragging brakes, a catalytic converter getting clogged, or a degraded battery charging constantly. Even a clogged PCV valve.

Did the gas formulation just change near you?

[Highmileage Insighter]

Our 2001 Insight CVT consistantly gets 50-53 mpg, 90% freeway miles, driving 65-70mph.

Potenzas are inflated (cold) to 45 front and 43 rear.

When the AC is on, mpg drops slightly to 48-50 mpg.

[Hitech]

I have a 2006 with 128000 miles . I drive 216 miles per day at a steady 60. LTMPG is 59.6. I have Cruise an use AC in the summer. The car had 25,000 when I got it and the LTMPG was 48 when I got it. Driving style is everything

[Bearclaw]

I bought my 05 Insight at 53000miles on it with a lifetime mpg at 43. I had driven about 150 miles getting 47mpg with it lugging off the starting line when I realized the dealer had put in 5W30 oil in it. I took it back to them and they changed it and put 0W20 in for free as that was the wrong oil and now I'm getting 50-51mpg mixed city/highway driving. My tires are set at 40F 38R. I'm still learning to limit the IMA optimize the regenerative braking and keep it under the speed limit.