Honda Insight Forum banner
Cancel
Create thread New Garage Forums

Frustrated

Jump to Latest
2.4K views 29 replies 9 participants last post by  Sam12345  
S
#1 ·
So i reset my tripometer and leave my mother and laws house. A 16 o so mile trip to my house. About 4 miles from her house to freeway. All freeway after till about 4 miles to my house. I go on freeway between 57 ant 67 mph (as lean burn allows) when i get off freeway and head to my house i have 88.5mpg. When i get to my house its down to 78mpg. From freeway to my house its mostly uphill. I cannot figure a way to go uphill without killing my mpg. Any advice?

The good news (i think) is when i parked it at my mother in laws on saturday the battery was full and it sat there till today and the battery was at the exact same level (full)
 
E
#2 ·
LOL damn. How many miles does your car have? You should be very happy with these numbers if your car is stock. This is US gallons, and not UK gallons right? Should be very very happy with this.

Only thing I can think of is MIMA (or maybe IMAC&C) to use battery more going the last part uphill.
 
S
#5 ·
When i got to my house the battery was still almost full. Using the electric motor requires too much throttle so i waste gas. Too little gas i got to downshift which uses too much gas. 5th gear with assists uphill always gives me 50mpg but that kills my average and kills the battery. Lean burn in third maybe but i have a hard time maintaining that.
 
J
#16 · (Edited)
If hills are short enough, then let the car lose a bit of speed while climbing. That usually works if the hill isn't too long or too steep. With MIMA or IMA C&C you can manually feed in just enough assist to keep the car in lean burn. On really steep hills you will probably have to command full assist to keep the MPG up. Of course, it kinda gets artificial at that point since you will eventually have to allow the car to regen and that will burn fuel.

A FAS switch will hype your MPG faster than any other driving measure.

Check my signature for an MPG competition number.

Edit: yes as Lyger says, figuring out how to maintain momentum is very important.

Also, The car won't deliver its best MPG until everything is thoroughly warmed up, including tires and all the bearings. You always lose MPG on the first 5 miles or so. Texas might be a bit better than VA.
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
L
#7 ·
you can usually get lean burn with assist, getting the charge back without impacting mpg is the tricky part and where a calpod comes in.
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
E
#8 ·
Ah, I see, perhaps that 88F explains your high mpg.

Presumably leaving the house goes downhill which gives you a chance to regain some charge.

I'm thinking with IMAC&C you can go up on 4th in lean burn by asking for some assist. So get that thing installed, and let us know if that actually works!

From my testing, while it's possible to try to stay in lean burn up a slight hill on 3rd, you tend to be pegged around 50mpg even in lean burn. This is about the same as using assist and 4th gear out of lean burn, also around 50mpg.
 
#10 · (Edited)
Depending on how steep the incline (if I'm not using mima), I grab a lower gear and gradually 'lose speed' (trying not to bring in assist) to the crest of the hill to minimize the mpg hit.
Agreed with esprout: nice numbers .
 
#11 ·
Yes you are lucky. I have not seen such numbers in several years , lately i am happy is I stay close to 55-60 mpg on trips and my average ir 51mpg..... gave up already on the high mpg....
 
L
#12 ·
the question is flawed anyways, every hill you take you are going to lose mpg, no matter what.
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
L
#15 · (Edited)
momentum is the word you need to focus on.

not that it is ideal, since we live in a world with speed limits and other drivers but the best technique is to gain as much speed as possible before the hill and try to keep your mpg as high as possible while making as much power as possible. what i usually do is before a hill push lean burn as hard as it will go without it kicking out and hold it there until speed drops near the low threshold during the climb and then downshift while trying to maintain momentum without having the mpg drop below 50.

i know i live in florida but i also live at the highest elevation in pretty much the whole state with lots of small and even some steep short hills. the hills are short enough i can just build speed and carry myself over the hill while using nothing but lean burn(well in my old car anyways, the new one requires a slightly different technique using the high end of non lean burn economy). but on longer grades that's not possible but the momentum issue still applies.

nothing burns me more than someone who hits the brakes on a hill and makes me lose that momentum.

i don't necessarily think avoiding using the IMA is always best, if you know how to gain that charge back without the car trying to pick it back up on flat road.


every hill is different and requires slightly different techniques. the most challenging are the hills that don't even appear to be hills but sap your power the worst. on I15 between california and las vegas there is a number of slight grades that can go on for 20 miles or more. off route 66 between barstow and bakersfield there is some shallow grades you can't even see but they are like massive hillclimbs that never seem to stop. i still have no idea why but the illusion of it being flat while you struggle to keep speed always made me think my car was having issues on that road.
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
S
#17 ·
Yeah but this is neighborhood streets with 35mph speed limits lights stop signs and multiple hills. From freeway to my house the most efficeient route i have 2 lights 2 stop signs and its almost all uphill (90 % uphill 10% flat) hill is not massively steep i 3rd you can easily go up without assist
 
J
#21 · (Edited)
You might be able to time the lights by studying them a bit - if they are synchronized. By study you may be also be able to anticipate the lights. You didn't say whether you were climbing in 3rd lean burn, but if not you will be able to do so once you have control of the assist level.

There is a lot of difference in the MPG that folks can rack up in competition situations from everyday driving. If you want to experiment some, go out and find one of those lightly traveled TX state highways that is essentially level, on a hot day, with high tire pressures, RE92 tires and I think you may well top 100 MPG - given that you are already doing pretty darn well. I was told by Right Lane Cruiser early in my ownership that the magic speed was about 34MPG which is not practical for most purposes of course. There is another sweet spot at around 53-54mpg, with lesser MPG. Anything faster and you begin to loose.

MPG hypeing and MPG competition aren't "real" world. I have a decent competition record and I think your numbers are pretty good for a recent owner. You will find the little tricks that boost the MPG in small steps.
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
#19 ·
Drive slower. The only way you can minimize the energy needed climb is to minimize all non-climb related forces, i.e., drag. You need to find the region where air drag is minimal, and you're operating the engine in the most efficient way for that given speed. You're going to need to experiment with it.

The aerodynamic drag at 25mph is 50% that of 35mph and 31% that of 45mph. Aerodynamics may not be a big component of your drag, but it's the ONLY thing you can influence. You can't change the potential energy requirement, but you can minimize the effects of your kinetic energy.

Well... actually the only component of a potential energy change you can influence is mass, so go on a diet and make sure you're not carrying around any unnecessary weight.
 
S
#23 ·
Well i think the best method is to get to 45 mph at a brisk acceleration around 40 to 45% throttle and put her in fifth (anything slower it bogs down unless you floor it with full assist in fifth) . Of course i risk getting a ticket. Seems i can achieve 45mpg from bottom of hill to top. Can't time the first light its activated by a car aproaching and has about a 10 second green cycle. The second light i can time but its one of those with turn lights so it has a long cycle in red.Basically the first light if you are behind someone at the light its turning yellow as you are almost through.

V
 
J
#24 · (Edited)
Those are some mean lights! I assume that they cross major roads since the cycle is so short. In some situations an alternate but slightly longer route may be advantageous. Since the route end point doesn't change, the potential energy is the same, but some other route might be more efficient.

There has been much debate about how best accelerate, and about which top gears are best. I have found moderate acceleration better than brisk, but I'm retired and waste a lot of time;)

Fourth offers sightly more torque of course, and if you are climbing a hill, it may be just as efficient. Torque falls pretty fast below 2200 RPM. The hypermiler "highwater" has stated that he found 4th better for some situations. If fourth allows you to maintain LB then it is clearly best. On a commuting route you have the opportunity to experiment.

I don't have the links handy, but you might do some searching using the google bar on top left. Like always, there is a lot of thread wander, so you have to read fast to find the relevant stuff:(
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
L
#26 · (Edited)
also to be sure you know about topping off the tank and how that skews initial MPG results as the evap system purges all the vapors into the engine. the kick in MPG usually lasts, for me, about 5-15 miles. one time i got ~135mpg over a 12 mile span, which is almost double what the car normally gets. too bad it's a fake increase, you're still burning the fuel, but it just isn't registered.
 
Save
Reply Quote Like Like
Honda Insight Forum
posts
499K
members
190K
Since
2003
We’re the ultimate Honda Insight forum to talk about Honda’s hybrid car and its fuel economy and specs!
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
Honda Insight Forum 1st-Gen Discussion Modifications and Technical Issues Problems and Troubleshooting Member Classifieds Honda Insight Forum 2nd-Gen Discussion