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I am not an alarmist about things like EMFs, and found the claim of one Insight driver in a previous discussion that the magnetic fields in his vehicle were giving him headaches somewhat over-the-top.
Anyway, before graduating to my 2000 5-spd Insight, I owned two CRX-HFs, and averaged 64 MPG combined for the lifetimes of both. I've been an eco-driver for a long time, and hit 70 mpg on a few long trips in the CRXs. But that seemed to be the ceiling--there was no way to stretch the figure beyond that shy of trailing the car behind a U-Haul. (Actually I once drove in the slipstream behind my girlfriend who was in a U-Haul and got 90 MPG from NH to NY)
Not so in the Insight. Using the same driving tricks, and adding regenerative downshifting, which of course the CRX didn't offer, I averaged 94 MPG on a recent 2000-mile trip from Santa Fe to Wyoming and back at an average altitude of about 6500 feet. I have gotten 128 MPG on the 60-mile trip from Santa Fe to Albuquerque. So there is a big difference in the mileage ceiling, mostly on the highway (in the city the two are very close, at least with me as conductor).
But I've always been curious: What if one turned the Insight into a more aerodynamic CRX-HF (which it is) with an aluminum body (which it has), alloy wheels with low-resistance tires running 58 psi (the pressure I maintain with no apparent ill wear effect), and a higher-tech, lower-powered, cleaner-burning engine (which it has). After all, the consensus among us seems to be that the best fuel economy in the Insight is achieved when the IMA is used the least.
So with that in mind, what happens when you use the IMA and its battery not at all by removing or disabling them? Has anyone tried this? (Forgive me if I've overlooked previous postings on this subject--I'm a newcomer to the site.) I know you can flip the switch on the battery pack and take it out of the loop, but as I understand it, that prevents the 12V battery from being recharged, right? If that's the hitch, has anyone hooked up a conventional alternator on its own circuit to the 12V battery or found a way to use the existing alternator to generate/regenerate just for the 12V battery with the high-voltage battery pack disconnected? Or are the two motors simply too integrated by computer and circuitry and controllers to do this in any simple, easy way?
If it's reasonably possible, how do I do it? And if, for starters, I switch off the rear battery and drive, how far (long) can I go before the 12V battery dies (daytime)? Is it harmful to the car to do this? Would the car still go into lean-burn mode on the highway and are mixture/valve setting/combustion functions still intact?
Many, many thanks to any technical person with the patience to read this and answer any or all of the questions. I miss my old pre-EMF self.
Anyway, before graduating to my 2000 5-spd Insight, I owned two CRX-HFs, and averaged 64 MPG combined for the lifetimes of both. I've been an eco-driver for a long time, and hit 70 mpg on a few long trips in the CRXs. But that seemed to be the ceiling--there was no way to stretch the figure beyond that shy of trailing the car behind a U-Haul. (Actually I once drove in the slipstream behind my girlfriend who was in a U-Haul and got 90 MPG from NH to NY)
Not so in the Insight. Using the same driving tricks, and adding regenerative downshifting, which of course the CRX didn't offer, I averaged 94 MPG on a recent 2000-mile trip from Santa Fe to Wyoming and back at an average altitude of about 6500 feet. I have gotten 128 MPG on the 60-mile trip from Santa Fe to Albuquerque. So there is a big difference in the mileage ceiling, mostly on the highway (in the city the two are very close, at least with me as conductor).
But I've always been curious: What if one turned the Insight into a more aerodynamic CRX-HF (which it is) with an aluminum body (which it has), alloy wheels with low-resistance tires running 58 psi (the pressure I maintain with no apparent ill wear effect), and a higher-tech, lower-powered, cleaner-burning engine (which it has). After all, the consensus among us seems to be that the best fuel economy in the Insight is achieved when the IMA is used the least.
So with that in mind, what happens when you use the IMA and its battery not at all by removing or disabling them? Has anyone tried this? (Forgive me if I've overlooked previous postings on this subject--I'm a newcomer to the site.) I know you can flip the switch on the battery pack and take it out of the loop, but as I understand it, that prevents the 12V battery from being recharged, right? If that's the hitch, has anyone hooked up a conventional alternator on its own circuit to the 12V battery or found a way to use the existing alternator to generate/regenerate just for the 12V battery with the high-voltage battery pack disconnected? Or are the two motors simply too integrated by computer and circuitry and controllers to do this in any simple, easy way?
If it's reasonably possible, how do I do it? And if, for starters, I switch off the rear battery and drive, how far (long) can I go before the 12V battery dies (daytime)? Is it harmful to the car to do this? Would the car still go into lean-burn mode on the highway and are mixture/valve setting/combustion functions still intact?
Many, many thanks to any technical person with the patience to read this and answer any or all of the questions. I miss my old pre-EMF self.