[ikhoudvanu199]

im just wondering if anyone here knows what some of the best MPG's are from an unmodified insight

im talking no M*MA, no radiator block, no MPG mods of any kind other than driver attitude

just wondering where i stack up...maybe i can improve something

any figures will do: LMPG, OMPG, best trip, best tank, etc

thanks

 

[JakkedUp]

My sig says what I get.

 

[red1dr]

It depends SO much on the route and speeds. Someone doing P&G at low speeds on a rural route without stoplights or signs will do far better than someone with traffic and stops to contend with. The guys doing the 1-tank challenge in OK last summer averaged 164mpg, but this was at 15mph average (I don't think they used M*MA). The length of trip also has a huge effect, because mpg improves when the car is fully warmed up (and the battery fully charged, so background charging doesn't drag it down). Hills (and the type of hills) can also help or hurt, and truck traffic can help too. My Insight seems to love hot humid weather, I don't understand why, and a tailwind really boosts my glides.

I do think driver attitude and state of mind makes a difference. It's just impossible to sort it out from all these other factors.

 

[Fred]

It depends SO much on the route and speeds.
... Hills (and the type of hills) can also help or hurt,
... and truck traffic can help too.
... I do think driver attitude and state of mind makes a difference.

Bingo! Experience has and continues to show me that red1dr is about as right as you can get regarding getting the maximum MPG from your Insight on any given run.

The Summer before, when I first had the "Silver Bullet" I was able to get 97.1 MPG on a 24 mile run and a week or two later I got something like 97.9 on the identical run; have yet to "crack" 100 MPG and if I'm going to do it, it will be on that run - and it'll be in the Summer when I do it. This Summer on the same 24 mile run I was able to get 92.1 and the following day if I recall correctly I got 92.4 on a repeat run. Note that all four runs were in the Summer, NOT Winter. When Winter comes expect your MPG to plumit.

On a run North of here, another twenty some mile run, initially I was disappointed with the fourty and fifty MPG results but by paying attention to the roads, where I could coast, I did, where I could go a lot slower (forty and fifty MPH as opposed to sixty MPH) I did and using that experience, now I routinely end those runs in the low to mid-seventy (70-74) MPG range.

You might also note that the "Silver Bullet" is a CVT and if your Insight has a manual transmission, there is no doubt what-so-ever on this end that in the Summer were you to run the same roads I'm running, odds are it wouldn't be very difficult for you to be registering 100 MPG or better at the end of those runs - again this would be in the Summer, not Winter.

If you're a new Insight owner/user it is reasonable of you to expect that it will take you several months to really begin to get the best MPG out of that little car for the roads you travel most, and are most familiar with.

Hope this helps some.

Fred / Proud owner of "The Silver Bullet"

 

[ikhoudvanu199]

thanks for the replies

i know that MPG will be different for everyone depending on where they are, but i was just wanting to get an idea across the spectrum where other unmodifieds were sitting

i have had my insight since february, and have just begun, as fred stated, to get the best mileage out of my daily commute(in my sig)

that best one way was my morning commute to work at 4:30am, a couple weeks ago, when it was really warm in the morning, but just barely cool enough to survive w/o a/c...i used all my best hypermiling technique on the street, and did 47-50mph on the highway...the commute is about 90% highway and i can coast off the exit ramp and decel really really slowly from 50 to 0 over a course of about 1/2 mile...its also got a whole lot of little foot hills on the entire commute, and 3 stop signs :x :lol:

so hopefully some more people can input their bests and maybe accompany a little story like that so as to give us some basis for comparison

 

[uhtrinity]

I can usually reproduce about 92.5 mpg @ 55 - 60 mph from Pocatello to Idaho Falls Idaho, which is a little over 50 miles.

It really depends on the temperature and terrain, and driver attitude. My best long trip was 72 MPG for 750 miles. Terrain varied from flat desert to winding mountain passes. Speed varied from 45 - 75 mph, with a majority being at 65mph.

Playing with MIMA atm to see what mpg / performance improvements can be had.

 

[ikhoudvanu199]

question for those posting their trips:

when do you reset your trip meter? i reset mine before i leave someplace, and record it when i arrive, so my trip includes all city driving leading up to the highway

do your trips reflect the city driving to and from the highway, or are these just on the highway?

 

[uhtrinity]

My trips are from my driveway to my driveway, or in the case of the 92.5mpg, from my driveway to my friends driveway. With the 92.5 mpg trips, I would actually be closer to 95mpg if I reset at the city limits.

Between fillups, I reset right at the pump.

 

[jack9994]

My best ever commute (approx 95 miles return) was average of 104.7mpg. That was keeping speed about 50-55mph with tyres at 40psi. My current tank average is about 82mpg at around 75mph but that includes periods of 80mph+ running. I do wonder whether i could ever restrain myself to get 104mpg again!
Cheers
John

 

[Rober]

Best run is 97.4 for 50 miles with a 2005 manual. Speed held at 52-55 mph. My lifetime average is sitting at 73.1 for 26,000 miles. I am fortunate as most of my driving is rural two lane country. Wind, temperature, and humidity all affect performance. Also, traffic will influence how often you can coast and not create a hazard for drivers hammering the gas pedal. Improving on mileage each outing is a challenge that I really enjoy. Still stalking that elusive 100 mpg run.

 

[ikhoudvanu199]

jack, what kind of terrain are you driving over? i am assuming its all really flat?

if i did those speeds around here i would be lucky to get 55mpg :!:

 

[Fred]

Something else I didn't mention the other day which may be of some value to you ...

As silly as this may at first sound but due to the sensativity of that gas peddle and the associated linkage, you and others migh want to experiment with the following ...

Rather than place the whole of the flat of your foot against the whole of the flat of that gas peddle in the Insight, consider pulling your heel - JUST YOUR HEEL - back about an inch or two (about 5cm or so) away from the peddle and continue to control the gas peddle with only the ball of your foot. I know, sounds silly but if you're going along at about fifty or so MPH and you do this, watch that MPG meter jump! Yeah, the linkage is that touchy! It is that sensative!

Don't believe me? When you're out on a relatively flat and clear road, try it. Odds are that like me, if you do this, you'll find that MPG meter repeatedly indicating a rate close to or in excess of 75 MPG.

Hope this helps some

Fred / Proud Owner of "The Silver Bullet"

 

[JimmyHiggins]

The mileages are just nutty with their ranges. I went to the Atlantic from Akron (486 miles) and got 83.2 mpg, which is by far a record for me. The best I had done on long distance was 75ish for 720 miles. But I also don't average 50 mph on a highway either. Do that in PA or NJ and you'll get killed! Or maybe you can, I just don't. 80 mpg is certainly happy enough for me if I'm going around 60 mph.

 

[jack9994]

my commute is half single carriage way and half freeway with some reasonable inclines - so i drive 40 -50 initially which gets my average up high which then reduces on the freeway.

 

[red1dr]

jack9994, you aren't quoting miles per Imperial gallon are you?

 

[jack9994]

Red1dr
I assume that UK cars instrumentation is calibrated in Imperial gallons. A US gallon is 0.8327 x Imp Gallon. So my 104mpg average works out at 86mpg US.
Cheers
John

 

[Fred]

...) and got 83.2 mpg, which is by far a record for me.
... But I also don't average 50 mph on a highway either. Do that in PA or NJ and you'll get killed!
... 80 mpg is certainly happy enough for me ... around 60 mph.

On runs from the Poconos here in Pennsylvania to what is known as the Willow Grove Exit, 83 MPG or so has proven to be the average here and 80+ MPG these days, when compared to what those SUVs and the like are getting, eighty MPG is probably three (3) times better - and your little Insight is doing the same job for its owner; taking one person from point A to point B.

As for "... you'll get killed!" while going along at fifty MPH or so here in Pennsylvania, no. Every so often I get on I-80 and go to New York and on those runs I just get in the right hand lane and zip along at fifty or so and end those trips with an 80 MPG reading or so, which is still one whale of a lot better than what those individual drivers in their SUVs, small trucks and huge "status" symbol vehicles are getting. I ask you, who in New York City really needs a Hummer? A Sherman Tank maybe but a Hummer?

Fred, proud owner of "The Silver Bullet"

 

[Mark Elvin]

Red1dr
I assume that UK cars instrumentation is calibrated in Imperial gallons. A US gallon is 0.8327 x Imp Gallon. So my 104mpg average works out at 86mpg US.
Cheers
John

Apparently not, accoridng to my local dealer all Insights use the same software.

So you 104mpg average will be 104 mpg.

 

[red1dr]

Red1dr
I assume that UK cars instrumentation is calibrated in Imperial gallons. A US gallon is 0.8327 x Imp Gallon. So my 104mpg average works out at 86mpg US.
Cheers
John

Apparently not, accoridng to my local dealer all Insights use the same software.

So you 104mpg average will be 104 mpg.

Why not just zero one of the trip meters when you fill it up, measure your mileage until the next fill, divide by the amount of gas you put in at the next fill, and see if the mpg shown on the tripmeter agrees better with the miles/USgal or the miles/Imp gal?

 

[b1shmu63]

104 MPG US means you go 1,040 miles on a fill up. Some of the British Insights were modified to read in Imperial, the Japanese imports I believe.