Hello all i am new to this board however have been intreasted in honda and their insight for quite some time. I have never actually driven a hybrid so i guess i dont know much about them. I was wondering if anyone has ever concidered engine swapping in the insight, it is somthing i have wanted to do for a while, too build either i higher h.p. insight or a better economy insight. I just read up on toyotas hyybrid system and it seems far more advanced and efficient than hondas. So the questin i have is could somone swap the toyotas posibly superior engine and drivetrain into the insights light weight and low drag design and if they could what type of fuel economy could be expected. Also i was wondering if anyone knew of a good informative sight about the prious that had technical specs kinda like this site does. I read on this site that in japan they have the option of running on just the electric motors which must mean that a large amount of the power must come from electricity and that the storage capacity of the batteries must be quite a bit. From what i know the insight has a relitvly small electrical storage capacity and relies on its gas motor for most of its power. What i am thinking is if you could design a plug in type system w/ the priouses drivetrain along with the japanese style electric only mode, and finaly a car that doesnt actually need a lot of energy to get around and you could have the cleanest hybrid around!
Insight vs. prious
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When comparing gas engine to gas engine the Honda is far more efficient. It's the Prius's electric motor drive that helps it's overall MPG rating. Remove this portion of the data and you will see the Prius lacks the Insight's MPG numbers. Something to think about. There was also an EPA study between the two engines and the insight was a little cleaner. But when you are talking about microns worth of pollutants does it really matter.
If you are thinking about transplanting the Prius engine into the Insight, expect to do alot of custom fabricating to get everything to fit. It's much easier to transplant a Honda B16 engine into the Insight. You won't get the fuel effeciency but it will be one fun ride.
If you want the Prius system but the Insight's Styling, cut about two feet out from the middle of the new '04 Prius. It will look more like an Insight then. hee hee
Welcome to the Forums.
If you are thinking about transplanting the Prius engine into the Insight, expect to do alot of custom fabricating to get everything to fit. It's much easier to transplant a Honda B16 engine into the Insight. You won't get the fuel effeciency but it will be one fun ride.
If you want the Prius system but the Insight's Styling, cut about two feet out from the middle of the new '04 Prius. It will look more like an Insight then. hee hee
Welcome to the Forums.
I agree with Sparky on efficiency. Honda is #1 in world sales of engines for a reason.
Even if you could put a Prius engine in an Insight, you would transform a wonderfully balanced car into a front heavy wallower.
I wouldn't want to drive a 3000 pound Prius with a dead battery very far. Whereas, the new 6 cylinder Accord will put out 240 HP without the IMA so it could still pull a trailer through the Rockies!
The IMA system is inherently straightforward. ( a motor/genrator/flywheel that assists or regenerates as needed. ) Synergy which relates two discrete electric motor/generators through a planetary gear to an ICE is not. (Please post me a link if you find a complete and simple explanation and I'll gladly smarten up and eat crow.)
Buth IMA and Synergy are great systems. Both have their particular strenghts. Both are way ahead of anything else.
Even if you could put a Prius engine in an Insight, you would transform a wonderfully balanced car into a front heavy wallower.
I wouldn't want to drive a 3000 pound Prius with a dead battery very far. Whereas, the new 6 cylinder Accord will put out 240 HP without the IMA so it could still pull a trailer through the Rockies!
The IMA system is inherently straightforward. ( a motor/genrator/flywheel that assists or regenerates as needed. ) Synergy which relates two discrete electric motor/generators through a planetary gear to an ICE is not. (Please post me a link if you find a complete and simple explanation and I'll gladly smarten up and eat crow.)
Buth IMA and Synergy are great systems. Both have their particular strenghts. Both are way ahead of anything else.
I don't see how that is very realistic. The engine in the Insight is by far one of the most efficient engines available, (thank you Honda).
I agree with the other guys that the Prius is as efficient as it is because it can be powered by electric motor only at city speeds. The only way to get that kind of electric only efficiency in the Insight would be to make the IMA battery much bigger and (more expensive). I'm sure Honda thought that idea over though.
Heck, I would preffer an electric car much more over the Insight, but they are beyond my means financially. :wink:
~Martin
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2000 5 spd
i Guess i was under the impression that you could use the steath mode in the prius for several miles, but maybe that is wrong. I found a website that said the prius lost its charge in a matter of seconds, and the insight is able to hold its charge for about 200 seconds, i dont know if any of you guys can confirm how long you can continuously drain your batt. before it dies, 200 sec. seems like a lot though. I think that if you compared gas engine to gas engine you would find that due to the light weight, narrow operating range, and also use of the Atkinson cycle the toyota would be a more efficient engine. An atkison engine operates about 28% more efficiently than a comarative 4 stroke engine. I dont know how more efficient the lean burn tech. is. So anyway why this might be a better system is because toyota really went outside the box with many parts of their design. I dont know if the end result is nessisarily more efficient but i think i remeber the buzz being that toyota is actually ahead of honda with their technology. If your looking for a good site on the prius check out howthingswork.com and look at their hybrid link esp. the part on the prius it does a good job of desribing the drivetrain. I also found some good sites about the atkinson cycle but as for which system is actually more efficient at converting chemical energy into usable power i do not know.
I've never driven a Prius, but I've read that it will go electric-only in city mode. The Insight won't (except maybe if you run out of gas while moving...).
The Insight's battery will hold its charge for at least several days without any noticable decay. That's the longest I've gone without driving - I expect weeks or months is realistic. Prius should be similar, as I believe they're both using the same type of NiMH cells.
As for how long it will provide useful assist, my experience is about 1500-2000 vertical feet of 5% grade, at highway speeds - maybe 10 minutes, though of course assist levels cycle depending on curves and other traffic. On level ground, I've never got the gauge to drop by more than 1/4, and even that's rare.
The Insight's battery will hold its charge for at least several days without any noticable decay. That's the longest I've gone without driving - I expect weeks or months is realistic. Prius should be similar, as I believe they're both using the same type of NiMH cells.
As for how long it will provide useful assist, my experience is about 1500-2000 vertical feet of 5% grade, at highway speeds - maybe 10 minutes, though of course assist levels cycle depending on curves and other traffic. On level ground, I've never got the gauge to drop by more than 1/4, and even that's rare.
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you could get a new sparrow....$12,500Motty82 said:
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did they...man, i loved that company
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that probably has to do w/ more reliance on the batteries. they dont opperate well in cold weather (batteries that is)
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