[sfambro]

Hi All,

I just picked up my new, silver 2005 CVT Insight at Cush Honda in Escondido. Wish I would have done it years ago! What a wonderful machine.

I've lurked in the different forum here and based upon what I've learned I've pumped up my tires from 32 PSI to 45 PSI.

I'm keeping the instant MPG gauge above 55 and 75 as much as possible, but my tank MPG is only 42.4. This is stellar compared to my F150 (that's for sale now), but less than I expected.

Is the break-in of the engine causing this seemingly lower mileage?

-s

 

[Scott]

Considering you are new at driving a hybrid and it's a CVT, I wouldn't be too concerned about your mileage just yet. Also the engine is just starting to break in. Also, what type of driving are you doing?....city stop/go?...highway?...running A/C? There are many factors, especially with a hybrid that will affect your mpg.....Be patient and enjoy!!

 

[Hegel]

Same thing

hey Scott,

I'm on the same boat. I've had my '05 manual transmission Insight for about three weeks now and, just like you, I usually keep the mpg gauge between 55 and 75, but my lifetime miles per gallon reading does not reflect this. Good news is that, even though I'm doing mostly stop and go city driving, my lifetime mpg is slowly climbing. I'm getting close to 300 miles on the car and my lifetime mpg is 50. It's been a bit frustrating to see the Lmpg climg so slow, but as long as it keeps going up I'm happy.

-H

 

[Dougie]

To get an average mileage in the 75 mpg range, you have to keep the instantaneous gauge up over 100 MOST of the time.

Suggestion: Try an experiement in driving in the most extremely efficient way you can. Go slowly. Accelerate slowly. Plan ahead so you don't have to use the brakes. See how well you can do in an extreme case, and then work backwards towards a practical daily driving style.

 

[sfambro]

Some people say accelerated slow, and others say accelerate as quick as you can. You're saying slow works forhigh MPG? Makes more sense and accelerating quickly I guess

-steve

 

[Dougie]

My (limited) experience is that the best way to get good mileage is to avoid using the hybrid system. Try to not use assist.

The reason is that every time you use the assist, you're running down the battery, and then later charging it back up again. This conversion of energy back and forth is not perfectly efficient, and you lose some (to heat) in each conversion. Better to just make one conversion from chemical potential energy (in gasoline) to kinetic energy (heat and motion) in the engine.

 

[jbrasure]

Sometimes when you buy a new Insight it has 20 or so miles of bad MPG driving that was done by other people on test drives. It can take a while to bring up your lifetime MPG after that. There is a way to reset the lifetime MPG though. It's somewhere in the manual, but I can't remember the details.

 

[jbrasure]

Also, try measuring your MPG from the moment that you start your car. The first few minutes of driving (while your engine is cold) will produce your worst mileage. If you're making a lot of short trips, then it's possible this is killing your overall mileage.

 

[Willie Williford]

OK I'll answer the original question as everyone is bypassing it.

Yes, being new, your mileage will be low. after app. 4,000 miles your mileage will definately increase.

 

[sfambro]

Nice Campo,

Thanks for answering directly. FWIW, I averaged 55.6 on the way home to Carlsbad tonite with the little CVT. I expect it may be easier to reach that number after break in.

Thanks,

-s

 

[mic]

Hi neighbor!

I'm down in Cardiff by the Sea. I piciked up my Silver CVT from Cush in May. The sales lady was very nice, but the service people failed to install the "strakes" or front wheel air dams.

I looked at it as an opportunity to get real familiar with my new squirt, and start to look for and alternate service provider. Since Hohen wasn't interested in selling Insights, I figured they weren't likely to want to service them.

I stopped by Encinitas Foreign & Domestic on 2nd St in Encinitas and asked if they knew enough about the car to do the initial service. The manager brought out a quart of genuine Honda 0 W 20 oil to assure me they did indeed know the car.

OH yea mileage: From reading the posts and my own, albeit limited, experince I think the CVT has significant differences compared to the manual regarding best practices. My battery remains fully charged when on the freeways, and only discharges about a third on the hills in the back country. I have found that you need to take into account the ground covered while monitoring instantaneous mileage. Maximizing assist when getting up to speed, and maintaining speed on a hill will get you better mileage than just using the gas engine in these situations as a fully charged battery pack will not get you the advantages the Insight in coasting and braking. YMMV

Stay in touch

 

[Hegel]

Me too...

My experience during this first month with the Insight is a combination of what people have contributed to this thread:

1) the first ten miles of the car were probably driven in first gear as the car was driven around during it's shipment from factory, to dealership and the like

2) I've got a manual transmission and it's taken me a few weeks to learn how to drive the car in a very efficient manner.

3) Like some have mentioned, since the car is new there is still some gains to be made as you break your new vehicle in.

-H

 

[Romir]

Re: Me too...

1) the first ten miles of the car were probably driven in first gear as the car was driven around during it's shipment from factory, to dealership and the like

The proper procedure for the car is to reset the lifetime mpg when the dealer gets it and unpacks the car, but who knows how well they adhere to that.

The worst FCD mileage I've seen was when I had a recall done. It was showing .5 mpg for .3 miles (the car obviously sat running for a while when they tested the low beams).

 

[jrrs]

My (limited) experience is that the best way to get good mileage is to avoid using the hybrid system. Try to not use assist.

i find that that is the case. if the car was more aggressive about IMA use, it would be a different story, but i find that IMA is usually the "last step" the car takes when wanting to deliver more power - where the first one is of course, kicking out of lean burn.

i would even go so far as to postulate that if you could drive 100 miles of any terrain without having the car touch IMA assist, you will get far better MPG than if you drove with normal insight technique. regardless of gear/rpm, etc.

i read in the back of a road&track or somethin' a while ago a test of a few cars and trying to solve the "accelerate quickly/slowly for MPG" discussion. they took a BMW Somethin', three shift points (6k,4k,2k) and three pedal degrees (heavy,med,light), and made bar graphs of fuel consumption total for 1/4 mile runs. i believe that the heavy pedal/2k shift was the best mpg of the runs, but don't remember for certain. their logic made sense to me.

they said that a graph like:

 |
 |
 |      +---------------------
 |     /
 |    /
 |   /
 |  /
 | /
 |/
 +---------------------------------

for velocity (where fuel consumption is going to be the .. uh.. derivative? of that )
is better fuel consumption than:

 |
 |
 |                  ,---------                                                                                    
 |               ,-'
 |            ,-'
 |         ,-'
 |      ,-'
 |   ,-'
 |,-'
 +---------------------------------

because there's more time at the same steady rate and less in acceleration; and steady cruising eats more than cruising.

their conclusions (about what accel is best for MPG over a common scenario) might not make as much value when IMA is considered. a simple check of the instant box gauge in the insight can tell you that 50mpg accelerating slowly in a lower gear without using IMA is better than 25mpg accelerating more rapidly, shifting at lower RPM, moving into higher gears quickly, and with heavy pedal, using IMA assist.

 

[iibbmm]

you will get better. I too have a cvt, and I reset my lmpg about 5000 miles ago. I'm up in South orange Count btw.

My LMPG is 53 right now.

 

[Valiant118]

FWIW, the used '04 I just got had a lifetime MPG indication of...get this...36.4 mpg. The original owner complained repeatedly to the dealer, who found no fault with the car and could not convince the guy that the Insight is not a performance sedan..no joke. He traded it off for an Accord or something. Anyway, I averaged over 55 bringing it over 500 highway& serious mountain miles back home. It's all about how you drive. BTW, it's very easy to reset the lifetime gauge, check the manual.

 

[Subterfuge3927]

Give yourself 5k miles, my lifetime is up to 77mpg in an 01 5 spd. It had 89k when I bought it and 52 LMPG. I obviously reset it, as some other moron thought he had an indy car. My insight now has 93k and I am only on my third full tank of gas. :twisted: (Had 1/2 tank on DOS..day of sale)

 

[c-fors]

I thought resetting my LMPG after I picked up my car last Wed. would be
a little bit like cheating but after reading some of these replies to "-s's " original post I'm going
out right now to reset my slooooowly climbing LMPG.('')

Picked up the car
with 9 miles on the odometer with an LMPG of 28. Current is 52.6 LMPG
with 179 mostly city miles on the odo, before reset.

 

[Insightful Trekker]

Hi c-fors and welcome to the forum :!:

Patience, patience, patience.

And its what it will take to obtain the hyper MPG that the Insight is capable of. With only 179 miles on the ODO it won't take long for the LMPG to rapidly climb :!:

And don't expect ultimate MPG until after 5K miles. Its commonly reported it takes that much time for both the engine and driver to "break-in".

HTH!

 

[sfambro]

a little follow up since I posted this original question. I am now averaging 56 MPG with my '05 CVT. Thanks guys!

-s