I was reading the http://www.insightcentral.net/forum/vie ... php?t=5380 (redline) thread. Except for the original post, it was a really interesting thread. How many people agree with me that Honda was monumentally stupid in not producing several different versions of this car? The Insight is a whole engineering branch of the Honda car line, a ton of money went into producing it and just getting one model from that was a waste. In particular there should be a sport version with a high redline engine and a 6-speed sequential gearbox, a city car, and a convertible.
If you try to drive a MT Insight fast the first thing you notice is that even if you redline in 1st gear you drop right out of the powerband on shifting into 2nd. I bet you could clip 1/2 sec from the 0-60 time just with different gearing, like pushing 2nd - 4th down to make 1-2 closer (and 4-5 further apart). Honda has been producing both 8,000rpm VTEC engines and motorcycle 6-speed gearboxes since before global warming. Their 1 liter bike engines have 12,000 rpm redlines and the original S2000 had a 9,000 rpm redline.
Yeah, a model like that would take a mileage hit. For instance, I agree with LoNox about valve springs. If you were engineering a low-frictional-loss engine the first thing you would do is lighten the valve springs which lowers the redline. So you lose a little mileage there if you raise the redline and in the changes to intake and exhaust porting for the higher flow. And an improved ratio gearbox would spend more time in relatively lower gears so you lose some mileage there too, and if you installed stickier tires. But you would still have a very, very frugal car that was "a gas" to drive not just to fill up. And that's an advertising slogan if ever I heard one.
And Honda should have made a city car with a slightly bigger battery and better regen programming for more start-stop boost and, maybe with rear wheel steering which would have produced a hilariously tight turning circle. HONDA, for pete's sake, pioneered supplemental rear-wheel steering in the Prelude 20 or 30 years ago. And BTW, if you move the 12V battery into the back in the space to the side of the underfloor hold, you free up so much space under the hood you could probably shorten the car 6 inches, also suitable for a city car. I realize now I'm talking different frame but I'm still making the point.
And while I'm on the subject... a convertible, or at least a targa, to emphasize the care-free fun aspect of an environmentally responsible car. Convertibles are a "drag" but a targa wouldn't necessarily be a mileage nightmare.
Why put all that engineering, manufacturing, and support into a one-hit wonder?
Feels good to do that venting :roll:
If you try to drive a MT Insight fast the first thing you notice is that even if you redline in 1st gear you drop right out of the powerband on shifting into 2nd. I bet you could clip 1/2 sec from the 0-60 time just with different gearing, like pushing 2nd - 4th down to make 1-2 closer (and 4-5 further apart). Honda has been producing both 8,000rpm VTEC engines and motorcycle 6-speed gearboxes since before global warming. Their 1 liter bike engines have 12,000 rpm redlines and the original S2000 had a 9,000 rpm redline.
Yeah, a model like that would take a mileage hit. For instance, I agree with LoNox about valve springs. If you were engineering a low-frictional-loss engine the first thing you would do is lighten the valve springs which lowers the redline. So you lose a little mileage there if you raise the redline and in the changes to intake and exhaust porting for the higher flow. And an improved ratio gearbox would spend more time in relatively lower gears so you lose some mileage there too, and if you installed stickier tires. But you would still have a very, very frugal car that was "a gas" to drive not just to fill up. And that's an advertising slogan if ever I heard one.
And Honda should have made a city car with a slightly bigger battery and better regen programming for more start-stop boost and, maybe with rear wheel steering which would have produced a hilariously tight turning circle. HONDA, for pete's sake, pioneered supplemental rear-wheel steering in the Prelude 20 or 30 years ago. And BTW, if you move the 12V battery into the back in the space to the side of the underfloor hold, you free up so much space under the hood you could probably shorten the car 6 inches, also suitable for a city car. I realize now I'm talking different frame but I'm still making the point.
And while I'm on the subject... a convertible, or at least a targa, to emphasize the care-free fun aspect of an environmentally responsible car. Convertibles are a "drag" but a targa wouldn't necessarily be a mileage nightmare.
Why put all that engineering, manufacturing, and support into a one-hit wonder?