[Hambone]

I'm a bit of a speed freak, and well, since most of the chatter about the Insight is usually centered around either its gas mileage, its environmental friendliness, etc., no one ever seems to mention much about how much performance the car can offer to those willing to see their mpg suffer a little. Well, I'm going to broach the question.

So, what's the fastest you've had your Insight up to?

I've once seen 107mph on my speedo, and I was grinning from ear to ear!

I'd be interesting if anyone has tried to see what they could top out at. Maybe I'm the only one, but I'd expect not.

Cheers,
Marc

 

[Aaron Cake]

I'm not sure what my top speed is...the guage (when set to KM) only goes to 199. I will have to set it to MPH and try again.

This spring I should have some solid 1/4 mile numbers (hey, need to run something while I'm working on the RX-7).

 

[Delta Flyer]

A Dealer Said 110

A dealer said 110 mph. I have been guilt a couple of times going 100 mph to let some road warriors know an Insight is not a pushover. Again, I should just go the speed limit so I can be healthy enough to visit them in the ICU.

To state another obvious fact: The battery has to be fully charged to fly that fast and it's only for a little while.

 

[Armin]

German Spec

In it's German literature, Honda specifies 180km/h. That would be 112.5 mph.

 

[Thorian]

Some one was SCCA Racing theirs However I dont recall times Except he won in his class (Class H autocross)

 

[Ecfool]

I have had MIZR up tp 113mph and either time battery charge really made much difference except for time to get to that speed. One thing I did notice was that at speeds above 100 it seems that MIZR settles down and hugs road better at lower speeds. Not that I would be doing this often..well at least not over a few times a month (gotta keep the carbon blown out **WEG**)

 

[Rick]

113 mph, on 2002 they added a speed limiter. There wasn't one on the 2000 and 2001 models. I had mine going 113 on a flat, redlined in 3rd gear, hit 4th just to see and got nothing, it cut back in around 110. Ok so now I wanted to know whether it was a speed limiter or not. Well, I found a nice steep hill, left it in 5th and it got to 113 and said no more... Now I know someone's gonna say no way my car doesn't have a speed limiter. Well, if you got the new ecu go ahead try going faster than 113.

I think the car has at least 120 in it, way faster than anyone should ever need to go :twisted:

I was amazed at how fast the car actually got up there too. Now it's not a Corvette by any means (had one of them going 140 once) but when you get up past 80, 90 ish in 3rd gear it gains about 2mph a second. And when it hits the speed limiter it actually just lightly stays there, it's not a major slow down. Attempt at your own risk.

 

[BlueInsight1701]

Well, on a downhill run coming back to Phoenix from Flagstaff I did accelerate the car in 5th gear to 121 mph and it was very stable (attempt to copy at your own risk). Another day a friend of mine said "I bet that thing can barely get over 100 mph." The following photo was my reply to his statement (acceleration on a flat, 3rd gear, near redline):

 

[Guest]

top speed

Wow I am impressed with your top speeds. I am a bit hesitant to get much over 80mph around here, the highways being so densely packed with SUVs doing 80, I do not see enough space between SUVs to attempt a faster than "them" speed.

rodney
'03 silver MT
barefoot slowpoke

 

[dazey]

Re: top speed

I am a bit hesitant to get much over 80mph around here, the highways being so densely packed with SUVs doing 80, I do not see enough space between SUVs to attempt a faster than "them" speed.

Tell me about it, first off we don't have any long straight freeways over two lanes. And who knows when someone will pull in front of you doing 50 in a 65.

But I guess that doesn't stop the beemers or tricked out imports. :wink:

 

[Hambone]

First, BlueInsight1701, great pic! That's pretty gutsy to be going that fast AND take a picture! I love it. And how many other cars do you know that can still be getting 25mpg at over triple digit speeds (check out that instantaneous fuel mileage meter, its a tick under the 25mpg mark, pretty impressive I'd say!).

Second, to rodneyAB and dazey, you're probably right and truly safer, but my philosophy has always been, and continues to be, that if you're going fast then more likely you get to choose what you hit instead of being a target for someone else to hit. Meaning, if the worst case situation were to occur, I'd rather be able to somewhat choose how I'll try to dissapate the energy of the impact rather than allowing some two ton behemoth to plow in to me (because I don't really think our 1,800 pound aluminum wondermobiles will do much good in causing the other vehicle to loose its energy before ripping through us like a tin can). Hopefully it'll never happen, but at least our diminutive size can be an advantage in some panic situations. I've used the small size to avoid several incidents where other larger vehicles I've had probably would have impacted with something.

Anyways, at least with the Insight frugality does not mean boring!

 

[dazey]

(because I don't really think our 1,800 pound aluminum wondermobiles will do much good in causing the other vehicle to loose its energy before ripping through us like a tin can)

That's an aluminum can. :lol:

The fastest I have driven my Insight so far has been about 84. It was on a trip down to LA, I was still being passed by most of the other cars, and that was on 101, not 5! (For those that don't know, 101 is the curvier, slower route. 5 is the "gotta get from SF to LA in 5-6 hours" route.)

Most of the crash tests I've seen of different cars seem to be CarX hitting SolidBlockY, this is good to know for if we run into something. But what about InsightX being hit by CarY? Either in motion or stopped. Think there would be more crunching or pushing? I would guess there would be more pushing involved after the initial crunch simply because of the lack of weight and traction. Not that it makes a difference at high speeds but was just something I was wondering about.

 

[Guest]

speedo

Oh yeaaah, I am not opposed to going fast, Its just so easy to go slow in this Insight. doing 46mph in a 65 zone yesterday going to work...relaxed. I was passed by a kid on a two stroke scooter the other day, he passed me on the right and then turned left in front of me, talk about road rage, I gave him the horn and a five finger salute. I have been passed by lots of Prius drivers...dang.

rodney
'03 MT silver
barefoot pedal to the metal

 

[Allnighte]

Re: speedo

I have been passed by lots of Prius drivers...dang.

don't worry. I make it my mission to pass every Prius I see.

we balance out :lol:

 

[boogetyboogety]

Top Top Speed on Insight?

Eastbound on I40 in Western TN last November, just East of Memphis, following (10-15 carlengths, not the smartest thing in the world at 90 mph, but hey) or being followed by a BMW for 20 miles or so (several lead changes). She decided to lose me, I followed, floored the ol' CVT, no idea of our rpm's (more important things to look at), we were accelerating about a mile or so (and keeping pace) when we were both illuminated by a trooper going boogety-boogety westbound (woke up our radar detector big time). We both decelerated and blended in with the right-lane traffic, but he went on, so no tickets. She exited promptly, we stayed on the highway and I looked down at the GPS. The max speed shown was 122.7 mph! Took a picture of the screen as proof, I have scanned it but I can't figure out how to paste it to a message here (not the sharpest tool in the shed when it comes to stuff like this). Flat road, sunny, 50's, light wind blowing East, regular gas... Total 3,000+ mi. trip, average speed mid-70's, 54 mpg average...

 

[Tonpilot]

Speed and stability

Those are impressive speeds! I don't think I've ever driven past 81mph on mine. Is the Insight stable like a rock at over 100mph? Or does it tend to move about?

Good to know my little car can go fast when needed!

 

[Rick]

Over 100 it feels scarry yet suprisingly stable and it still handles suprisingly well. I passed a SUV at about 100 on my slow down. I kind of wish I had been going a bit slower so I could have seen the look on their face(s).

 

[Hambone]

I don't really think that I've felt the Insight to be any more unstable at high speed than any of the other cars I've ever had that I've had up over 100, and I know its better at that speed than my old Nissan truck used to be. And yes, the look on folks faces when they see an ecomobile blast past them is indeed priceless!

 

[gomarlins3]

If I was doing 111 MPH, I would take my hands off of the wheel to take a picture. 80 MPH here, but that was to pass some one. Class H huh. I'll have to remember that if it's raining on one of our event days.

 

[ucffool]

Taken my 2002 to 103mph personally... but to add something new to the conversation, on the same night I maintained 93mph at 35MPG (instantaneous readout)... this was best I could do without using any battery charge... I believe there was some headwind. That's pretty damn good.