[Henri Laborde]

I'm trying to find an upgrade to the Honda OEM shocks for my 2005 Honda Insight (5spd/ A/C). I'd like to use Konis or comparable quality. Koni said would fabricate these but need dimensions of OEM shocks to do so. Anybody have any suggestions on how to get those dimensions. Also would like other upgrades for this irreplaceable car: 1) Noise cancelling system to reduce car interior noise: would pay circa $500 for something like this. 2) Want to add photovoltaic cells to hood/roof to provide enough juice to charge a med size battery to run fan for cooling car while parked. Had this idea 5 years ago, now Toyota has it on their Prius.

Already have upgraded headlights to HID, air horns to keep away the nasty SUV's, alarm to keep away the crooks.

Also, is anyone out there as pissed as me regarding loss of HOV access for Hybrids like ours!!! Called the jerk who represents me who proclaimed that he supports ending HOV lanes entirely. Definitely a jerk Republican!!
This will kill me and my business where I rely on quick support for my PC clients at many So. Calif sites that I support. HOV gives me quicker access and MUCH better fuel economy (62mpg vs 44mpg in Stop 'n Go).

Let me know!!

 

[madmanmostafa]

Relating to an aftermarket suspension, there isn't anything available for a decent price. It's all custom. There's a thread with aftermarket springs, but don't expect a full coilover setup like you may get on another car.

As far as noise cancelling, there are few cars today that even have these. Mostly because having any sort of noise cancellation requires you to know where exactly to block the noises from. Headphones work well because it blocks all sounds that are not going toward your ear in a very specific spot. To block them in the cabin, you would need cameras and a lot of microphones to get the work done. Not to mention, these need to be hardware controlled just to be able to respond to removing the noise fast enough.

Photovoltaic cells, this has been done. People haven't really done it to the roof as far as I can tell, but they do put things in the back or on the dash. Solar powered venting fans for forced air cooling of Honda Insight <- This fella was pretty interesting on how he did his. Plus he's a good writer that makes what would normally be pretty boring into something actually entertaining by use of whitty quips.

I was thinking about upgrading to HIDs. I didn't find any good lenses that properly frame the light. Most seemed to spray the light everywhere rather than cutting it off like good HIDs do.

 

[Varak]

Here's a thread on a sound-proofing project you might like.

http://www.insightcentral.net/forum...4333-sound-proofing-project-phase-1-rear.html

 

[JoelR]

Here's a thread about better damping:

http://www.insightcentral.net/forums/modifications-technical-issues/19545-search-better-damping.html

For rear shocks, I'm still doing research but am very close to buying some junk yard samples to try out the fitment before spending big money on something nice like Koni's. The good news is that the Koni's that look very close are CHEAPER than the OEM Honda units..and they're adjustable.

 

[Blue-Civic-Hybrid]

Welcome and I have a question for you Henri, what air horn system did you get? I just installed mine in the front bumper and I already want to upgrade!!

I'll post a DIY this weekend with pics of the air horn install.

 

[JoelR]

Funny coincidence about the horns, I was recently in Japan and visited an Autobacs store where they had a pretty extensive display of horns, complete with a panel of buttons to test several models. I was thinking about buying one but couldn't read the Japanese well enough to match the samples with the corresponding boxes on the shelf.

Anyhow, it was cool to be able to test out the tones of each horn before buying. It also made me feel embarrassed each time I tried one because they were really loud.

Joel

 

[Henri Laborde]

Here's a thread about better damping:

http://www.insightcentral.net/forums/modifications-technical-issues/19545-search-better-damping.html

For rear shocks, I'm still doing research but am very close to buying some junk yard samples to try out the fitment before spending big money on something nice like Koni's. The good news is that the Koni's that look very close are CHEAPER than the OEM Honda units..and they're adjustable.

Outstanding! I'm not the only one out there trying to improve my suspension: 2005 Honda Insight. I spoke to tech guy at Koni, about 2 years ago; they willing to "build" custom shocks, as long as have specs or sample to work from. Haven't researched junk yards yet. I guess if I heard of a bunch of other people out there who want same thing, I could pursue this more avidly. Please keep me posted on your progress.

Much quicker: my Cell#: (714) 280-2332 and I'm in Huntington Beach, Calif

 

[Henri Laborde]

Welcome and I have a question for you Henri, what air horn system did you get? I just installed mine in the front bumper and I already want to upgrade!!

I'll post a DIY this weekend with pics of the air horn install.

Sorry, I haven't been to this site in quite a while; I guess it would be cool if I received an email when someone posted something here! Anyway, got my airhorns (3 horn model) from Autosound Specialists, now in Garden Grove Calif. Tel#: (714) 891-8779. The horns have had a number of problems, including tripping the fuses, and losing their hoses. They also don't seem to want to work in oscillating mode, but instead all blast at once. Also, almost forgot, original plastic tubes became too soft in hot weather and failed. Had to purchase higher quality tubing at Pep Boys and upgrade. These horns do now work ok and keep potential Insight Squashers at bay. The original horn has its own "new" button added on the dash, near my PIAA driving light switches. If you have more questions, faster to call: (714) 280-2332 Cell

 

[Eli]

You can set it to email you when you receive a reply to a thread in the User CP.

 

[Henri Laborde]

Sorry Madmanmostafa: I have done almost no "blogging" and couldn't figure out how to reply to you. No I'm not "spammer", just give out info on people who've helped me. I got those HID's from one of those people and the 3rd set (yeah the other 2 sucked and even cost me more than this latest set) he sold me are great with decent power and cool color. I can't see well at night anymore and appreciate the extra light esp. when I plan to drive back to Texas and see my sisters again. I see that others are also bothered by the crappy shocks that come with the original Insight. There appear to be several folks researching this. The Honda dealer quoted me about $1200 for all four shocks installed; ridiculous if the quality is the same as my originals which only lasted about 50,000miles. The noise cancelling process has been used on cars like the Lotus and I understand on some Acuras, and Honda SUV's. It involves strategically placed mics which "read" ambient sound, allowing the system to create sound waves out of phase with certain elements of this noise. It would seem that Bose and others would think about offering something like this as an aftermarket. This little car is worth the investment. I've already tried Dynamat in doors and front floor/firewall with limited success. Thanks for the ideas.

Henri
(714) 280-2332

 

[Henri Laborde]

Thanks, Eli. As soon as I figure out how to get to/edit the User CP....

Henri