What is the Top Mileage record?
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mpg record
:shock: Wow! 99mpg is awesome. Is your insight stock or modified :?: What speed were you traveling at to achieve 99mpg :?: Okay, I understand your sending me to Mikes web page but what is the record :?: Is it a mima modified insight :?: I don't want to add that 5th drop down wheel or the extra batterys.
:shock: Wow! 99mpg is awesome. Is your insight stock or modified :?: What speed were you traveling at to achieve 99mpg :?: Okay, I understand your sending me to Mikes web page but what is the record :?: Is it a mima modified insight :?: I don't want to add that 5th drop down wheel or the extra batterys.
Hi Arturo, It depends whether you mean mpg LIFETIME or just for a specific TANK, or only for a SEGMENT. Wayne Gerdes probably is the highest for an un-modified Insight, 92.3 lifetime. He sold the car several months ago. Over 21,000 miles, my lifetime is 89.5. Rick Reece and Randall (Highwater) have lifetime av of over 90 mpg, with MIMA.
Several of us have gotten well over 1000 miles on a single tank. A few of us have achieved over 150 mpg over a segment of 20 miles or more.
Using a 5-spd Insight, put more air in the tires and slow down. Keep in the lean-burn mode. Have patience; try NOT to use electric assist. It's not difficult, in warm weather, to see your mpg in the 80's......
Several of us have gotten well over 1000 miles on a single tank. A few of us have achieved over 150 mpg over a segment of 20 miles or more.
Using a 5-spd Insight, put more air in the tires and slow down. Keep in the lean-burn mode. Have patience; try NOT to use electric assist. It's not difficult, in warm weather, to see your mpg in the 80's......
mpg
Thank you for answering my question. 114 mpg is really impressive. I'm going to try and break my record of 86.5. Those lifetime mpg totals are great but given my situation with going uphill going home makes it difficult to get to those lifetime averages.
Thank you for answering my question. 114 mpg is really impressive. I'm going to try and break my record of 86.5. Those lifetime mpg totals are great but given my situation with going uphill going home makes it difficult to get to those lifetime averages. In addition to lifetime, tank, and segment records, one can keep track of "long trip" records. I define a long trip as being more than about 50 miles, and being from home to a real destination (or vice versa). If there is significant elevation change from home to the destination, it has to be a round-trip. The home-to-destination requirement means I can't "cheat" by picking a segment that avoids that messy stuff like getting out of a parking lot, which drags down the MPG, or skipping the warm-up time. And the distance requirement means I can't relying on drawing down the IMA battery. But it still allows more immediate gratification than waiting to get through a whole tank: It ttakes me a long time for an Insight to burn a tank!
My best long trip was about 160 miles, over the Green Mountains, 106 mpg. But I bet that folks who live in flatter areas have better long-trip records than that.
Charlie
My best long trip was about 160 miles, over the Green Mountains, 106 mpg. But I bet that folks who live in flatter areas have better long-trip records than that.
Charlie
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I have to agree with that. I'm very new at this and I got an 87 mpg 100 mile segment just a little bit ago. I got 98 mpg over the same segment two days ago. But, I was doing 40 mph and less to get it.Billy said:
Me too, and I just started.jack9994 said:
It is a lot of fun seeing how high we can get it though. 70 mpg is nowhere near as fun as 100 mpg or more, but AC and "getting where your going" has its appeals too. And the Insight does a fine job at that too.
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Is there / should there be an official minimum distance to claim the highest mileage segment? Howabout 20 miles to help limit the number of claims whilst coasting down hill?
Re: well
For all the trouble those folks are going thru just to increase their Insight's MPG readings - by so little - they might as well go all electric and be done with it, which is something which is on my mind after the engine in the "Silver Bullet" dies, which I don't expect will happen for ten or so years or more.
Once that happens, the "Silver Bullet" will remain a hybrid but only in reverse to it's present format; i.e., batteries and not the engine will be the primary power source, with an installed MG set to recharge the batteries while on the road, while parked or overnight.
Fred
I for one agree with Arturo, http://www.99mpg.com is an interesting but I to have zero interest in adding a fifth wheel.trunkout said:
For all the trouble those folks are going thru just to increase their Insight's MPG readings - by so little - they might as well go all electric and be done with it, which is something which is on my mind after the engine in the "Silver Bullet" dies, which I don't expect will happen for ten or so years or more.
Once that happens, the "Silver Bullet" will remain a hybrid but only in reverse to it's present format; i.e., batteries and not the engine will be the primary power source, with an installed MG set to recharge the batteries while on the road, while parked or overnight.
Fred
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If you manually push the insight, you can get infinate MPG,If you coast down hill, you can also get infinate MPG. Pulse and Glide with a relitively slow average speed can peg the MPG display at 150MPG.(Thank you Wayne)
Speed and terrain also have huge effects on the final MPG number.
In my book the only way to compare MPG between cars and drivers, is on the same route at the same average speed. The mountain drivers that drive with the flow will never approach the flatland drivers that also drive with the flow. Taking back roads where the flow is 35-45MPH will always do better than highways at 65-75MPH.
Then there is the highway drivers that go the minimum allowed MPG for the highway. they will usually do much better than at higher speeds.
Adding a certain modification and some booster batteries can improve all situations, and of course a pure electric mode that an Ewheel type modification makes possible, is like pushing with the motor off, infinate MPG.
So don't get too hung up on the numbers, unless the speed and terrain is considered.
I tend to think in terms of the road average MPG, which considers the other drivers, and the total gallons of fuel used by all vehicles. A truck that has to slow down, on the way up a hill, because I am driving much slower than he, and the passing lane is full so he cannot pass, will waste more gas when resuming his speed in that single event, than I will save by driving slower than the flow for many many miles. When everyone on a road is cruising at a constant speed, the MPG for that road will be maximized for that speed. If we could lower the speed limits like they did in the past, that would save a huge abount of gas.
I am not suggesting that hypermiling is a bad thing, it is only that it should only be used when the overall effect on the MPG of the cars around you will not be adversly effected. The big picture.
Speed and terrain also have huge effects on the final MPG number.
In my book the only way to compare MPG between cars and drivers, is on the same route at the same average speed. The mountain drivers that drive with the flow will never approach the flatland drivers that also drive with the flow. Taking back roads where the flow is 35-45MPH will always do better than highways at 65-75MPH.
Then there is the highway drivers that go the minimum allowed MPG for the highway. they will usually do much better than at higher speeds.
Adding a certain modification and some booster batteries can improve all situations, and of course a pure electric mode that an Ewheel type modification makes possible, is like pushing with the motor off, infinate MPG.
So don't get too hung up on the numbers, unless the speed and terrain is considered.
I tend to think in terms of the road average MPG, which considers the other drivers, and the total gallons of fuel used by all vehicles. A truck that has to slow down, on the way up a hill, because I am driving much slower than he, and the passing lane is full so he cannot pass, will waste more gas when resuming his speed in that single event, than I will save by driving slower than the flow for many many miles. When everyone on a road is cruising at a constant speed, the MPG for that road will be maximized for that speed. If we could lower the speed limits like they did in the past, that would save a huge abount of gas.
I am not suggesting that hypermiling is a bad thing, it is only that it should only be used when the overall effect on the MPG of the cars around you will not be adversly effected. The big picture.
It's a good point that a 5% effect on a truck's MPG is more important than a say 20% effect on an insight's MPG.Mike Dabrowski 2000 said:
But I'm not sure the scenario here works that way. If you force others to slow down by easing off the gas on an uphill, I expect that will overall save gas in most vehicles, even if they accelerate up to the same speed afterwards. If you force them to brake, that definitely burns fuel that must be replenished later, but accelarating and decelerating isn't necessarily bad for fuel economy.
Charlie
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HUH :!: :?chrs said:
Everything else about your post made relative sense and can be true within reasonable MPH's.
For example, pulse and glide is accelerating and decelerating, and it's good for fuel economy!Insightful Trekker said:
First I should clarify that I mean deceleration via means other than braking. Also, the Insight is a special case because whether or not you are in lean-burn mode makes a big difference. Also, if you decelerate with your foot up far enough to get regen, that also hurts fuel economy because of the low round-trip efficiency for energy to go in and out of the battery. But if you stay in lean burn, I expect the following two options give about the same average MPG:
option 1: steady 45 mph at 100 mpg.
option 2: accelerate from 40 mph to 50 mph at 75 mpg, followed by decelerate from 50 mph to 40 mph at 125 mph, then repeat.
A test could confirm that, but it would require more flat ground than I have around here.
Does that help explain what I meant and why it might be true? Thanks for asking and please ask again if what I'm saying doesn't make sense to you.
Charlie
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Yes its "true" for P&G, but in the context that you previously framed it there was ample room for confusion.
mpg
This Forum is really knowledgable about mpg issues. I'm taking all this knowledge in as fast as I can. I think Lifetime mpg should be what we gauge the mpg record as it takes in all the dfferent situations into account. Thanks for this Forum
This Forum is really knowledgable about mpg issues. I'm taking all this knowledge in as fast as I can. I think Lifetime mpg should be what we gauge the mpg record as it takes in all the dfferent situations into account. Thanks for this Forum
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Right on Mike! Act locally, but think globally!
Usually I am willing to sacrifice mileage for speed, and accept 55 – 60 MPG. I commute to work at 4:00 so the car is “cold” after being outside. I do have a radiator block to help speed up the warm up. Those times I want to go “hyper mileage” I can do that on my way to work as long as there isn’t anyone else on the road and I can slow down LOTS going up hill. Even with the warm up and only 16 miles much up hill I’ve gotten over 70+ MPG. Still a little scary here in San Diego on the freeway slowing so much. If anyone comes up behind me I speed up and wait for another try.
Frank.
Usually I am willing to sacrifice mileage for speed, and accept 55 – 60 MPG. I commute to work at 4:00 so the car is “cold” after being outside. I do have a radiator block to help speed up the warm up. Those times I want to go “hyper mileage” I can do that on my way to work as long as there isn’t anyone else on the road and I can slow down LOTS going up hill. Even with the warm up and only 16 miles much up hill I’ve gotten over 70+ MPG. Still a little scary here in San Diego on the freeway slowing so much. If anyone comes up behind me I speed up and wait for another try.
Frank.
[note added after John politely pointed out my error: my comments below turn out to have no relation whatsoever to the following quote:]
The Insight makes a pretty good solar oven--I think parking in the sun is allowed without subtracting anything from your MPG.
Charlie
Speaking of thinkng globally, and coming back to the discussion of what are the "rules" for mpg records, I think you need to subtract the energy used in the block heater from your mileage records. I did a calculation on that a few years ago, and convinced myself it wasn't worth it--might be able to find it in the archives here--but it makes sense anyway: if you want to heat the engine, burning gas is a pretty good way to do that, and you get "free" propulsion for the first mile or so while you are at it. Whereas burning coal to generate electricity and then using the electricity for heat is a pretty inefficient process.Just Frank said:
The Insight makes a pretty good solar oven--I think parking in the sun is allowed without subtracting anything from your MPG.
Charlie
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