- Jun 25, 2004
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The polishing compound I used claims to also "protect" on the box, "no sealant needed", but I used a 2-step wax on it anyway. Should I get something else?
Railgun
Golden Member
- Mar 27, 2010
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That's not what those panels are for. THey're to protect exactly what you see there from rocks and whatnot.
- Jun 25, 2004
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I'm skeptical. Every other car I've owned has not had smooth plastic panels covering the fuel lines, they're just exposed, so why should the Insight? Honda went to great lengths to reduce weight, this car doesn't even have a subframe.
Here, for example, is what a 350Z looks like underneath:
Take a look at this video released by Toyota. It doesn't address it directly, but they put their batteries literally right next to the road on the bottom of the car to provide better aerodynamics - in an SUV no less!:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZN6qpUbba0Q
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- Jun 25, 2004
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Pulled the EGR valve and plate off. The valve looked alright, but I cleaned it and then soaked it for about 5 hours in some WD-40. The plate, on the other hand...
Before:
After:
Everything back together:
It was surprisingly easy to to get to all of this stuff. The EGR valve sits in front of the motor and just requires you take off the plastic shield. Two easy-to-get-to bolts hold it on. The intake manifold is held on by three bolts and two nuts, which required whatever you call those ratchet extensions that allow you to go around corners. Cleaning the plate aside, I could've done the whole thing in half an hour.
Before:
After:
Everything back together:
It was surprisingly easy to to get to all of this stuff. The EGR valve sits in front of the motor and just requires you take off the plastic shield. Two easy-to-get-to bolts hold it on. The intake manifold is held on by three bolts and two nuts, which required whatever you call those ratchet extensions that allow you to go around corners. Cleaning the plate aside, I could've done the whole thing in half an hour.
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- Jun 25, 2004
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Went at the headlights again today too. Sanded the driver side with 800, 1200, 1500 and 2000 and then buffed it. Decided the passenger side only needed a bit of sanding with 2000 (enough to get the bit of old yellowed coating off I had left). Sanding marks were still visible after extended buffing, though it looked great from a distance. Got some spar urethane and mineral spirits from Home Depot, mixed them 50-50 and brushed them onto the headlights, and it looked fantastic... until it dried.
Oops! Bought semi-gloss instead of clear gloss.
It buffed out acceptably though. It's visibly slightly cloudy from <3ft, but I'm undecided as to whether or not to sand it down and try again with something glossy. I think had I applied it thinner, even semi-gloss would have been fine for this application.
After having put a few miles on, I'm impressed with how well the computers and shift indicators do at keeping the engine in optimum load. My bluetooth OBD scanner reports that I'm almost always driving with 70-85% load between 1500 and 2500RPM, which is right in the BSFC sweet-spot for this engine. 5th gear cruises comfortably at 2000-2500RPM on the highway, depending on speed (55-70). Going up and down hills, the computer applies either assist or a light charging load to keep the engine above ~65%. Assist comes on to help acceleration before the throttle plate up opens all the way (so far as I can tell). If the load gets too light or the battery is close to full, lean burn comes on and it jumps back up.
I have to wonder, had my Del Sol been geared this way, how well could I have done? It feels like this little 3 cylinder is geared like a V8. It might not've worked though, despite the larger Integra engine in it.
I'm coming to enjoy the gobs of torque the electric assist adds down low, this seems like a much better option than a turbo.
Oops! Bought semi-gloss instead of clear gloss.
It buffed out acceptably though. It's visibly slightly cloudy from <3ft, but I'm undecided as to whether or not to sand it down and try again with something glossy. I think had I applied it thinner, even semi-gloss would have been fine for this application.
After having put a few miles on, I'm impressed with how well the computers and shift indicators do at keeping the engine in optimum load. My bluetooth OBD scanner reports that I'm almost always driving with 70-85% load between 1500 and 2500RPM, which is right in the BSFC sweet-spot for this engine. 5th gear cruises comfortably at 2000-2500RPM on the highway, depending on speed (55-70). Going up and down hills, the computer applies either assist or a light charging load to keep the engine above ~65%. Assist comes on to help acceleration before the throttle plate up opens all the way (so far as I can tell). If the load gets too light or the battery is close to full, lean burn comes on and it jumps back up.
I have to wonder, had my Del Sol been geared this way, how well could I have done? It feels like this little 3 cylinder is geared like a V8. It might not've worked though, despite the larger Integra engine in it.
I'm coming to enjoy the gobs of torque the electric assist adds down low, this seems like a much better option than a turbo.
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I've wanted one of these 1st gen Insights for years now. However I needed more than two seats so I would up with a 2004 Honda Civic Hybrid 5MT instead. On the bright side at least, I've gotten between 53-57 MPG on some of my longer trips when kept the speed down to 60 MPH.
- Jun 25, 2004
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The Civic hybrid has some technical advantages over the Insight, I've read. For one, it can run on one cylinder during deceleration, a four cylinder engine is much more balanced than a three, and the CVT is much more robust than the Insight's. Back seats would have been nice to have.
- Jun 25, 2004
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You know your oil filter was on too tight when you can't get it off with the wrench, so you stab it with a thick screwdriver to get some grip, and damn-near tear it in half when trying to turn it.
To buy myself some time with the rear mount, I cut up an old rubber mousepad and stuffed it in the gaps. I plan to replace it in the not-so-distant future, but this'll lessen the strain on the other mounts until then.
To buy myself some time with the rear mount, I cut up an old rubber mousepad and stuffed it in the gaps. I plan to replace it in the not-so-distant future, but this'll lessen the strain on the other mounts until then.
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So envious! I play with fuel-cutoff, maximizing alternator cut-off and pulse-and-glide when I'm bored in the Accord, but having an IMA and lean-burn to play with would be so much more fun. Now you've gotta do the MIMA mod and add a joystick!
Now you've gotta do the MIMA mod and add a joystick!
- Jun 25, 2004
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So envious! I play with fuel-cutoff, maximizing alternator cut-off and pulse-and-glide when I'm bored in the Accord, but having an IMA and lean-burn to play with would be so much more fun.
I'd love to have your S2000. I'm charmed by all of Honda's two seaters.
MIMA would be awesome but I'm budget limited for now. I've read that an engine-kill switch in the Insight is much more effective than in other cars, too, because to restart the engine you just have to put it back in gear, and the IMA brings it back to life. It can be accomplished with either a 3-injector ground, or fuel cutoff via relay.
Going to play with some coroplast and see if I can do even better than the factory panels underneath. The mounting holes are already there.
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tweakmonkey
Senior member
My line up is an AP1 S2000 (red) and silver 01 Insight
But I also have a camper van.
The MIMA stuff used to seem way too complex. I know they revised it a bit.. also the battery is pretty weak overall and most of us have older batteries at this point (mine's about 3 years old) so you probably won't see the same benefits now. Especially for the price/hassle.
My next mod is projector HIDs from Retrofit Source.
- Jun 25, 2004
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Drove from Tallahassee to Jacksonville again today and tried something a little different. I set a goal of not exceeding 60mph, seeing how little fuel I could use at this speed, and allowing the car to slow down on hills if necessary to maintain lean burn. First half of the trip I averaged 76.8mpg. In the second half I averaged just under 83mpg, for a combined total of 78.9mpg for the whole trip. This was possible in part because my mileage increased dramatically once I left the asphalt highways and got on the concrete roads inside the city limits. At times I was getting in excess of 120mpg while keeping up with traffic on level stretches of road, at around 50-55mph.
I've now witnessed what I've read about mileage dropping off rapidly above 60mph. I seem to have a problem of perception though, in that 60mph feels fast enough, but 58 seems very slow to me.
I've now witnessed what I've read about mileage dropping off rapidly above 60mph. I seem to have a problem of perception though, in that 60mph feels fast enough, but 58 seems very slow to me.
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- Jun 25, 2004
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Cleaned up speaker wiring in preparation for the head unit coming in tomorrow. Threw my old PC sub (hooked up) in the secret under-the-carpet compartment, which is currently stuffed with items to take to Goodwill.
Also took a look in the battery box while I was at it:
Been working on the Del Sol a lot lately, prepping it for sale. One of the rear shocks went out a few weeks back and I scored a 4 set of Integra OEM shocks on eBay for $100. I didn't expect putting them on to be quite so much work!
Also took a look in the battery box while I was at it:
Been working on the Del Sol a lot lately, prepping it for sale. One of the rear shocks went out a few weeks back and I scored a 4 set of Integra OEM shocks on eBay for $100. I didn't expect putting them on to be quite so much work!
- Jun 25, 2004
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After a lengthy color matching process, I decided on duct tape silver for my upper grille block. I had to leave room to open the hood latch, though I make come back with a strip to reduce the size of the hole.
Total time spent: ~30 minutes
Total cost: ~$0, someone was kind enough to leave an auction sign somewhere
Also unclogged my washer fluid nozzles both above the hatch and on the hood.
Total time spent: ~30 minutes
Total cost: ~$0, someone was kind enough to leave an auction sign somewhere
Also unclogged my washer fluid nozzles both above the hatch and on the hood.
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