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Thought this new purchase merited a new thread.

It isn't a great pic but I just snapped it with the (non-flash) iPhone camera yesterday. She's a bit dirty yet because of the ride on a flatbed truck from Portland so maybe the lack of clarity is a good thing? :o

Say hello to Blue Swayed!

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/546/Blue_Swayed.jpg

Congratualtion is obviously in order.

I regret that not only did Laurie, but Sean never rode in my Insight last month.

Sean, possibly your first significant upgrade would be a FAS switch...since the traction battery pack is small, I have to occasionally take a pass on a FAS glide to keep the SoC high (if some of you tell me I need to use even less Assist, I won't disagree ;) ).

Have not shown it, but right after returning from Minnesota on Christmas Eve was something that would have been very useful for that trip - Wet Okle seat covers! Seat comfort is one the few complaints about my Insight...with lumbar support, long trips are much more comfortable.

Hi Sean :) :) :)

I noticed your new avatar this AM - congratulations :) :) :) :) :)

Not since DiamondLarry got his Prius has a hybrid car fallen into such worthy hands :woot: :woot:

Will we get to see it next month in Milwaukee??!!

Some extra smilies for your new ride:
:) :) :) :) :) :)

Congratulations - How many total miles, what's the current LMPG, and is it an auto or stick?

Congratulations!! And I second the suggestions of a FAS switch and Wet Okole seat covers.

ok, i have to admit i knew about it. he had been mulling it over and running the options by me for while. he kept sending me photos of ones for sale, but they ended up sold before he could get to them.

by the way, if he gets tired of it, he promised to GIVE it to me :D

Very nice Sean! I gotta say, I'm jealous. I've been keeping an eye for for one. I look forward to seeing your daily grind numbers with the new ride.

May I be the first to suggest the jet engine upgrade?
http://www.techepics.com/files/street_legal_vw_powered_1.jpg (http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/street-legal-jet-powered-vw-beetle)

May I be the first to suggest the jet engine upgrade?
http://www.techepics.com/files/street_legal_vw_powered_1.jpg (http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/street-legal-jet-powered-vw-beetle)

Only if it's solar-powered :D :D

May I be the first to suggest the jet engine upgrade?
http://www.techepics.com/files/street_legal_vw_powered_1.jpg (http://www.techeblog.com/index.php/tech-gadget/street-legal-jet-powered-vw-beetle)
Is this the new "Jetta"?
[sorry - OK, actually I'm not sorry]

Holy cow! Its just me, folks! :o

I'd love a FAS switch -- you guys know how much I cut the engine out. I'll have to look for directions so I can attempt to construct one... Meanwhile I'll stick to daylight FASes for the most part and look into yanking that EPS fuse. As for the seat covers, that's a great idea but I can't drop that kind of money just yet!

Debbie, you are way too kind. :o I've been told I can't go next month but I will definitely push for it. A lot will depend upon the weather.

Atlaw4u, the car is a 5spd MT (would I get anything else?? ;)) with AC (for those times the wife insists). It arrived in my driveway yesterday shortly before noon with 68732mi and a LMPG of 55.9 -- not the highest I know but I've seen much worse out there. :eek: This particular vehicle had a single owner over in Idaho who took very good care of it. The interior is pristine and though he replaced the radio unit I have the original so I could put it back. There are rock chips on the hood I'll have to address but only one, nearly imperceptible ding on the passenger door. There are some very small scratches but other than that the car is in excellent condition. The car was mostly used on the highway and the battery is in good working condition.

Laurie, Laurie. :) It was a tough secret to keep, right? ;)

Lightfoot, thank you!

Tim, all I can say is that I've wanted one of these since I discovered their existence way back in early 2001. Check out http://www.vast.com if you are serious about finding one. The CVT models are much more reasonably priced -- it is obvious people know what they are looking at! I'll see what can be done this afternoon on the way home for numbers. ;)

Yikes!!! Bomber991, that looks dangerous! :eek: :D

Debbie, you are way too kind. :o I've been told I can't go next month but I will definitely push for it. A lot will depend upon the weather.

I'm assuming that it's your wife who's told you you can't come to next month's meeting :confused: And I certainly understand about the weather :rolleyes:

But, if the weather permits, bring her along - I'll take her for a ride in my FEH :)

Sean,

Can't forget to tell you about the hot air intake...get a couple of emission hoses at O'Riley Auto Parts and connect one end to the air filter on the driver's side, run it behind the engine and wrap the rest of the hose around the catalytic converter.

Not only will it heat up the air quicker, it might hide the cat from the theives. :D

I'm assuming that it's your wife who's told you you can't come to next month's meeting :confused: And I certainly understand about the weather :rolleyes:

But, if the weather permits, bring her along - I'll take her for a ride in my FEH :)

Yes, it was the lovely wife -- her main reason was the weather. She is assuming the weather will be bad...

I don't think I'll be able to get her to agree to come -- I just barely got her to come to the one just blocks from our house!

Chuck, I saw your earlier pictures but I couldn't really visualize where you were attaching. I'll have to dig those up again...

Thanks for the vast link. I haven't searched on there before, but it looks fairly nice. Is that a dealer only search or do private parties sell through it too?

Unfortunately, a new/used car is not on the list to buy anytime in the immediate future. The Paseo, while being 11 years old, only has 70,000 miles on it so its barely broken in. In addition to that, the next large purchase for the wife and I is definitly going to be a house. A new car would take a descent chunk out of the down payment. A few years down the road I'll seriously be searching. Until then I'll still hunt for a killer deal, and push the Paseo to its limits. :)

Good luck on persuading your wife to come to the next meet. I'd love to see the car in person!

Tim, that link is an aggregate site -- it pulls listings from all sorts of other pages. Some of those are indeed private listings.

I completely understand about the car! It is a big investment of funds and a house is a way better use of those funds. I've only had mine 1.5 years now and it is definitely worth it. Good luck in your search!

I'll see what can be done about the visit -- I'm sure you'll see it before summer sometime. :)

I did this in the Daily Grind thread so it's time to do so here: CONGRATULATIONS SEAN!:woot::Banane09: Way to go! I think we are going to be seeing some stellar numbers once the weather warms up and Sean gets used to the car.

Sean, I think I may have a way to convince your wife to let you come; weather permitting that is: I think there is a law of some kind that states that any new hybrid owner must attend the next MiHG meeting after purchasing their vehicle. Violation of said law may result in imminent danger of catastrophic implosion of the pack.:D:D:D Good luck. I guess there's always April if not February.

Thank you, Larry. :o I certainly hope to have my new favorite 4 wheels up to some high numbers! :D

April... as in Fools' Day? ;)

...Chuck, I saw your earlier pictures but I couldn't really visualize where you were attaching. I'll have to dig those up again...Until they are found, I did what Wayne did on the hot air intake...did not ask him - great minds think alike. :D

WOW! Sean you devil.. you didn't tell me you were considering getting an Insight! Grats! You'll be spanking my numbers in no time :D

Last month, I was aware Sean was looking, but did not think it would be this soon.

I've been poking around the web trying to find 1 that color that was nearby. I've always liked that color.

I've been poking around the web trying to find 1 that color that was nearby. I've always liked that color.It was not available the first year or two - it replaces lime-green.

Way to go Sean! This news deserves a few bananas! ;) :Banane48:I'm jealous.

Thanks,

Bob

happy sipping Sean!
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Now playing: The Urge - Don't Ask Why (http://www.foxytunes.com/artist/the+urge/track/dont+ask+why)
via FoxyTunes (http://www.foxytunes.com/signatunes/)

Congrats, has it been given a name yet?

Wow, congratulations Sean! I was wondering why you changed your avatar to a blue Insight, this certainly answers that question for me. I'm looking forward to seeing some huge numbers in your signature.

Congrats, has it been given a name yet?

He named it "Blue Swayed."

How much did you pay for the Insight? Back in 2001 I looked at one at the Dealer and I think it was only $11,000 ?

It's a big car improvement, and you did great hypermiling on your Elantra. Was the Elantra a trouble free car?

Very nice. I wish I had one. Best of luck with "her."
brian

Hi, 99HXCivic -- you are off by about $10K if you are talking about a new one. They went for about $21K when new. I paid more than I wanted to because they have become more popular as the price of fuel has increased... For the condition of the car, I think it was fair based on market value, but Wayne sold his a while back in better condition with way better LMPG (and similar miles) for a few thousand less. You can see the markup if you'll look for cars that are the same age and compare the CVT with the MT version. That's about the gap we are looking at.

The Elantra has been and continues to be trouble free. I intend to keep hypermiling her around once a week -- more if needed for the extra seating or I'm not sure the Insight can make it through the snow (I don't see that being too much of a problem around here). Hyundai has made serious improvements in reliability, though they still use an iron block and the FE lags considerably behind the Corolla and Civic. The interior has held up very well and with regular maintenance I can tell you without any gloss that it drives as well today as when I bought it with 17mi on the odometer. The value for money ratio is quite high for this car... you just have to work harder for the high numbers. :)

Thanks, Brian! I've only driven her 2 days but I absolutely love the car. :D

Hi Sean:

___Although late to the party, I found out about your Insight purchase before you arrived in LA and oh boy was I excited. As you now know :D I cannot wait to see it in person which will hopefully be a lot sooner then later!

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Thanks, Wayne! It is a great little car and you've already seen some of the numbers I'm getting with it. You'll see it quite soon, I suspect. ;)

Congrats!!!!

Those are great little cars. I regret to this day having to cancel the order on a 06, Blue, MT, w/Air.

But then there is CR-Z. :)

psy

I don't think I'll be able to get her to agree to come -- I just barely got her to come to the one just blocks from our house!

I understand :) My husband is the same way :o - he doesn't understand what we could possibly have to talk about for a whole day every other month :D

Congrats!!!!

Those are great little cars. I regret to this day having to cancel the order on a 06, Blue, MT, w/Air.

But then there is CR-Z. :)

psyHey, you had to make your daughter well - no contest.

A belated congrats on the Insight, Sean. I'm looking forward to seeing it in the future. I have always LOVED the Blue Swayed Insights.

Thank you, Jeff! We'll have to get a shot of the two next to each other when you get that CRZ. ;)

Thanks, Tom! I'm enjoying it plenty but boy is this cold weather taking its toll. Per your other thread, let me know if you'd like to meet up somewhere. I'm always happy to show off the new wheels!

You need to add another sig pic for the insight now.

You're right but I've not completed a tank to add just yet... Plus I need to rethink the rest of my signature because it is completely full -- to the character limit! :eek:

This is going to be interesting -- with the Elantra I had 4.5 years of data to add to the database so I got hypermiler status immediately. It will take me a while to get those 5K miles done for Blue Swayed!

@Right Lane Cruiser

I'll be lucky to hit 5000 miles by the end of the year.

When you batteries go and if there's no warranty it would be nice if you could custom make your own lithium ion battery pack. But I don't know how to do that. I just hate NIMH and put off buying hybrids because of it.

Unfortunately there are no other alternatives at the moment. That should change in a few years.

Meanwhile, so far I have barely touched the batteries in this car so I expect they will last a very long time indeed. ;)

Maybe you could take out the shell of the old NIMH battery pack and put / wire in lithiums. But Lithium Ion batteries are so expensive!

I'd bet Mike will be the first to do lithium in an Insight, unless it's Randall.

Either way, I'm not sure what I would do with it? I've yet to see it drop off full since I went through the recal (because of replacing the 12V), and before that since I had it charged up from my test drive right after it arrived.

I was able to do the same with Laurie's car after we did the forced recal on it. Only on the steepest grade coming back out of WI did I see it drop at all -- and that was by a grand total of 2 bars. As soon as I was over the crest I had it back up in less than 1 minute.

Hi Chuck:

___As Sean alluded too, it doesn’t matter if it’s Li-Ion, NiMH or something else. A lighter weight pack with the same cap helps with weight but actual charging and discharging are the same? Even a Prius with a Li-Ion vs. a NiMH is going to perform no differently other then a few pounds of weight difference. As you know, a hybrid uses gasoline to drive the car and charge the pack if it’s not within its spec’ed full range. Li-Ion or anything else receives the same treatment. Watching a SoC fill from a small engine is like poking yourself in the eye too ;) The FE sucks and you don’t want to go there no matter the chemistry.

___When you start speaking about a plug-in, then the Li-Ion will matter because it is ~ ½ the weight for the same cap. A real plug-in starts to get interesting with another 100 pounds of Li-Ion’s added vs. 200 pounds for NiMH’s … and the weight keeps climbing for more range.

___There are internal resistances, depth of discharge and cycle life differences as well but for this discussion, a .94 kWh NiMH or a .94 kWh Li-Ion in an Insight will not change anything in terms of FE other then the few pounds of weight savings with the Li-Ion pack and nobody would swap out a NiMH pack for a Li-Ion at the cost of maybe $1,000 at a minimum even if you could figure out how to wire up a Li-Ion pack that the Insight could work with properly for the measly few pounds difference.

___Good Luck

___Wayne

Sean:

If CR-Z comes about to meet my needs. I will make the pilgrimaged to Madison for Hybrid Fest. Just not worth it in a Civic or Mazda3. Plus it always seems to fall on a very bad time concerning work. But with a Hybrid in hand. Wag finger at work and P&G up north. :)

As far as battery's and diff. types and such. The real push is for workable plugins. With very fast recharge times. I would buy a plugin. But I need more miles per charge cycle.

We are witnessing a wonderful time in automotive history.
I hope CR-Z can be a big part of this history. :)