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Honda Insight - World record distance on a single tank of fuel from a mass produced automobile – July 31, 2006 – August 26, 2006

Randall Burkhalter - August 27, 2006 - CleanMPG.com (www.CleanMPG.com)

Hi All:

Here are some day time shots of the road on which my daily commute takes place, and on which the single tank record was achieved. I usually travel into work in late evening and arrive home later in the morning so traffic is relatively light.

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Leaving work ------- Initial open road.

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Rolling hills and open terrain dominate this commute.

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The second of the two pics shows a nice gentle climb coming up.

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/506/Resize_of_IMGP1481.JPGhttp://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/506/Resize_of_IMGP1484.JPG
Every up has its down, and some downsides are good for a little FAS.


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The hills and slopes are really pretty gentle…….what’s that coming, Traffic?.

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When the wind blows out here in the open, you really have to hang on.

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Nearing home....................And I get quite a bit back from all those climbs here on the longest FAS.

And now the daily details … I only posted in 2 day segments, as the repetition may bore some to death. The daily pictures are in the Article Gallery for anyone wanting to see each day’s trip and tank segments.

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/506/Resize_of_08_01_06_trip.JPG
Good start on July 31. 2006 but a long way to go.

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Trip and tank on August 2, 2006. Great weather and some of great segments to start.

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August 4, 2006 trip and tank so far … Still holding up a nice overall average!

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Trip and tank on August 7, 2006. Still have yet to drop off a single bar from full. Looking good so far?

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/506/Resize_of_08_09_06_trip.JPGhttp://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/506/Resize_of_08_09_06_tank.JPG
August 9, 2006 - Lost the first bar of fuel at ~ 550 miles. Still having some great segments and weather is holding up to maintain the high tank.

http://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/506/Resize_of_08_11_06_trip.JPGhttp://www.cleanmpg.com/photos/data/506/Resize_of_08_11_06_tank.JPG
August 11, 2006 - Trip and tank shown. Looks like around 114 x mpg for the tank from what has been achieved so far. A little over half way to go.

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August 15, 2006 Trip and tank - 114 is still possible?

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August 17, 2006 - Winds are hurting a bit but still holding almost 114 mpg for the tank.

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August 22, 2006 - Low fuel finally lit. Making it back up on the segment FE but the tank sure doesn’t want to budge …

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August 23, 2006 - Best segment ever and popped the tank back over the 114 mpg mark!

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August 24, 2006 - Ran out of fuel 18.4 miles into my commute. Final for the tank was 1532.4 miles which beat Wayne’s previous best by 8.5 miles and the FE by 5.2 mpg’s! I took the picture in the middle of the night after I added 1 gallon of fuel from a gasoline container. I took the gas can with me on the last 2 days knowing I would run out in the middle of nowhere ;) This is the segment distance and total tank distance in which I ran out of fuel but had to lighten both of the pics because of the night time shots :(

Date|RT Trip FE|Tank FE|Total Distance
July 31, 2006|118.2 mpg|118.2 mpg|88.2 miles
August 1, 2006|111.58 mpg|114.9 mpg|166.4 miles
August 2, 2006|113.5 mpg|114.4 mpg|250.6miles
August 3, 2006|107.8 mpg|112.8 mpg|334.8 miles
August 4, 2006|113.9 mpg|113.0 mpg|419.1 miles
August 7, 2006|113.0 mpg|113.0 mpg|503.3 miles
August 8, 2006|117.0 mpg|113.5 mpg|587.5 miles
August 9, 2006|119.8 mpg|114.2 mpg|671.7 miles
August 10, 2006|115.8 mpg|114.4 mpg|756.0 miles
August 11, 2006|113.5 mpg|114.2 mpg|840.3 miles
August 14, 2006|110.2 mpg|113.9 mpg|924.5 miles
August 15, 2006|113.5 mpg|113.9 mpg|1008.7 miles
August 16, 2006|117.0 mpg|114.2 mpg|1092.9 miles
August 17, 2006|111.1 mpg|113.9 mpg|1177.1 miles
August 18, 2006|124.5 mpg|114.4 mpg|1261.2 miles
August 22, 2006|115.8 mpg|113.9 mpg|1429.7 miles
August 23, 2006|121.0 mpg|114.2 mpg|1513.9 miles
August 24, 2006|110.4 mpg|114.2 mpg|1532.4 miles


I was driving up a long hill when I ran out so there might have been enough fuel for 10 + miles on a flatter section. Now that I know what is possible, this will not be my last shot at an FE run like this, as it was actually a lot of fun! I can bet the next automobile (whatever that may be) will do even better as my signature alludes too! Actually, I cannot wait until our next generation of Insight like cars arrive, because all of us are going to have a lot of fun with future records such as this one (if we’re still burning gasoline) … I might relax a little now, on my daily grind, as the concentration to reach these FE levels is intense. These high FE numbers still do amaze me, compared to what I thought my “Little Blue Beauty” was worth when I bought it just a little over a year ago. When I did my mental calculations, to see if I was going to be happy with the Insight as a commuter car, I told myself; If I can push this thing to 85mpg, that would be a gallon a day for getting back and forth to work, and that will make me happy. Since I began to apply some FE boosting techniques to the Insight package, if I get 85mpg on my commute, something is dreadfully wrong. How and why Honda discontinued this great little car, so capable of this kind of FE, in this day and age with $3.00 gas the norm in many parts of the country is simply astounding! The results above are a testimonial to how great the Honda Insight really is!

Randall Burkhalter

Hi Randall:

___That was a great article and I loved all the pics! Nice job on the descriptions as well! I cannot wait to see what you do next as it is another plateau for you to top in the future. It does give me hope for the rest of the world to catch on to given what you achieved just driving back and forth to work as you normally would.

___Thinking about you hoping to reach 85 mpg and to see where you are today is simply and absolutely amazing!

___Congratulations for the drive of a lifetime as it is an inspiration to each and everyone of us here at CleanMPG and the rest of the hybrid and non-hybrid automotive forums the world over …

___Good Luck

___Wayne

well done, its good knowing you hold a world record, espically in a time where fuel efficency is starting to make its voice known all around the world.

Congrats dude!

Are you guys aware of the fact that Volkswagen is falsely claiming the crown for a tank record? Let's set the record straight, guys!

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/10/05/vw-sets-single-tank-distance-record-with-1-527-mile-passat-bluem/

Are you guys aware of the fact that Volkswagen is falsely claiming the crown for a tank record? Let's set the record straight, guys!

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/10/05/vw-sets-single-tank-distance-record-with-1-527-mile-passat-bluem/

No they aren't.

As two witnesses drove behind them to verify the attempt for the Guinness Book of World Records

There are claims and then there are verified records.

Doesn't matter that the experts here would laugh at the mileage (it "only" got 74.8 miles per gallon averaging 45mph) they filled a tank and went 1527 miles.

Of course it looks like something Wayne and others would like to have a go at. ;)

Michael 10:31AM (10/05/2010)

The Fusion's mileage is a lot less impressive when you consider that they were crawling to take advantage of the electric-only mode. Their average speed was 21 mph.

oh...reAALLY... O-o

Wow. Just.........wow. I'm Insight Green with envy.

Right Lane Cruiser beat this record. Honda Insight 1567 miles commuting (http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14354)

And then there's this: The Insight.Marathon 2006 -- World Record 2,254.4 miles on one tank of fuel (http://www.cleanmpg.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2783)

That record absolutely blows my mind. I have made so many modifications to my Mazda and I am maxing out at 400 on a 14 gallon tank. Do you guys have any good recommendations for increasing that number? I have heard that excavation (http://www.volvo.com/constructionequipment/na/en-us/products/excavators/excavators.htm) companies have also been working with some high MPG vehicles as of late. How crazy is that?

Yeh, get a Insight 1 with M/T! <grin> H

Or fix the loose nut behind the wheel!! ;)

-soD ( <- still working on the loose nut behind his car's... )