Cold Weather and the Insight.

[mtgeekman]

Hello all, just finished my worst tank in my insight so far, 51.43 mpg. That is just pain full to me. Still better then any other car that I have driven or owned, but compared to where I was...

This cold weather is killing me. Along with the colder weather the traffic has gotten worse.

I am hoping for some tips on what I can do that might help. I have taped up the front end to minimize air through the radiator. Block heater is on for 1.5 hours before I head to work, 1 hour before I leave work for home. Not sure I want to pump my tires to any more then they are. I had them at 45psi when it was still 30f a few weeks ago. That and high pressure is bad on snow. I also have some preheater hose routed to the cat for a warm air intake.


I start work at 8:30 and get off at 5:30, when the weather was nice this worked fine for letting the traffic die down. Not helping much at this point.


other info:
Tires: Blizzak 165 65r14
Oil: 0w20 Mobil 1 (just changed this last tank)
partial calpod install, just missing the FAS button, Had to remove it, was causing problems (dang cheap switch...)

using the mid grade fuel 89 oct, I am betting I have been on winter rfg for the last 2 tanks, though this one was probably more pure winter RFG.



Anything else I can try?

if there is any one in the Helena MT or Bozeman MT areas I would love to see what you have done or how you manage.

[Right Lane Cruiser]

What temperatures are you seeing and what speed limits are you dealing with? I've got a full block on my Insight and I'm still getting better than 60mpg at less than 0F...

Get that CalPod switch fixed -- you can eliminate that cold battery regen except when you are slowing (where it is helpful) by using the switch. It also seems to help speed up recal events.

I'm running considerably higher pressures in my tires than you are... and I'm not using snow tires. Not a recommendation, just a statement. I think you can go higher in your tires safely and it will help.

[mtgeekman]

Average temp for the last tank was about 20.5f with the last week averaging 4f (these are full day averages)

Trip to work average is probably closer to -10f in the last week for morning, and not much better going home.

I will check the pressures in my tires tonight at a friends house and might pump them up a bit.

As for speeds highest on commute to work is 60, I usually stay around 50. in town is 35, but I don't spend enough time in town actually moving to see that much.


I think my biggest killer has been the traffic. Spending the first 10-15min covering about 6 blocks with no autostop you can just watch the display drop.

I will look through my switch box to see if I can find some thing better. The current switch was shorting out if the wires got moved much at all. They are all heat shrinked and what not so not exactly sure what up, some thing internal is my guess.

[Right Lane Cruiser]

Traffic will definitely do it. The higher speeds aren't helping you any either. Are you able to keep it at around 50mpg as you accelerate starting in 3rd gear and up?

Any hills?

Those temps sounds similar to what I've been dealing with around here lately.

[mtgeekman]

3.5 miles of my 5 mile commute is on the 60mph road. its a 2 lane road with no passing zones(though I get passed some times...) so going slower then 50 is not a good idea, gotten yelled at by a Prius driver once already....

Once in third gear I can usually keep it at 50mpg or higher, though some days it seems like the e-brake is on and no matter what I do it doesn't feel right. I believe I need to clean the EGR plate on the intake. I wish I had a garage....

There is a 120f hill towards the end of my drive on the way to work, so the hills aren't major.

[Right Lane Cruiser]

That e-brake feeling could be background charging due to a cold battery -- the car will use more regen when cold to get the battery up to temperature. Charging heats it up and discharging (assist) cools it off. You can see a big difference between the seasons -- assist comes a lot more easily when it is 95F and regen comes a lot more easily when it is 5F. The CalPod switch will cancel that out for you. On really cold mornings it is the difference between being able to accelerate in 3rd up a hill and losing speed because of the added drag.

Get the switch fixed and play with it when the car is cold -- you should be able to feel the difference. Without the regen you should be able to make 50mph work well enough to manage at least 75mpg once up to speed. That total distance is killer though.

I'd also raise your EBH time to 2hrs. Do you have a ScanGauge? It helps to keep an eye on the temps using one.

[iamian]

After the above... you can also add a FAS ( with DC-DC ) to let you do Fuel Cut in that traffic even if the car would not normally do Auto-Stop.

[sno779]

In your intown driving, you could build a buffer zone between your self and the car in front of you. Then just creep along without stopping as much as you can. On some parts of my commute I can actually IMPROVE my mileage in a traffic jamb compared to normal flow speeds. If you allow your car to slow down to around 24 MPH with your foot off the throttle the speed up solenoid will take over and your instantaneous will max out. Watch your RPMs and don't let it lug down too low. When it gets low just down shift. I'm assuming you're driving a MT.....Louis

[Right Lane Cruiser]

Louis, that's pretty much what I do, but it isn't very effective in snow because you end up just coming to a stop.

[sno779]

SNOW? What's that? We don't see much if any snow in Phoenix. It has been cold for us, down in the 50s and 60s this last week. I've had a couple days below 90 MPG and my tank average is now only 90.9. We all get hit with a dose of winter reality, some of us don't get hit as hard as others, but we all get hit. My three year 39911 mile average is 94.15 and that's mostly on the freeway at 50 to 65 MPH.....Louis