Questions On The Insight

[gabe1475]

Well had my first commute today with the Insight. 73mpg on the way in and 76mpg total for the day. Not bad considering traffic was brutal in the morning, parking outside until I sell the smart and cold at 39 (for AZ). Actually I should say that is awesome, with better conditions and some practice I could double what I was getting in the smart. Was able to hold 100mpg for several miles at just under 60MPH.

I did have a couple of quick questions:

Tire tread - previous owner changed tires at 63k miles, but there does not seem to be alot of tread left, or possible these tires don't have alot of tread from the start, not sure. Honda dealer put it at 5/32 on the last oil change she did. How many miles do I have left on those?

Oil Change - owner was nice enough to do the oil change just before selling and was using synthetic - changed at77k and next scheduled for 83k. What should be the service intervals with synthetic and can I use mobil 1 or do you have to use Honda's oil?

If you get IMA codes, is it ok to reset? I assume you should only leave the major code that states your battery is done - ok to reset all others.

Have about 5 bars left on gas gauge. How accurate are they and how far past last bar can you go

Spark plug - I don't think this is needed until just over 100k, any benefit in doing earlier? Also can you do this yourself or better to have the dealer do it?

Why is there a seperate mpg gauge called FCD? Will probably use for Oil change reminder.

Outside of the engine temp, the scangauge is really not needed. Lean burn is fairly easy to see on the gauge and have more mpg gauges than I need - one is current tank, second will be daily and FCD will be miles since last oil change.

Also notice that EPA uses old system for this year. Do most do a conversion to the new system or is that the way it is for all older cars?

[Right Lane Cruiser]

Can't help on the tread question but the oil should be 0W-20 — most use Mobil 1 as that is the most easily available. I just follow the Maintenance Minder. It is just a simple miles counter and will remind you to change every 7500 miles. It starts blinking around 7000 and then goes on solid at 7500.

The gas gauge is accurate. Once the last bar disappears you can drive about another 3 bars worth before fumes run out. I figured out once how much gas each bar represented based on miles and mileage and it was predictable (but I don't remember what it was at the moment).

Don't worry about the plugs until 105K — they are a special, long shank, indexed plug. The block is marked A, B, or C to indicate the correctly indexed plug. Purchase from a Honda dealer and match the plugs with the cylinder letters so that the spark is oriented properly for optimal lean burn performance. They have to be torqued to exact spec. Might want to let the dealer do it for you.

The FCD readout is a "segment" meter. I use it for each trip. Trip A is for my day total, and I use B for the tank.

I use my SG to show instantaneous mpg (to see how lean I'm running), air intake temp, coolant temp, and 12V status. You want to keep an eye on that last if you are FASing because as discussed on the phone you can't bump/clutch/push start this car with a dead 12V. There is no alternator and if there isn't enough voltage to activate the relays allowing power from the big battery you aren't going anywhere (nothing to make a spark). Don't let it get too low or you'll need a (normal) jump start. Get enough voltage to open the relays and you'll be able to drive.

Use the original EPA ratings in the logs. We go by the sticker that came with the car.

Your numbers so far are spot on and will only go up as you learn to drive the car to its fullest potential!

[gabe1475]

Seems like the bars last about as long as the bars on the smart - only difference is this car has twice the bars.

[gabe1475]

I noticed something odd today. After a bump start the instant MPG gauge go stuck on 0 and when I lifted my foot of the accelerator, go stuck on 150mpg – stayed there while I was stopped. Full shutdown and a restart fixed the problem. Anyone else experience this?

Also, when doing FAS, volts are showing 11.6 vs 13.5 with car on. Is that normal?

[Right Lane Cruiser]

Hi, Gabe — yes to both questions. For the stuck gauge it is sufficient to flip the key to ACC and then back to ON again as fast as you can… much faster than you'd need to actually get the engine to stop. If you leave it stuck your trip average will get very inflated very fast. (We play fair around here and actual fill will tell the real story. )

I've found the smallish 12V drops pretty fast in a FAS; there are a lot more electronics to run than in other cars. My Elantra for example won't drop under 12V for quite a long time without the lights on.

[Parasite]

My take and additions. Glad to have you in the Insight camp.

Mileage
Well, I wish I could get that mileage, but the CVT doesn't even approach without PnG.

Tires
On mine, that tread would be about half gone as a close guess. I always try to rotate the tires front to back as my fronts wear a lot faster than the rears do. That may be alignment even though I check and fix it regularly.

Oil
I use Honda standard and change at Honda. This is mainly keeping them involved, for possible warranty issues, and the fact that when I got it there was no other 0-20 oil available. I expect it cost a bit more money. Also they sometimes leave it running and/or use the A/C. It kills mileage for that trip and would be even worse for manuals.

Gas
I plan for 14 miles after the last bar goes out. When I fill up it puts me at 10 gallons to fill. A good spot for quick MPG math. I have not yet run out of gas, so the bars after is good info for me. Thanks Sean. The bars seem pretty regular and equal to set amounts of gas. There is a time before the first bar goes dark after a fill-up that is greater than normal. Parking on a slight hill nose up seems to make a low tank read one bar lower. It then comes back during normal driving on a flat road.

Spark Plugs
Yes they are matched. Not being mechanically inclined, I would let an experienced dealer do it.

FCD
The FCD is easy to reach and reset. No need to stick your hands through the steering wheel. I use it for distance and MPG on each "trip" driveway to driveway. I use "A" and "B" for one and two tank totals resetting the two tank one and making it the next one tank measurement. This gives me a quick grasp on if I am doing better or not when I fill up. If your one tank MPG is less than the two tank, then you have been bad (or it has gotten colder).

Oil change
I do 7500 miles. Multiples of this are 15K and 30K. I base this all on the total mileage gauge and don't use the resettable ones. The check engine light comes on as an extra reminder to you. I have never needed to refill or top-off the oil. As it ages, I might be using more, so this may change.

For a long time I was confused about what a scangauge was. I first thought it came standard in the Insight (the MPG readout). I still don't have one, but am breaking down.

I hope this helps.

[gabe1475]

Not having to reach through the steering wheel. Never thought about that.

Sean - I was actually at 82 before this happened and the gague did go up to 83.4. Tank will not be as good as I have just under 500 miles at 64MPG and the total will be about 630-650 miles.

[gabe1475]

For those that have installed FAS, when you use it does it just stop the enginge or do you get the blinking green light stating the car is in AS? The reason I ask is I find myself trying to trigger AS as I will not be able to bump start the car in stop and go traffic when I know I am going to make a full stop.

If I am coasting at 15 MPH and have the clutch pressed in and apply just a bit a brakes I can trigger AS and keep coasting - can't let the clutch go until full stop. Would be nice to avoid braking, but don't want to have to key on after each stop even though there is no difference mechanically vs AS.

Also will Mima allow forced regen all the way to 0mph or do you have to keep downshifing similar to not having MIMA?

I am usually in the high 60s in stop and go traffic and there is some waste there with the limited options I currently have, trips are now over 80mpg for the most part so will see how the next tank turns out. Still had two bars on the last fill, but figured i would get gas since it is out of my way and I had to pick up something on the way home.

[Right Lane Cruiser]

Hi, Gabe! I'm glad you are enjoying your new car.

The FAS button won't trigger the AS light unless you are under the normal 21 mph limit for that feature and have applied the brakes at least once with decent pressure. I can't always get the light to come on but the above is the closest I've been able to narrow down the behavior to defined.

You still have to downshift with MIMA and you won't be able to regen down to zero without stalling the engine. Because the motor/generator is bolted to the crankshaft you'll have to have the engine turning to generate any electricity. You could put it in neutral and force regen with MIMA I suppose but that would use fuel — not what you want.

The easiest way to engage regen is to get into deceleration fuel cut with regen, then drop straight to nuetral while pressing and holding the clutch pedal. Since you are already in fuel cut the engine just spins to a stop with no fuel use. You should be able to do this right around 21 mph. I like to get into 2nd gear around 24 mph, get regen with fuel cut and ride that down to about 12 mph… at which point I pop the clutch and trigger AS so that I can slow the rest of the way with the physical brakes and no fuel. (Regen drops out at about 11 mph in 2nd.) Otherwise, I will drop into AS right at 21 mph and coast. It will stay in AS up to whatever speed you can coast to — no limits like the other hybrid architectures because the motor is physically disengaged. So you could coast down a mountain in AS without the engine coming on (as long as the coolant temperature doesn't drop to far and you don't run out of braking vacuum).

There is another nice feature of the clutch switch we chatted about. Get into AS with the clutch pedal pressed, then engage the clutch switch and leaving the car in neutral let out the clutch. The engine won't come on because the computers still think the pedal is pressed. Better for the throw out bearing, too.

Get creative with coasting and throw in a little P&G (without assist!)… your city numbers will come right up into unbelievable territory.

[gabe1475]

Will probably get the clutch switch. Sounds like that will serve a couple of purposes. Where can I purchase one?