This is a history so far with a Honda Insight. At this point we have over 49,000 miles on the car. I would not use our numbers in your database, it would hurt the averages. The mileage techniques already presented on your website will give me much to think about. I am writing anyway, maybe to give an unvarnished view of an average driver.

The Rocky Mountain Institute proposed what they called a Hypercar, which introduced me to the idea of a hybrid car. Later the Prius and Insight came on the market. My wife and I had an aging sport utility. She was in favor of replacing it with another sport utility, when it gave out. But it used two or three tanks of gas per week. Unless we were hauling visitors or stuff, the two of us were the only load it carried. My wife agreed to put the sport utility into semi-retirement, and to get a hybrid for everyday commuting. We got the Insight because my wife hates sedans, and she hates automatic transmissions.

We had both driven Hondas in the past. The Insight has a likable Honda personality.

Road and Track magazine had done a test drive of the Insight and Prius. In the article the Insight’s battery lost charge during a drive into the California mountains. So when we took delivery of the car, we actually paid more attention to battery charge than to mileage. Every few weeks the battery can lose charge. I can be sitting at a light, on Auto Stop, and the engine will cut itself on, followed by a drop in the battery charge showing on the dashboard. The gas engine can move the car by itself, albeit sluggishly. After a quarter mile of driving, the battery is charged enough to Auto Stop again. The service department at Honda said they would ask why we lose charge, but no news so far.

I had to learn not to put my seat all the way back, so I could glance out the rear quarter window. I was concerned about rear visibility. Since the car is low to the ground, the rear deck can be piled with luggage, but the view in the rear view mirror is fine.

Being low to the ground also makes the car invisible when other vehicles are backing up. A Buick backed into the right front fender in a parking lot. The Honda dealership knew of a body shop that had repaired another Insight. The repair cost over $600.

Someone wrote that they were not happy with the door sills in the Civic. The same can be said for the Insight.

The Check Engine light would come on regularly, until Honda issued a patch for the computer.

Automatic climate control is sheer delight.

Now for what everyone else talks about, the mileage. As I said, my numbers do not stack up.

We bought the car in Conyers, Georgia. At the time we took delivery the average mileage on the dashboard was 30 mile per gallon. By the time we left Atlanta, it was up to 53 mpg. Driving around Atlanta is like driving around the District of Columbia. The terrain is hilly, the drivers are aggressive. At first, being back in a small car, I drove passively. But I do not like being cut off by other drivers. Soon I was back to tail gating to keep my place in line, which is ultimate stop and go driving.

We moved to Greenville, North Carolina. Driving I20 across South Carolina I averaged over 72 mpg on that leg of the trip.

In Greenville, North Carolina, the terrain is coastal plain, the traffic is less congested. Most highway driving involves dashing from a job to the airport in Raleigh, so speed takes priority over mileage. In warm weather I average 62 mpg, in cool weather 55 mpg. Every year when the weather turns cool, I have a mental bloc; it takes me weeks to remember to check the tire pressure.

I have been using tire pressure that I used on my old 1976 Honda. At first this was 30 psi, later 36 psi. The Honda dealership in Greenville, North Carolina, says they service three Insights. The service department once asked if I had recommendations on tires. They said another Insight owner had his tires at around 45 to 50 psi, and was averaging 65 mpg. When he bought a new set of tires, his mileage dropped and he went ballistic.

 

Welcome to GreenHybrid. I'm glad you shared your experience, because it definitely shows what an "average" driver who isn't mileage-hungry achieves on such cars. And, please let me tell you that 53 MPG on the Insight is not at all unheard of! 53 is a higher low than any other car on the market, so don't be down.

As for adding your data to the database, please do! We strive to get the most comprehensive and accurate information. Your experience and figures are as valid as the others -- in fact, more so. Our current Insighters are rediculous about mileage, going to far lenghts to squeeze a bit out of the gallon. This is not normal.

I don't know if you saw the other driver who [apparently] removed his two Insights today or yesterday. They both brought the Insight average down, but I was glad he added them. It pulled things back to reality.

Anyway, I'm sure you'll learn a lot about your car here, and encourage you to share the wealth of information you must already have. Good luck!

 

Hi CLA:

___Good overall review of your experiences with the 5-speed Honda Insight and please don’t worry about hurting the averages. They should reflect what most actually receive instead of the few of us Hyper Mileage drivers.

___The rear view out of an Insight as with the 04 Prius (imho) simply stinks. Aerodynamic hatchbacks at work here and I wish there was more we could do about it … I would have liked to see the view out of the EV-1 as it really wasn’t a hatchback yet had a Cd of just .19. If so, hatchbacks will hopefully go away just for the fact that we can all see better out of a Sedan.

___To get to the airport and back in a fast fashion, I can’t do anything to help you but you can. Rushing means low fuel economy whether you’re driving a 2,100 # Insight w/ driver or 3,400 # Camry w/ driver. You simply have to leave earlier and slow it down. If someone cuts you off, they are doing so at the expense of a resource becoming scarcer by the second. Shift into high gear in your head first, and then take a much more relaxed drive on today’s Highways and byways.

___As for tire pressures, you are way under even what the door specs recommend. Get them pumped up and check them regularly. This is a problem with all vehicles. If you aren’t even at the minimum, you don’t have a chance in hell of good fuel economy. With that, you will receive a harsher ride. The Insight is a rough riding SOB but that is the reason it can get 100 mpg over a decent distance time and time and again. If it were designed for your maximum personal comfort, it wouldn’t be a Hybrid or an Insight in particular …

___And finally, maybe the following link will help? With the techniques we use here, even the 4WD non-Hybrid MDX receives stellar fuel economy. I received this 33.1 mpg while traveling 60 - 61 mph as described in the post. If you want fuel economy, it’s yours for the taking in whatever you drive. My daughter is a Hertz manager and we had the opportunity to take a Mercury Mountaineer 4WD SUV to my sons University graduation last week. I had a 26.9 mpg average going over 140 miles of highway cruise before my daughter took over and drove it into the ground once again …

You aren’t going to believe this!

___Good Luck

___Wayne R. Gerdes
___Hunt Club Farms Landscaping Ltd.
___Waynegerdes@earthlink.net

 

I encourage you to put your mileage info into the RealMileage database. As the name states it is supposed to be REAL mileage. I want everyone to see what is reality so that they are not disappointed and so that they come in with a better understaniund of all the posibilities.
so far what you wrote in your post was very thoughtful and REAL. Thanks for sharing your experiences. I hope to hear more from your point of view in the future.