My Honda Insight Gen1

[Hawk Tuah]

I haven't been around these parts for a while. Getting married and having your first child takes up a bit of your free time!

Anyhow, now for a catchup on my automotive history. Earlier this year, I realised I could no longer afford to use the X-Trail to commute to work. So I was on the lookout for something a bit more frugal.

After a fair bit of research and reading reviews about being both efficient and fun to drive, I was on the lookout for a first generation Honda Insight. It took a few months for one to come up for sale. The day after it was put in eBay, I was at the guys doorstep paying the full asking price.

It was up for £1995, which for a 12 year old Honda with 170k n the clock seems pretty steep. Especially considering it had an SRS light on the dash, the bonnet paint was badly scratched and there was a problem with downshifts into 2nd. However this is no normal Honda.

Here is me looking pretty happy, just having put a deposit down. You can see the problem with the bonnet.

I collected the car a few weeks later, and despite it sitting for a while, it drove home without any problems. Since then I have been on a quest to get the car back up to standard and to achieve ever more impressive MPGs.

 

[Hawk Tuah]

The Honda Insight was the first commercially available hybrid, and arguably - the best. It was built by Honda as a technical demonstration, with extreme levels of weight saving, an extremely efficient petrol engine, and an integrated electric motor / generator.

The even covered the rear wheels, and had a narrower track for greater aerodynamic efficiency.

My first obvious job was to try and smooth out the bonnet. In the end I wet sanded the lacquer off the bonnet and respray end it with clear coat. This has greatly improved it for only a small amount of money and a lot of elbow grease.

I've also changed a lot of the lighting to be more efficient.

 

[Hawk Tuah]

My next project was to build a grid charger. The insight battery pack has quite a hard life, taking up to a 50a charge, and putting out bursts of 100a. The battery is made up of 120 specially designed NiMh D cells. After a while, they can go out of balance. The best solution to this is a long, slow charge.

There are plans online for building a grid charger. I started collating the parts, and after a while built this. A grid charger, with my own special modification.

This plugs into my battery pack in the rear. Fitting the connections here was a bit of a high risk task, as the battery pack runs on 140v. Not something you want to accidentally touch.

 

[Hawk Tuah]

My special modifications was to integrate another project I was working on. A solar charger. The insight battery pack is well known t discharge if left to sit, which can lead to cell imbalance. My solution for this was to add a solar trickle charger.

To build this, I got 11 12v solar panels, and wires them in series to provide a solar array that outputs 200v at ~1.5w. I had to dismantle evey panel and remove the LEDs so they would work in series. Te solar array then puts into the other plug into my grid charger. This allows me to monitor for voltage. 12 power comes from another 4w panel.

These have now been fixed more permanently, and accurately.

 

[Hawk Tuah]

The original tyres for the Insight are ultra low rolling resistance. Sadly they're not e marked. So not available in the UK. Instead I got a set of Conti Eco Contact 5's in a slightly wider than stock size. Pumped up to maximum PSI, they are pretty hard, but offer tremendous amounts of grip considering they are still very low rolling resistance.

Seeing as I spend 3 hours a day in this car, I decided to treat myself to a decent headunit. Fortunately, the UK cars all came with a duble DIN Hadunit space. I got a modern Sony touchscreen unit, with iPod control.

 

[Hawk Tuah]

The plugs in the insight are iridium, and indexed. They have a 100k service interval, and as I was getting near the 200k mark, I thought these were best changed.

I found some genuine plugs, but the wrong index (just one off) on eBay. I get them, and up by marking the pug wrench, managed to get them into the correct alignment despite the index latter of the plugs.

 

[Hawk Tuah]

As winter has set in, my MPGs have taken a dive. So I've made some modifications to improve the cold weather economy. I've added a warm air feed from the exhaust to the air intake. Air coming into my engine is now around 25c even though its near freezing outside.

Also, I've added a half grill block, and blocked the lower vent. Heat lost from the engine is known to be a real mpg killer, so reducing airflow over the engine has big efficiency savings.

I had a little help measuring the grill block. I made it from transparent carpet protector.

 

[Hawk Tuah]

I've also invested in a specific OBD reader for the car, which has allowed me to see when I'm in lean burn mode, and gives greater control over the charge indicator.

 

[Hawk Tuah]

So, what is the point of driving an old honda?

Typically, I'm getting between 65mpg and 75mpg. However if I put a bit of effort in this is achievable.

This has reduced my fuel costs from nearly £600 per month, to under £300. Plus if course, the car is aluminium. Rust isn't an issue.

 

[Hawk Tuah]

I like it, I don't think I've ever seen one of these in the flesh before.

Any chance of some interior pictures?

Hi. There aren't many in he UK, so you're quite unlikely to see another one. This is a manual as well, which is even rarer. I haven't got any wide angle pics of the interior. It's not too badly laid out. They were all made with top spec for the time. Electronic climate control, and electric everything - for the time. The cars were all hand built alongside the NSX on a special production line, so the quality of finish is very good.

Intresting thread.
I like Hondas. A friend of mine bought the first 1.6 Vtech 160 BHP Civic, and we got an invitation to the UK launch of the NSX as a result.

What are your running costs so far?

Any MPG figures?

Hopefully my last post answered this. It is the most efficient production car ever built. Needless to say, running costs aren't too bad

 

[Hawk Tuah]

It'll be interesting to see how yours compares to Johnnycoupe's Insight, if he's still got it.
I think it's stock so hopefully yours will be much more economical.
Out of interest, how much have you spent on modifying the car so far?

No way. I swear he's my doppelgänger. First the Rover, then the Fiat. Nw the Honda lol. Is his also a Gen1? The more recent Gen2 Insight is a lot less fuel efficient.

If his is a completely stock Gen1, in this cold weather I will be getting much better mpgs, mostly due to the cold weather modifications. Insight owners claim up to 10mpg difference.

The biggest thing that effects in economy though is speed. If I can drive gentle enough to keep the car in lean burn mode (only available on manual cars) I can get amazing economy. On a flat road, at 60mph, I can maintain 120mpg.

It's just annoying how many hills the are on my commute!

 

[Hawk Tuah]

Mine isn't stock. Full control of IMA, fresh battery and imported OEM tyres from the USA. Still got it, will be four years in March and nearly on 200k.

Have you got MIMA, or is it IMAC&C? I'm looking at this for my next modification, along with a BCM fooler and lithium cells.

Im worried it would defeat the money saving aspect of the car though. There's no point saving £300 a month on fuel if I spank it all on on new batteries instead.

 

[Hawk Tuah]

I plug mine into the mains every evening and have it timed to come un for 3 hours of grid charging before I leave in the morning. Gets the battery in a nice state ready for my long commute. I trigger a forced regen with the ODBC&C n my way home, it usually only goes for a few minutes before I get a positive recal, but this again warms the battery a bit before the journey home. Im still on the original battery, so it needs a bit more tlc. Still, no IMA lights so can't complain.

IAT is about 26c once the engine is warmed up. Enough to make learn burn easy to get into, without having to worry about melting the snorkel.

 

[Hawk Tuah]

And another petrolhead falls by the wayside. Tis a sad day, but I and the others will endeavour to fight the cause with incessant sub 15mpg hoons.

Seriously though - whatever floats your boat

Don't worry, my other car would struggle to get 15mpg.

A commute is a commute. The cheaper I can do it, the better. If I can have some fun on the way, then why not.

The car won't go anywhere on just batteries. It's just there to assist the petrol engine. It stores the energy from braking and puts it back into acceleration.

For example, in 5th putting your foot to the floor returns the same economy as having it half down. You're just using more battery.

I had skinny tyres on it before. The conti's offer much much more grip. I can now drive it with confidence. Before I was always having the rear slide about.

 

[Hawk Tuah]

That's pretty cool - I like the solar panels idea though I'm sure it's not a a priority there must be a way of making them look..er..neater?

They are now perfect aligned and permanently fixed. That picture was my early 'test' fitting.

Is the i20 1.1 CRDi manual more fuel efficient? It's 88.3 MPG / 3.2 l/100km.

I guess it depends if you take manufacturers figures as world mpg.

The main difference for me, is that this wasn't creates as a budget Eco box. No doubt if a manufacturer was to put together a lightweight aerodynamic aluminium chassis, a super efficient diesel engine and a plug in hybrid system - they would get even better real world economy.

Something like the the VW XL1. It does look mightily similar to the Insight.

 

[Hawk Tuah]

And how much does it cost to charge?

No idea. I if i can charge it during the day, nothing.

The charger is 300ma at 175v, and I have it on for 3 hours. N idea what that would work out at. Probably not much.

What happens when it needs new batteries? How much?

I'm still n the original batteries. Grid charging helps prolong their life. A new set from Honda is about £3k, but there are some other people offering improved packs for about £2k. I'd probably install lithiums instead if I was going to replace them. The are a few people running these with moderate success at the moment

 

[Hawk Tuah]

I love it had a look for one of these when trying to find a hybrid but as you said they are very rare. I manage 65mpg in the prius but since winter has dropped down to 53mpg so quite a drop in the cold seen a few guys doing what you have and blocking grills and fitting pipes on the us prius forums might need to give it a bash seeing as yours is working with that awesome 101mpg so it clearly does something

Realistically, I'm getting 65pmg - 85pmg at the moment depending on whether I'm in a hurry or not. Keeping it in lean mode makes a heck of a difference to the economy, but your really have to fether the throttle and accept that your following the lorries.

 

[Hawk Tuah]

From a new-buy perspective I'm not sure I'd choose one.

Not many people did. That's why they're so rare.

Back when petrol was 50p per litre, the car just didn't make sense. It's was quite expensive as well. When this was launched, even owning a diesel was seen as something for real tight fisted saddo's, so this would have been an epic fail of a buy new.

 

[Hawk Tuah]

Added a few more bits this weekend. I've added a few easy to reach switches that when complete will give me engine disable / full regen / electric disabled.

So far, only the electric disabled switch is fully wired up. The full regen I'm going to wire up with a relay as will need to take the current of the brake lights, and the engine disable will be a fuse breaker, so am waiting for a fuse adapter to turn up.

I've also added another stalk that controls the headunit. The touchscreen is all well and good, but sometimes it's nice just to have a button, so you can skip tracks without having to look exactly where your pressing.

 

[Hawk Tuah]

During the winter it's been high sixties. During the last brief warm snap, it went up to low 70s. Rock on the summer.

I've upped the voltage of my grid charger to 176, and this seems to have balanced the batteries a lot better. They feel much stronger now. I think 174 was possibly a tad low to properly balance all the cells.