[tweakmonkey]

Nope, it's not a Porsche.

I just wanted something more economical for driving around SJ, so I went to southern LA today and picked up a 2001 Honda Insight. I wrote about these cars in another thread after I drove it around.

It got 60 MPG so far on my drive (59. but I'm hoping to squeeze more out of it. It's pretty clean on the outside and super clean on the inside. I paid $7500 for it. The seller was the original owner and gave me all the records. It's got 147k miles, but drives perfect. One of the best things about it is that it has the Clean Air carpool stickers, so all around California I can use the carpool lane and avoid traffic, even if I'm alone.

[ninefivezero]

Sweet stuff, whats it look like under the hood?

[Mr. Ali]

Nice grab. I am sure that car will start to appreciate in value soon, or at least depreciate very very slowly.

[-Sevendust-]

I couldnt help but laugh. I bet chicks dig that down there. I know they dont up here

[sims]

lol, nice!

Tell me you kept the talon!?

[gB dAvId x]

That thing still uses a tape deck! Wtf!?!?!

[smirnoff]

Originally Posted by gB dAvId x

That thing still uses a tape deck! Wtf!?!?!

Totally missed that when I first looked. Pretty funny.

[MSP]

Originally Posted by ninefivezero

Sweet stuff, whats it look like under the hood?

Yeah, c'mon Dan. Let's see some juicy engine / battery shots.

Speaking of the battery, aren't those expected to last around 200,000? How much are they to replace?

[gB dAvId x]

Why would the original owner be selling a car like that?!?! I guess he hasn't looked at the gas prices recently. That price of that car looks like a steel! I tried to look for an insight on autotrade and I couldn't find anything in NorCal around that price

[Torx]

Originally Posted by gB dAvId x

That thing still uses a tape deck! Wtf!?!?!

gaahahaha good eye man, fuckin hilarious.

i would get it custom painted (two toned), throw some light(er)weight billet rims on and tell everyone its a back to the future II movie prop.

i'd ride the fuck out of that car. good buy

are they all manual and how would you clean the engine bay on these hybrids?

[Phant0m51]

That's not a tape deck. That would be silly.

It's an Eight-Track player.

[MSP]

My only question is how many MPG do you lose by using the cassette player?

[tweakmonkey]

Originally Posted by ninefivezero

Sweet stuff, whats it look like under the hood?

It's not super exciting and it's pretty dirty under there. I'll try to get a pic later today.

Originally Posted by -Sevendust-

I couldnt help but laugh. I bet chicks dig that down there. I know they dont up here

Eh, if a girl is not going to give me a chance because of something as stupid as my car (which indicates some intelligence considering gas is $4.20/gallon here ), it's not the kind of girl I'd want attention from anyway.

Originally Posted by sims

lol, nice!

Tell me you kept the talon!?

Of course, this is the beater while I do some much needed overhaul on the Talon.

[tweakmonkey]

Originally Posted by Torx

gaahahaha good eye man, fuckin hilarious.

i would get it custom painted (two toned), throw some light(er)weight billet rims on and tell everyone its a back to the future II movie prop.

i'd ride the fuck out of that car. good buy

are they all manual and how would you clean the engine bay on these hybrids?

The wheels are already super light. It's one of the features of the car. The whole thing is aluminum and weighs next to nothing considering the curb weight of most modern cars. I think it's under 2000 lbs.

Also the guy put some sport tires on there. Dunlop 6000s or something (195/55 vc the 165/65 stock tires)... so it seems to handle pretty well! The tires aren't the best for gas mileage though. The stock ones would add 2-3 MPG probably. This car rolls crazy-easily.. it's like, once you're at 70 on a flat surface, it takes almost nothing to keep it moving at that speed.

You can buy them in automatic (CVT) also, but they don't get quite as good of mileage (like, -10 in the city, -5 or so on the highway). They don't have the "lean burn" feature on the auto though, so MPG isn't as good.

The batteries and important electronic stuff isn't under the hood, so it's okay to wash under it.

Originally Posted by gB dAvId x

Why would the original owner be selling a car like that?!?! I guess he hasn't looked at the gas prices recently. That price of that car looks like a steel! I tried to look for an insight on autotrade and I couldn't find anything in NorCal around that price

He only wants one car, and had owned it for 8 years. He was the original owner... I guess his commute dropped to nothing so he didn't need it anymore.

Originally Posted by MSP

Yeah, c'mon Dan. Let's see some juicy engine / battery shots.

Speaking of the battery, aren't those expected to last around 200,000? How much are they to replace?

Yeah, maybe 200k, I don't know. The warranty on the electric stuff is 150,000, so I have a little time to test it out before worrying. Also, the batteries were replaced at 80k, so they aren't *that* old yet. If you have to replace them, I've heard anywhere from 300-2500-5000 depending on where you get them. Realistically, I think $2000-2500 could replace it all.

Originally Posted by gB dAvId x

That thing still uses a tape deck! Wtf!?!?!

Yeah! I know, it's crazy. Power everything, remote entry, alarm, climate control... and a TAPE DECK. The funny thing is, the guy put in upgraded speakers, sub, amp, etc... and kept that head unit. I guess he liked the radio? I have a MP3/cd player here at work with HD radio, so that's going in.

[Torx]

Originally Posted by MSP

My only question is how many MPG do you lose by using the cassette player?

i like this quote.
because when it comes down to cars like this.. the smallest trivial things cost MPG (like dan said the tires!!)

I wouldve never thought pass. car tires would have an effect on mpg.

[tweakmonkey]

You can get crazy MPG if you pay attention to your driving style with these cars. More so than non-Hybrids for sure, since you have so many technologies working together. Yeah, the tires are big, as is the pressure in them. But even shift patterns, speed, how gentle you are on the throttle etc. can take the car from something like 70 MPG down to 50 MPG. Some guys have got like 100 MPG on these cars over extended periods, but they make modifications to things like batteries and IMA controller.

[Coleman]

Originally Posted by -Sevendust-

I couldnt help but laugh. I bet chicks dig that down there. I know they dont up here

There are women in Alaska? I thought you all fucked buffalo or something.

[tweakmonkey]

Okay, I installed a proper cd/mp3/ipod player thing.. and it's a big improvement. I also re-insulated all the stereo stuff and now it sounds really clean with the amp/sub/speakers.

I also put in an S2000 steering wheel (leather wrapped) so the worst parts of the interior are great now.


Here are some pics next to Alex's Insight:



And to give you an idea of what the bigger/stickier tires look like:



They're crazy since the car is only 1900 lbs, but they hurt the gas mileage. It drops from about 60 way down to 52ish from what I've seen. But since the car gets such good gas mileage anyway, it'd take something like 5000 miles to justify buying new tires for gas mileage. I'll wait for now and enjoy the better rubber.

[MSP]

I was kinda bumming out because Honda doesn't make these anymore, when I found this shit. Check it out!

2008 Honda Civic GX - the Official Honda Web Site

You refuel it yourself at home! 24MPG city, how much is a "gallon" of natural gas?

2008 Honda Civic GX Natural Gas Vehicle - Refueling - the Official Honda Web Site

EDIT: $1.55-2.00 here around Cincinnati. Simply amazing.