Honda Insight 1600+mi commuting tank attempt

I'm getting close, Wayne!! I've been driving about 2 bars worth after I lose the last one on the gauge so I know there is enough fuel if the temps are warm... I'll keep trying but I think I'll be short at the end.

Michael, I'd do that but I have no assurances there will be higher temps later!!

 

I bet there are a few warm days yet, well sorta warm anyways. the normal high is still in the mid 40s, the high today was only 29! good luck!

 

Sean

I was just going over my notes from my 1519.3 mile tank. I hit 2 bars of fuel at 1360 miles and one bar and the low fuel light at 1396 and ran dry at 1519.3. Depending on how strong your third bar is, if you keep going as is, you should make 1600 miles. Good luck.....Louis

 

Thanks for the info, Louis! How much fuel did that work out to?

I just found my 12V is shot so I had a dismal 88.5mpg trip to work. Does anyone know if there is some way I can hook up another battery somewhere other than the standard terminals so I can swap out the sucker without triggering a recal?

 

The FCD said 112.0 MPG and I stuffed 14.17 gallons into it. I was training for the Insight Marathon and used a gas station as my start/finish line. When I ran out of gas, I was almost back to the station and was able to coast to within 3 feet of the pump, so I cheated by pushing it the last 3 feet. Half of that tank was normal back and forth to work and the other half was P&G training for the Marathon except it is 50 miles each way to where I did the training and I drove that 3 times using only "NORMAL" hypermiling. I believe, not counting the Marathon, that is the (current, but not for long) third longest Insight tank recorded.

My 12V died on my last tank and I was able to avoid a recal by connecting the new and old batteries together with a set of jumper cables before removing the old battery. Attach one end of the jumpers to the already loosened, but not removed, car cables. Attach the other end to the new battery. My jumper cables have the new thin clamps so I was able to clamp it down on the bottom of the new battery post so I would have room to put the car cable clamps on without loosing the connection. Be careful and move slow, you should be able to do it.....Louis

 

Hm. I've got a portable jump start type system (that also has a pump and some other things on it) powered by a sealed, lead acid 12V battery. That's how I got the car running last week when it wouldn't start. I'll have to look at the battery cables and see if I can clamp onto them somewhere that will allow me to pull the old battery out and put the new one in while still leaving that system attached.

Too bad I can't just attach the thing inside the car and use it for extra FASing capacity!!

I really don't want to run the car dry in this effort but I guess we'll see how it ends up...

 

Come to think of it, Randall has not been around awhile...wonder if he is making progress on augmenting batteries on his Insight?

 

Sean

You'll want to get the dead battery out of there as soon as possible because it won't hold a charge and requires constant charging and that lowers your MPGs.....Louis

 

It is top of my list for this afternoon when I get home from work. I used AutoStop quite a bit this morning trying to avoid FASing and that proved a drag on my SoC (as expected).

 

Wow. This is the lowest daily average I've had in months.

It was pretty obvious the 12V was toast this morning on the way in. Very limited FASing along with cold temps (22F) and traffic resulted in only 88.5mpg on the way in to work. Daylight on the way home allowed me to FAS much more without the draw of the headlights, but that voltage still wasn't where it should have been.

I did manage to get the jumpstart station hooked up so I could swap out the battery without triggering a recal. For proof, the day average picture was taken after the battery swap. To see how I accomplished this, have a look at the photo below:



You can see the ground attached to the battery box and the positive lead attached to the cable on the pinch connection behind the loop that goes around the battery terminal. It stayed like this for 1.5hrs without issue!

I'm hopeful I can get back to a reasonable daily average tomorrow. At least I'm still sporting a full 20 bars of SoC.

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So much for trying for better numbers. The morning commute wasn't too bad given the temps and the train I had to stop for... 95.8mpg. Coming home was another story though. Standing water on the road and sleet along with a decent crosswind really made me struggle.

I lost the last bar when I was almost home. Since my mileage is so much less I'm using fuel at a faster rate than I had anticipated originally. With the numbers as they stand now I calculate (from the FCD) that I've used 12.9g or so. That leaves me only 0.6g of the 13.5g I think I've got available to me. I'll get through tomorrow just fine but more than that is going to be scary. Especially since we have more snow in the forecast.

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No pain no gain is easy for me to say when you're the one who will experience the pain

 

I'll help you push the car for the last hundred miles if that helps.

 

I would too, but it's cold and rainy up there. Sean, I'll help you push when you go for 1800 next summer.

 

Thanks for the offer, Auston -- would you settle for 55mi instead?

An 1800mi tank, Michael?!?

Guys, I've passed Randall's record now and there is still gas in the tank. I had rain this morning (93.0mpg) but this afternoon was dry so I managed to get the average up with a good segment home (109.5mpg) in spite of traffic.

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As you can see, I'm still rocking the full SoC. :bananalama:

So... here's the deal. I calculate I've used 13.28g so far. This is almost exactly what I pumped in to fill it last time. The thing is, last time I only got 10.1g instead of the expected 10.7g into the tank for the first click so I know I had more in there. How much more, I don't know. The World Record Insight Marathon tank ran dry at 13.72g -- if I complete another commute at the same consumption rate I did today I'll be at the same number of gallons. I'll also be 10mi short of 1600mi. If I can find a route that will let me average 100mpg to the gas station over those 10mi I'll only use another 0.1g to do it. Since Wayne managed a fill of 13.895g without running dry I've some hope of making this work.

Fly in the ointment? It is supposed to rain all day tomorrow, snow all Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and I think Monday as well. I also have a dental appointment in the middle of the day tomorrow.

Can I do it anyway? {GULP} I'm going to try!!

This may be the first time I've ever run a car completely dry...

 

Thanks, Matthew! I can use all the luck I can find.

Wayne tells me she starts right up with just a little added to the tank so I think my 1g (filled tonight at 1.001g by my beautiful wife and mother of one tonight!) should do the trick just fine if I find myself in need of it.

Fingers crossed I'll continue my record of never having actually had an engine cut out from running out of fuel!!

 

Well, I didn't quite make it. Had I not had to fight the weather I've had in the last week I'm sure I would have made the goal but she started sputtering less than a mile from work. I pulled over into a parking lot after determining she just wasn't going to go over that last hill and dumped in my 1g reserve. The rain and 13-20mph headwind didn't help matters any...

Here's the final tally:

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I'm disappointed I couldn't hit the goal but I did still manage to set a record for longest commuting tank (in an unmodified vehicle, anyway -- hats off to Jay!).

I'll post again after I get her filled up properly and can determine exactly how much fuel was used.

 

Congratulations on your tank! You still beat me by miles. You still get more credit because your car is unmodified.

 

great effort sean, and nothing to be ashamed of in not making the total 1600. this time of year in minnesota kills a lot of FE. i can verify what he says.....it really sucks right now.