Insight's MPG Efficiency in Rain
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Got my first dose of highway driving in the rain with the Insight EX. 42.0 mpg. This thing could not maintain 65 mph staying in the blue range of the power meter. Just could not do it. Rain really seems to add a lot of rolling resistance. This commute routinely gets me 49-51 mpg..
Rain causes a significant drop in mpg for me too.
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I drove in rain for the first time and noticed a difference in performance. It seems I cannot use my same driving style on hills/hwy in rain as on dry surfaces. When driving in the rain, I seemed to have a hard time attaining and maintaining steady-state speed, no such issues driving on dry surfaces.
Anyone else notice differences? Any advice on how to drive in rain and still maximize MPG?
Anyone else notice differences? Any advice on how to drive in rain and still maximize MPG?
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I have an EX (Michelin Energy Saver OEM) which handled well in rain... so can't comment on Touring tires. But a forum member @autotech previously posted a video that showed the Touring handling well in snow-plowed road conditions, which were quite stable and impressive.
While I don't have the same tires as you, I wanted to share that adjusting for the conditions should help maximize mpg..
Rain increases the density of air and its aerodynamic drag, so it (technically) consumes more energy to get to and maintain speed. Water on the roadway also requires more energy output/use to move water out of the path of the tires.
Going faster creates more overall rolling resistance, so generally I slow down for the conditions, to maintain traction, and to manage fuel efficiency and energy needs.
While I don't have the same tires as you, I wanted to share that adjusting for the conditions should help maximize mpg..
Rain increases the density of air and its aerodynamic drag, so it (technically) consumes more energy to get to and maintain speed. Water on the roadway also requires more energy output/use to move water out of the path of the tires.
Going faster creates more overall rolling resistance, so generally I slow down for the conditions, to maintain traction, and to manage fuel efficiency and energy needs.
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Thanks for the info!I have an EX (Michelin Energy Saver OEM) which handled well in rain... so can't comment on Touring tires. But a forum member @autotech previously posted a video that showed the Touring handling well in snow-plowed road conditions, which were quite stable and impressive.
While I don't have the same tires as you, I wanted to share that adjusting for the conditions should help maximize mpg..
Rain increases the density of air and its aerodynamic drag, so it (technically) consumes more energy to get to and maintain speed. Water on the roadway also requires more energy output/use to move water out of the path of the tires.
Going faster creates more overall rolling resistance, so generally I slow down for the conditions, to maintain traction, and to manage fuel efficiency and energy needs.
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For OEM tires, the Michelin’s perform pretty well in rain. I have only spun the tires once.I have an EX (Michelin Energy Saver OEM) which handled well in rain... so can't comment on Touring tires. But a forum member @autotech previously posted a video that showed the Touring handling well in snow-plowed road conditions, which were quite stable and impressive.
While I don't have the same tires as you, I wanted to share that adjusting for the conditions should help maximize mpg..
Rain increases the density of air and its aerodynamic drag, so it (technically) consumes more energy to get to and maintain speed. Water on the roadway also requires more energy output/use to move water out of the path of the tires.
Going faster creates more overall rolling resistance, so generally I slow down for the conditions, to maintain traction, and to manage fuel efficiency and energy needs.
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I just drove through my first major rain storm yesterday on the highway. I definitely felt like my car was taking a hit in performance based on a few factors but the overall result wasn’t as bad as I thought. Here’s what I noticed:
1) Visibility was severely limited to only a couple hundred feet so I couldn’t see upcoming hills to prepare. This I think was the killer since I couldn’t tell when I was going up hill or downhill since the ones on my drive are fairly gradual.
2) The wind and the rain made my car feel “heavy” so it felt like I was constantly holding down the accelerator to try and maintain moderate speed.
3) Since I could hardly see the road or vehicles I was not able to focus on my driving style during most of the trip so I found myself looking less at my DII and more on trying to keep track of the lanes.
After the storm had passed I still had a good amount of highway left over so I made up for some of the lost mpg by driving pretty conservative. Ended the 90 mile trip at ~51 mpg. Might sound great but during the storm I was getting mid to low 40s so there was definitely some noticeable decrease.
1) Visibility was severely limited to only a couple hundred feet so I couldn’t see upcoming hills to prepare. This I think was the killer since I couldn’t tell when I was going up hill or downhill since the ones on my drive are fairly gradual.
2) The wind and the rain made my car feel “heavy” so it felt like I was constantly holding down the accelerator to try and maintain moderate speed.
3) Since I could hardly see the road or vehicles I was not able to focus on my driving style during most of the trip so I found myself looking less at my DII and more on trying to keep track of the lanes.
After the storm had passed I still had a good amount of highway left over so I made up for some of the lost mpg by driving pretty conservative. Ended the 90 mile trip at ~51 mpg. Might sound great but during the storm I was getting mid to low 40s so there was definitely some noticeable decrease.
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What mpg do you normally average for this drive in clear/dry weather? Did you detect any traction issues from the OEM Touring tires while driving in storm?
The biggest mpg numbers I achieve are when I drive without 'pressure' from cars around/behind me; this sounds maybe parallel to the conservative 2nd half of your drive (?). The second largest mpg gain I see is from anticipating terrain, which it sounds like was severely impacted by your weather conditions.
The low mpg portion of your drive was toward the beginning, and the ICE may have been working longer/more initially from that. I need to travel at least ~3 miles before the actual drive mpg starts to offset the low mpg effects of the ICE running at cold start. Longer drives also give EV more chance to kick-in to improve mpg.
How many of the 90 miles were in stormy weather vs clear weather?
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It was my first time driving that route southbound but the northbound route on my way up I averaged about 52mpg so pretty much the same. I didn't notice any traction issues and would argue that the traction is far better than what I had in my previous 07 Accord. I guess time will tell since I can't really make a determination based on one experience.
Yeah definitely how I feel as well. Having people constantly riding my rear or always passing me up makes me self conscious of my driving which pretty much makes me try to keep up with the right laners at least. The problem tho is that feeling of watching the mpg for the trip slowly trickle down the more you press the gas. I guess I just have to reach that acceptance stage of owning a hybrid that I'm not always going to be able to have the best possible mpg for each drive.
Not being able to really see in front of me or my surroundings really hurt me I think. Honestly, between the downpour and the splashing from other cars, my wipers could hardly keep up at max speed so I could not tell where the heck I was until the rain dissipated. So basically I ended up going up hills without prepping and then going down hill without engaging my paddles out of fear that I would either lose traction or cause someone to not see me and potentially rear end me.
The majority of the drive was highway but there was about 3-5 miles of normal roads to allow the car to warm up. Still, this is a brand new vehicle (last Wednesday) so I think I still have a lot of warming up to do.
I'd say a good 45 miles was in the severe storm and the remaining 45 was raining but visible. Go figure the worst part of the storm occurred during the more hilly portions of the highway. It's the tri-state 294 from Milwaukee to Illinois if anyone is interested or from the area. It's also under construction so I had to be even more careful of keep track of the lines since they are constantly changing.
Overall, a pretty rough first rain experience. Mother nature threw me right into the fire with this one.
Not to make this post longer than it should be but in regards to using Sport Mode to build battery, how long should I engage it before switching back to Normal/Eco? I was afraid of using SM for too long so I didn't see much in terms of battery charging. I think I only engaged it for less than a minute when I did use it.
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During my trip it wasn't raining too hard, just a steady rain but the ground was really wet. On the road I was driving, I can normally get up to 65mph, slightly lift off the throttle and watch the car switch into EV mode while maintaining steady at 65mpg. When it was raining, this method did not work (note I was only going up to 55mph due to the road conditions). I seemed to need to keep my foot pressed on the throttle a little harder than normal which seemed to fully engage the engine.
As I understand it, we have low rolling resistance tires on the Insight. Do such tires cause traction issues? I'm wondering what's the trade-off between these tires and standard tires (other than mpg)?
As I understand it, we have low rolling resistance tires on the Insight. Do such tires cause traction issues? I'm wondering what's the trade-off between these tires and standard tires (other than mpg)?
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This video is kind of technical, but illustrates how silica helps to deliver both low rolling resistance and traction. Both OEM tires for the Insight (Michelin Energy Saver for LX/EX and Continental ProContact TX for Touring) contain these silica compounds.
https://youtu.be/oV_6u4Z5p-c?t=154
Try driving in a pouring rain if you want to see gas mileage go down. Drove to Houston from Cincinnati. Got 49 MPG. On the way back on the second day left out of Benton Ky in a driving storm. Same speed. New tank. Got 36 until I got out of the rain in Louisville and then mileage went up to 43.
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Driving in these storms the mpg hit is not only from pushing water away in puddles, the wet road reducing traction, but the wind! I've noticed big mpg hit on dry roads but with a 20 mph head or cross wind.
We get alot of rain here in Oregon. When buying tires, I look for a tire that has 4 rather then 3 groves in the tread. This moves more water faster improving traction on wet roads and helping mpg.
Have found that if its a head wind, its adverse effect can be eliminated by following a tall SUV or taller vehicle at normal following distance.
We get alot of rain here in Oregon. When buying tires, I look for a tire that has 4 rather then 3 groves in the tread. This moves more water faster improving traction on wet roads and helping mpg.
Have found that if its a head wind, its adverse effect can be eliminated by following a tall SUV or taller vehicle at normal following distance.
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Does anyone have experience/perspective on whether driving in rain/warmer weather (mid-50s F) yields better or worse fuel economy than dry/colder weather (mid-30s F) for the same driving conditions (terrain, speed, distance)?
I was thinking:
I was thinking:
- In rain/warmer conditions, rain affects rolling resistance, but the 'warmer' weather may increase HV battery to offset losses in fuel economy.
- In dry/colder conditions, the HV battery recharges more slowly and/or cabin heating (and fuel consumption) load increases to keep the HV battery warm enough to help fuel economy.
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Interesting question !
My guess is that dry / cold may be better mpg then wet / warm for long drives.
The reason is that dry / cold allows for not only better rolling resistance, but a warmer interior if parked in the sun prior to travel. I've noticed that parking in the sun not only warms the interior but leads to faster HV battery recycling. Thus the long drive (20 -40 miles) may be needed to "cash in" the benefits of warmer interior at start up. Also the long drive is going to be needed to overcome the very low mpg recorded during the longer engine heat up to normal operating temperature process. Normal engine operating temp. would be needed prior to faster HV cycling to begin.
Use of a garage and engine block heater would be a big help. i.e.With car in a garage have the block heater keep the engine warm over night (My father used a 100 watt light bulb under the hood). Then drive it a small distance to a sunny spot. Let it sit there for over an hour, as one eats a big breakfast
Then take the car for a 40 mile drive using the interior heater when the engine is on to raise interior temp. to something comfortable for shirt sleves. Note "current drive" mpg at end of 40 mile drive, and compare to straight 40 mile drive in the warm and wet.
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What was the outdoor temperature? >50F?
Around 60F. Since owning this car I have never seen a 108 mpg reading on the trip computer at any point ever. I'm still amazed. I'm going to run a few errands this morning and it's going to be about 50F. I'll see if I can come close to that 76 mpg I managed to get yesterday.
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Sometimes when one pushes the power on button the engine remains off and you can drive for awhile before the engine turns on. Before the engine turns on "Current Drive" will show 199.9 mpg. After the engine turns on current drive will work its way down. How long the engine remains off seems dependent on many factors including temperature and HV battery charge level. Length of engine off operation after power on seems a little different each day ....for me.
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