I did a 23 mile drive tonight with temps at 28° and still got above 50mpg.

• Started with a cold engine
• Used the heater at 63° for about 5 minutes out of the 30 minute drive
• Was driving around 70mph with short bursts of 80mph
• Turned on LKA but no ACC
• 90% highway / 10% city
• Car was in normal mode when on the highway. Once back in the city I switched to eco mode.

 

That's really good! I have never seen 50mpg at these speeds. I do have the Touring version but according the this thread (https://www.gen3insight.com/forum/1...61-tires-wheels-brakes-steering-suspension/78-17-inch-touring-wheel-weight.html), we are talking about just a few extra unsprung pounds. It must be the higher rolling resistance of the Continentals then. Unless you're doing insane hyper milling techniques light following an 18 wheeler...?

 

Data is from my commutes since November. 12mi each way with 8mi highway at usually 60-70mph. No remote start, no heat except seats, slow and easy driving. MPG corrected by +/-7% to make up for outbound/inbound incline/decline. Second order regression (blue line).

 

I suspect that you take a big winter mpg hit because, by the time the ICE and HV batttey are warmed up to best/ most efficient operating conditions, you have arrived at your destination. My guess is that if you drove an additional 10 miles or so, you'd see a substantial increase in overall average mpg for the entire trip/"current drive".



Secondly the freeway speeds, above 50 mph, hurt mpg a lot vs the same distance in the 30-45 mph range.

 

Did a test on I95 this morning with a warm engine. 65mph constant over 12miles, 19° outside, no heat -> 44.0mpg. 0ft elevation change from start to finish, but rolling hills in between. So 1 mpg less that EPA (Touring) but cold weather so I'm happy with that.

 

64F out today... I typically average this winter around 50-58mpg on my commute home... got almost 69mpg today... warmer weather is the bomb!

 

64F out today... I typically average this winter around 50-58mpg on my commute home... got almost 69mpg today... warmer weather is the bomb!

That's impressive especially with the Touring and all that insulation you added!

 

It's been pretty hot here in Florida the last few days, I have 42,000 miles on my car and the last few weeks I've been cooling the cabin before I set off for home. I have a 100 mile round trip on level ground every day and I PLAN my trip to do the speed limit to work which is 70mph (I set my cruise for 71 because the system seems to like going 1 mph slower than what I set 50 percent of the time). Also in the last few weeks I have been averaging around 47mpg which isn't too bad, but we have also been having a lot of storms blowing through (and a few times I wasn't trying to drive economically). I have always driven in normal mode with cruise enabled.

I filled my tank up today after work and I am going to try to drive eco mode all week to see if I gain any mpg's (still cooling the cabin before I leave to go home). I can start my car from my office since my car's parked right next to it and I always let it cool down for around 7 minutes before I leave. I will log each day with the numbers I get for each trip - including the morning drive to work. My morning drives I usually get 51-53 mpg because of the mild (but humid) morning temps.

I always have my ac set to 70 and auto (I have noticed in the past that if I turn down the fan manually when it's hot and l'm going home, I can get better mpg's while driving to the freeway but I am going to let it do what it does to keep things fair). The weather for the next 4 days is, Tue 87/71, Wed 85/72, Thu 80/27, Fri (Yay!) 82/74.. It shows thunderstorms possible for each day but that's typical for this time of year in Florida..

I am posting this so I can set a goal to actually log my data daily and I will TRY to post detailed results at the end of the 4 days for you guys!

PS: I've had my car for a year and a half now and I LOVE the hell out of it! I had to drive rentals recently because my rear bumper had to be replaced when I was rear ended and I hated them lol (structure was fine underneath BTW - only the skin and foam underneath was damaged amazingly)..

Regards!
Be safe guys!!

 

Also in the last few weeks I have been averaging around 47mpg which isn't too bad, but we have also been having a lot of storms blowing through (and a few times I wasn't trying to drive economically). I have always driven in normal mode with cruise enabled.

I filled my tank up today after work and I am going to try to drive eco mode all week to see if I gain any mpg's (still cooling the cabin before I leave to go home). I can start my car from my office since my car's parked right next to it and I always let it cool down for around 7 minutes before I leave. I will log each day with the numbers I get for each trip - including the morning drive to work. My morning drives I usually get 51-53 mpg because of the mild (but humid) morning temps.

Wind can be a big factor. I did the exact same trip (to 0.1 mile) and lost 4 mpg on the day with no wind, vs the day with a 25 mph wind with temperature and everything else the same.

I look forward to your findings, and appreciate your effort to keep everything the same except for eco mode.
(BTW is "eco mode" where one pushes the "ECON" button on the center consul and a green flower appears above the gear selector... "D" for drive?)

 

 

I had a 24-mile drive to my son's high school to drop off books, etc this morning. Temps were around 70. I averaged 67mpg for the round-trip (never turned the car off at the school). This trip was on a four-lane highway (Route 22 in NJ-PA @ 55MPH). It's almost impossible for me to get numbers below 60mpg when the temps are above freezing. I really do swear my car was built on a Tuesday! I have a spare tire in the trunk (as well as my personal one) with tools as well as a loaded trunk organizer. My wife was in the car as well, and we had the A/C on.

 

Repeated the exact same drive today to drop off missing textbooks with my son along for the ride. Temp outside was ~80 degrees. Averaged 67.1mpg for the trip. A/C was set to 65, and my son complained he was too cold.

 

Well...lets just say adding an additional 500+lbs to the trunk/back seats definitely reduces the MPG. I got around 42-43mpg on my 240mi trip. Back was so loaded it was about 2" lower to the ground in the back...felt like I was driving a boat... Still had plenty of pickup, just bad mpg.... I'm really considering building out a cover for the front faux grill now... I've got enough data to see if I can have a considerable effect for MPG...

 

Does putting extra air in the tires help a car cope with carrying extra weight?

Answer (1 of 19): Yes, absolutely. In fact, the air pressure of any tire should be adjusted according to use. Every tire has a maximum pressure listed for the maximum weight it’s rated to carry. That’s per tire. So you determine the weight of your vehicle plus passengers and cargo and make sure ...

www.quora.com

Usually people bump up the tire pressure when adding extra weight. Not sure if that will help improve your mpg.

 

55° is all what is needed for exceptional mpgs! Did a 17mi trip yesterday mostly on a trafficky highway, 60mpg there, 70mpg back. Couldn't believe it! And I think we are still on winter blend.

 

Temps and SUMMER GAS!

 

I can hardly believe all these references to 55-60 mpg. I am a very careful driver (no fast starts), do most of my driving within the city of Indianapolis (no hills worth mentioning) and I've never seen dash readings above 50 mpg. I typically see low 40s in the winter and high 40s in the spring and summer

My 2019 Insight EX only has 7,000 miles on it. Nothing about my Insight makes me believe I have anything "wrong" with it. What's the explanation ?

 

I can only reach these numbers with a lot of anticipation (almost never hitting the brakes). Like people are very close to honk at me. 🤓

Do you use climate control a lot? How long are your trips? Do you have bricks in your trunk?

 

Pasei, re your first two sentences----that describes me exactly.

I use AC fully as needed, but there are many times of course when I'm not using AC. My trunk is usually bare (and no spare tire). That's why I'm so surprised by above 50mpg reports

 

I see.
How about the fuel, any no-name gas stations? Have you tried a different one?
Any electrical stuff plugged in to 12v/5v?
Any winter/custom tires/wheels?

 

Always use Costco Regular. No to all questions by Pasei. I use paddles for all my braking.

I don't like to go above Honda recommended tire pressures, but may up them a few pounds as a test (I prefer a soft ride)

 

Always use Costco Regular. No to all questions by Pasei. I use paddles for all my braking.

I don't like to go above Honda recommended tire pressures, but may up them a few pounds as a test (I prefer a soft ride)

I like to use the pulse and glide technique to trigger EV mode more often. I accelerate up to cruising speed then let go of the throttle. Maintain speed as necessary by applying the throttle when needed. Also when accelerating I try to keep within the blue segment of the acceleration meter.

You should've an easier time getting higher mpgs than @pasei since he's in a Touring.

 

Sorry but "let go the throttle" and "apply the throttle when needed" doesn't make sense to me. Could you rephrase that ?

 

For example, If I want to go 30 mph I would accelerate up to 35mph then let go of the gas pedal once I reach 35mph. As you let go of the gas pedal EV mode should come on if it wasn't already in EV mode. I would push the gas pedal again if I ever dip below 30mph. This is a general idea since I don't really pay attention to my speedometer much. I just follow the pace of traffic and keep in mind to only use the gas pedal to maintain speed. If I'm already cruising at what I want I keep my foot off the gas pedal.

 

"if I ever dip below 30mph"? Unless you're using cruise control you will obviously dip below 30mph. What am I missing here ?

 

Yes, that's when I will use the gas pedal again. Maybe I suck at explaining things. 😅

Energy-efficient driving - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

^This wikipedia entry might explain pulse and glide better.

 

I work from home, so I haven't had the ability to really figure out what my average commute mpg would be. Based on the few trips I've had to make to go into the office, I think it would average around 50-55 MPG. Unfortunately, most of my tanks of gas have been part of longer 200+ mile trips that are mostly on highways, so my overall MPG is kind of suffering right now.

 

I don't believe that andrew28 description really applies to a hybrid vehicle. In any case, most of my driving is within the city, which means I'm already bringing my car up to speed and then gliding to the next stop (usually using the paddles)

And I'm satisfied with high 40s in warm weather when I drive the most and low 40s in cold weather when I drive the least.

Let's leave it at that. But thanks for all the replies

 

Insightfully, I do believe you have identified what might otherwise add maybe 3 or 4 mpg to my mileage. I drive almost entirely on flat roads. I use my paddles mostly for braking. Good thinking as usual

 

One additional thought in your mention of lifetime mileage. My experience as a fellow low-annual-mileage driver is that drives <3-5 miles net my worst fuel economy, especially in cold weather and even with climate control off (i.e. the ICE runs longer and consumes fuel without the distance benefit). But in warm weather, the short drives can be a fuel economy boon if I can baby the throttle and maximize the time in EV (i.e. 199.9 mpg). And more generally, longer drives have netted better overall mpg.

 

Here's what I got during my trip from Boston to Nashua,NH and back last weekend. I ended up with similar mpg on both trips.

 

Hard to be any more consistent than that!

 

Trip from Boston to Providence yesterday. Perfect conditions, going 65-70 on the highway. AC on at 74° (was quite hot because of the sun). I did 48.8 mpg on the way back but that's because I had a little Sport mode fun 😂

 

During my first 3,000 miles in my 2019 EX I've averaged about 45 mpg. I've only rarely seen higher than 48 mpg. I wonder if your Insight began at similar low figures , then gradually climbed to your present numbers ? I live in Indiananapolis so I don't see many extreme temperatures.

 

I have to dispute the "it's the driver" comment, at least in my case.

Here's the thing. I've driven over 2.0 million miles so far in my long life. Even as a teenager I never hot-rodded or abused any vehicle I've ever driven. When possible I use the paddles to do as much of the braking as possible. Most of my driving now is on city streets and flat terrain.

I'm very happy with my 2019 EX and satisfied with mid-40 mpg. Still I have to wonder why so many forum members report these 50 and 60 mpg results. I'm waiting for a better anawer.

 

I have to dispute the "it's the driver" comment, at least in my case.

Here's the thing. I've driven over 2.0 million miles so far in my long life. Even as a teenager I never hot-rodded or abused any vehicle I've ever driven. When possible I use the paddles to do as much of the braking as possible. Most of my driving now is on city streets and flat terrain.

I'm very happy with my 2019 EX and satisfied with mid-40 mpg. Still I have to wonder why so many forum members report these 50 and 60 mpg results. I'm waiting for a better anawer.

It all depends on the environment in which you drive. My son and I rarely do high-speed highway runs. If you're doing 70+ on the highway, 50mpg+ is a great number. I have a 50/50 blend, so I'm able to put up better numbers. Speed, temperatures and drive mode all factor into the resultant MPG number.

 

I had a rather large deviation on my commute home today. For the past week, I've driven 65 mph the whole way home. On the 40 mile leg of the commute I usually average ~48 mpg, and after the remaining 20 mile leg I'm around 53 mpg when I park.

Today on the 40 mile leg I average 58 mpg, and the final 20 miles left me at 60 mpg when I parked. I didn't do anything different (ACC on the whole way, 65 mph, ECON mode, cabin temp at 71F), but a 10 mpg increase on the longer leg seems really odd. The only major change I can think of is that the ambient temperature was 75F (instead of 85ish) due the recent rain, and the road had been slightly wet.

Any ideas or explanations?

 

I've been tracking my refuels for the last five weeks and for the first two weeks I was using the highway mostly, and for the last three weeks I've completely stopped using the highway. It adds 10 minutes to my trip, but doing so has increased my gas mileage to 60+ MPG. My refuel today logged in at 67.9 mpg!

 

That's why I used to LOVE my 100-mile round-trip to work. Very little highway and otherwise averaging 45-50mph. I once had an 82mpg trip to work and several 70+mpg tanks! If you're nearing 68 now, you can probably get one in the 70s with little effort!

 

I've been averaging around 56mpg for the last couple of months. Now that it's getting hot out here, I'm over the top into the low 60's. Yippee!

 

I've had my 2021 Touring for about 2 months now and it has pretty much lived in Eco mode (because the dealer told me that was the best mode for fuel efficiency), but reading some of the posts I think I should be utilizing the other modes to their advantage for the best fuel efficiency. The most mpg I've seen so far is 59.7 and that was pretty much coasting for a good few minutes with very very slight acceleration at times if there is a tiny hill in the road. Most of my driving is on a short stretch of 2-lane (each side) highway between two towns that has a speed limit of 60 and I generally only get 40-45 mpg on it in Eco mode, mainly because so many cars are on this highway and we slow down/speed up frequently. So many cars are always on it that is dangerous to even use ACC I feel like. Honestly, where I live the population is too high for the size of the towns/infrastructure, but that's a different story.

 

When you're using eco mode you have to be sure not to get the gauge into the Grey (Power) section of the speedometer.

Keep it in the blue section as much as possible and use the regeneration paddles in conjunction with the brakes to charge the battery. If your average speed is 45 - 50 mph you should be able to squeeze out 60 plus mpg. Just train yourself to use the paddle every time your foot touches the break. Regenerative braking and the regen paddle (Left paddle) are the keys to higher MPG.

 

Boston to New Hampshire with 700ft elevation gain and mild AC (75°). Only used one bar of gas! Mostly highway at around 65, no more than 70. This is my personal record. I think 75-80° is the sweet spot for max MPG, even with a little AC.